Review of
Some
New Kind of Slaughter ~ or ~ Lost in the Flood (and How We Found Home Again)
by mpMann & A. David Lewis ISBN 9781932386530
Four out of five stars
This book reminded me of one written by astronomer
Carl Sagan many years ago. He was debunking the pseudoscientific theories of
Immanuel Velikovsky, yet he pointed out one significant feature of Velikovky’s
writings. This was the listing of many of the cultures that had the common myth
of “the flood,” one so vast and deadly that it nearly wiped out all local life,
if not all that on Earth. Sagan stated that this common myth is something that
should be examined.
This graphic
novel expresses a few of those storylines. The main story is from the Sumerian
version of “Epic of Gilgamesh,” and features the Sumerian king, Ziusudra. As
the water rises, he has visions of other floods, such as that featuring Noah. There
is the Asian tale of the Chinese creator goddess Nuwa and the modern story of a
female scientist desperately trying to convince people of the dangers of
climate change.
The storyline
moves rapidly between the various threads, sometimes popping from one to
another within a linking context and other times with little to nothing in common. It is a valid
learning experience, for it points out that there is a common link to the human
experience, dramatic changes in the weather that threaten the very existence of
humanity. However, the rapid shifts from track to track and the similarities
sometimes make them difficult to follow.
In the myths,
the floods are a consequence of the wrath of the gods due to human misbehavior.
The only difference in the modern reality of climate change is that the human
misbehavior is the direct cause of the massive shifts in weather.
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