The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies
Written and Narrated By: Irving Finkel
Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
My buddy will LOVE this!!! Me? ‘Tis m’ Gillian Is A Pathetic Boob Listen for 2023…
Here’s the deal…
When I’m quite fond of someone, be they family or dearest friend, I do this thing where I listen to audiobooks of their choice, or they’re of a certain ilk to the extent that I think boon companions might enjoy. InEVItably, I hit an audiobook in the List whereby the characters in such stories are jerks, toads (No offense to toads), the writing left MUCH to be desired -OR- It comes crashing down ‘pon m’ head that dude! I’m a complete and total boob. One year? Secrets of Sleep Science. Next? Don’t Believe a Word. Just stuff that brings it home, in quite the devastating fashion, that I dropped outta college just a weeeee bit too soon (Hey! It was a Medical Withdrawal, and I couldn’t really help it…!).
This year? Oh goodness. And here’s another deal. I made an honest to gosh best buddy whilst working through my End of Life Doula coursework. A gentleman who answered all questions I asked, who conveyed words of wisdom when I was dithery, who was forever there with encouragement when I was in low spirits (He still does, by the way…). Now last year, I was late to the party, considered sending a gift to his place of work and worship, and realized; Nay! Waaaaay too creepy.
THIS year, however? Well, we’ve known each other long enough that I can do reviews of some o’ his Likes.
Which brings me to this, The First Ghosts by Irving Finkel. You see, m’ dear friend is an Assyriologist of note. So I scrolled the beJESus outta Audible, searching for schtuff of Gilgamesh(ish) offerings, searching for works that dealt with cuneiform.
And so I discovered Finkel’s The First Ghosts, and I’ve given it m’ very best shot.
And, no really, I’m a Total Boob. This work is soooo intensely on target, each and every cuneiform tablet was brought up, assessed, offered as proof of this, that, the total other, that I danged near wept. No no no, do not blame Finkel. The man is completely and unutterably delightful. He is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, enthusiastic and beYONd knowledgeable. He narrates his own work with vim and vigor and numerous bouts of levity, not fearing to crack a joke each time it’d be possible. But here’s the thing: I remember, in college, hanging out with a couple of Engineers to Be, and they responded to an innocuous remark with a: “…not if you’re an oscillator…!!!”, and then they died laughing. Totally went over my head, a ya gotta be an Engineer to get the joke type of deal.
Meaning? Well, I think, nay KNOW! that aaaaaalllll of Finkel’s bouts of hilarity would be greatly appreciated if you so happened to be an Assyriologist. There’s no doubt, not even an itty bitty bit, that my good friend would quite simply LOVE this.
There are ghosts galore, from waaaay back; methods of getting rid of possessive apparitions (Think: dung, straw, and donkey urine), and Finkel catalogs them all. He backs every single statement up with what he’s deciphered from cuneiform. And ‘twould appear that the man doesn’t mind languages such as Akkadian, Sumerian, etc etc et ya gotta be kidding me cetera. Throw in some more schtuff for his Knowledge Base, and we find we’re listening to one inCREdibly scholarly individual, totally in the know, and so kind as to share his thoughts eeeeven tho’ his audience might be a boob like, say, ME…
The man is wonderful. His narration is enthusiastic and engaging, and he’s not afraid to laugh at his own erudite jokes which just tickles me pink.
Dude! and Dearest Friend O’ Mine: You’ll LOVE this. You steered me to a YouTube lecture where I got to see the man himself, so lemme return the favor by saying: This is Right Up Your Scholarly Alley.
No, an audiobook doesn’t have the awesome fragrance a new book has, and no, you don’t have the wonderful feel of pages as you turn them. -BUT- You have Irving Finkel, just loving what he does.
And THAT’S pretty awesome!
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