Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Breath of the Gods:
The wind is kinda creepy when you think about it too long.
Quick synopsis:
The history of the wind. Yes, you read that correctly.
Fact for Non-History People:
Mount Washington, New Hampshire is one of the windiest places ever and until recently held the record for highest wind speed on the planet at 231 miles per hour.
Fact for History Nerds:
“Wind” has about 60 different meanings in the diction.
My Take on The Breath of the Gods:
Author Simon Winchester needs to be stopped. This mad scientist of a writer wrote his last book on knowledge. Are you looking for me to be more specific? I can’t. It was on all of human knowledge. Apparently, such a challenge was too undemanding. Winchester has now decided to take on wind (yes, just wind) in The Breath of the Gods. And guess what? It’s another triumph. There will be no stopping him, apparently. For goodness sake, he’ll probably write about the dictionary next. Wait, he already did!?
What I enjoyed about The Breath of the Gods is what I also enjoyed about his most recent previous book, Knowing What We Know. They both feel like a conversation with a friend on a park bench with perfect weather. His prose forces you to slow down and consider the little things. What you get is a mixture of personal stories, epic tales, and some forgotten people. Just for example, the book contains sections on the following: tumbleweed, windmills, Typhoon Tip, napalm, and D-Day.
Do those sound like things that have no connective tissue? I thought so too, but here we are. It’s another wonderful aspect that I think if you deleted Winchester’s book and forced him to write it again, you would probably end up with a completely different book. It would still be about the wind, but the topics contained within would change. This isn’t to say the book is in any way arbitrary. It is just another way to say that Winchester has complete control over the topic to the point that he could swerve the entire narrative with ease.
For goodness sake. The man will probably just write about land next. Oh my God, he already did that, too!
(This book was provided as a review copy by Harper Books.)
Verdict:
You don’t know it, but you need this book. Buy it here!
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