Meh

Good not great, read in 1998 ( )

To be blunt, I didn't get this book. Perhaps this is because I have never really read books like this. I don't see the point of repeated musings of visitors coming to speak about their experiences to a Monk who is making a map.

The main question I found posed by this book is that of how one searches for the truth and what the truth is. As the book progresses, the main character becomes more unsure of himself and his place in his mission of creating a map. Can he faithfully create a map that represents the truth in the world? How can he tell when he relies only upon the stories that are sent to him? Does he experience truth from his "cell", as he puts it?

These are good meditation questions, so perhaps that's the point of the book. I did find my mind wandering quite a bit while reading it.

I do think of this book as a challenge. I needed to look up words every 5 - 10 pages, which is quite unusual for me, and I enjoyed expanding my vocabulary. This book had no plot, and that resulted in a story that was difficult for me to follow. Hopefully the next book I read like this will be more understandable. ( )

This book gives a fascinating insight into another world. It was amazing to think that the mapmaker never actually travelled but was able to create a maps of the world based on the word of mouth of travellers that he met. His enthusiasm was just wonderful. What a pleasure it was to be able to read a translation of his journal. ( )

Jim Harrison blurbs that this book should be read with a glass of red wine -- maybe several would help. The fictionalized account of Fra Mauro, could be called "Let me do my work!". It wasn't quite what I was hoping it would be, but there are still gems to be mined. One thing I did not like was that the Renaissance narrative breaks down a bit stylistically about 2/3 through the book and stops reading like a translated text, which I liked in the beginning. It is aptly titled Dream.... Meditations.... there is sadly no speculation as to the more interesting and mysterious aspects of Mauro's famous map. ( )