First Table

Subject: Re: First Table Tue 26 Aug 2008, 15:00

"Progresses and Technical Developments" was a book Kuchiha never wanted to see again. The things written in it were so boring and difficult at the same time, that the Bookman Helper found herself reading the same passage over and over again without getting anything from it for about five times; two of which in a row.
She found such reading matters quite troublesome and until she finished with the book, a grim look was edged on her young bandaged face.

Subject: Re: First Table Tue 26 Aug 2008, 20:41

Next book...

Subject: Re: First Table Tue 26 Aug 2008, 21:32

//Since I noticed Bookman Helpers were able to read two books in one reply, here goes ^^

"Human Psychology" was a title Kuchiha didn't expect to encounter in the pile of books she was supposed to read. Bookman Helpers and Bookman himself were supposed to be emotionless observers, however maybe they needed to understand other people in order to be able to write down history properly. The blackhead didn't expect that Psychology was such a complex science. There were so many subdivisions of the different branches of human psychology, that the girl could hardly list them in one go and would need to re-check from time to time. She was reading so intensly that she didn't notice that she had reached the end. That was quite disappointing, since that was one of the few books that she had ever enjoyed. Her purple eyes fell on her next reading matter and she grabbed it, after which she opened it.
A history book once again. 'What did I expect anyways? I became a Bookman Helper so I could record history... who am I kidding? I came here to find a way and exeute my revenge without consequenses resulting in my death,' Kuchiha almost didn't notice or remember what she had read, but knew that she had already seen that in the previous books. Only different passages or chapters from "The History of Us or Freedom: A History of Us" caught her attention, but aside from that, she was able to finish the book quite fast.

Subject: Re: First Table Tue 26 Aug 2008, 21:35

Next book...

Subject: Re: First Table Thu 28 Aug 2008, 00:10

"The Story of Mankind" was one of the many and boring books Kuchiha had to read... The girl didn't know how much she had already finished and how much there were left. Her head was now full of information and she needed a timeout. Her palms caught a hold of her head and she closed her purple eyes. She stayed like that for what seemed an eternity, however not very full of rest.
Finally she was able to continue.The reading matter told in brief chapters the history of Western civilization beginning with primitive man, covering the development of writing, art, and architecture, the rise of major religions, and the formation of the modern nation-state. All of this didn't really mean anything to the Bookman Helper but she swallowed it till the very end.
'Next...' her line of sight lead her to "The Discoverers: Man’s Search to Know His World". The structure of the book about history of human discovery was topical and chronological, beginning in the prehistoric era in Babylon and Egypt. The work has been divided into four sections ("books"). All the great discoverors were mentioned there and it was a quite satisfying reading matter. Though the blackhead was pretty much glad when it ended.

Subject: Re: First Table Thu 28 Aug 2008, 11:12

Next book ^^

Subject: Re: First Table Thu 28 Aug 2008, 17:00

'Yeah, like I need to know who made the maps... What's important is whether they are true and accurate, instead of who made them,' Kuchiha thought to herself as she turned another page of "The Mapmakers".
'Nicolas De Fer in turn had copied images that were first printed in books by Louis Hennepin, published in 1697, and François Du Creux, in 1664. By the 1700s, map-makers started to give credit to the original engraver by printing the phrase "After [the original cartographer]" on the work. Tatadada! All finished with this one,' the Bookman Helper would've whistled if she wasn't a gloomy person.
Now the blackhead was holding "The Ancient Mariners" in her arms and started reading it with her usual exspression. The book told about James Cook's second voyage of exploration (1772–1775) of the South Seas and the Pacific Ocean; Coleridge's tutor, William Wales, was the astronomer on Cook's flagship and had a strong relationship with Cook. On his second voyage Cook plunged repeatedly below the Antarctic Circle to determine whether the fabled great southern continent existed. Critics have also opined that the poem may have been inspired by the voyage of Thomas James into the Arctic.
The girl was ready to bang her head on the table, seeing that she was nowhere near the bottom of the pile of books.

Subject: Re: First Table Thu 28 Aug 2008, 21:20

Next book ^^

Subject: Re: First Table Thu 28 Aug 2008, 22:28

The next two books in Kuchiha's list were the one thing she would never expect: picture books.
"Where's my multi-colored ink?" the Bookman Helper couldn't help herself, but say that aloud. Honestly, picture books!
In "Oars, Sails and Steam: A Picture Book of Ships" there were so many photoes and drawings of different kinds of ships that the blackhead doubted that she would be able to see them in her life-time. Well, some of them she had already seen, but others were so peculiar and new to her, that she doubted they even existed. It was good the reading matter consisted mostly of pictures, for the girl was finished quickly with it.
"Wheels: A Pictorial History" was as if done for children. The most basic historical facts were written down in here, palin and simple so that a child's mind could comprehend them. Even the illustrations were somewhat child-like in one place or another. Kuchiha felt as if she was a little kid again, only that she was a daughter in some rich English family, that put her education on a pillar. The last page was done with and the purple-eyed young woman swore that she would always be ready for anything.

Subject: Re: First Table Fri 29 Aug 2008, 16:27

Next ^^

Subject: Re: First Table Fri 29 Aug 2008, 16:41

Kuchiha screached with her teeth while reading "Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans". Honestly, those people now barely had a nation and now they had a book about how great they were? She found it quite stupid. How could they have so many facts about their history, when the United States existed officially for a little over than one century (the time when DGM takes place). The blackhead was glad she was shortly finished with the book, since she could say it was rather boring.
'Now we're talking,' she thought to herself while flipping the first page of "Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent". The Egyptians were a much more interesting topic for her, and she could bet that she wasn't the only one who thought that the Mesopotamian civilizations were amazing. Even with so little water resources, they were able to make simply miracles and their towns were blooming with prosperity and riches. The Bookman Helper was happy she got to go to Egypt on her very first mission, now everything she had saw, made sense.

Subject: Re: First Table Fri 29 Aug 2008, 21:48

Next book...

Subject: Re: First Table Fri 29 Aug 2008, 22:25

'"Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam", huh?' Kuchiha's chin lay in her palm as she skid through the book. It told about a man named Saladin, about kings, queens, rulers, etc., about crusades, Egypt Kings and rulers, Syria kings and rulers... It was like a fairy tale; the Arabian world was always filled with unnecessary bloodshed, but also was the Japanese, as the young woman had decided. She was done with the book quickly and took the next one.
The next reading matter was also about the world of the Near East, however, it was about the trading routes of those nations. "Arab Seafaring" was something like a ledger, than literature, but the blackhead had to read it anyways. Most of the things considered "exotic" in Europe and the New World were brought from the Arabians and their prospering trade routes all over the world. Kuchiha found it interesting and wonderes whether she would get to travel on such a ship one day... Concealed in her day-dreams, she realized that she was ready.

Subject: Re: First Table Fri 29 Aug 2008, 22:29

Next book...

Subject: Re: First Table Sat 30 Aug 2008, 21:39

The crusades and the Templar knights was a topic Kuchiha somewhat liked. "The Holy Land" was a book about those things, but only the end of it. Jerusalem existed long before The Crusades began, of course.
'The Holy Land generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land. This area, or sites within it, hold significant religious importance to at least four monotheistic Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, Baha'i, and Islam. Part of its sanctity stems from the religious significance of Jerusalem, the holiest city to Judaism and third-holiest to Islam,' was the very first passage the girl had read and she quickly reached the last one.
To understand the reading matter "Hittite Warrior", one first needed to know that The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family, and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia ca. the 18th century BC. It was quite bothersome to read, since there were many military things the blackhead didn't enjoy all that much. However, she was keen on finishing with this fast and she did proceede as planned.

Subject: Re: First Table Sun 31 Aug 2008, 01:02

Next book ^^

Subject: Re: First Table Tue 02 Sep 2008, 12:23

"The civilization of ancient Egypt thrived from its adaptation to the conditions of the Nile River Valley. Controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which fueled social development and culture. With resources to spare, the administration sponsored mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions, the early development of an independent writing system, the organization of collective construction and agricultural projects, trade with surrounding regions, and a military that defeated foreign enemies and asserted Egyptian dominance. Motivating and organizing these activities was a bureaucracy of elite scribes, religious leaders, and administrators under the control of a divine pharaoh who ensured the cooperation and unity of the Egyptian people through an elaborate system of religious beliefs.
Map of ancient Egypt, showing major cities and sites of the Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC).
The many achievements of the ancient Egyptians included a system of mathematics, quarrying, surveying and construction techniques that facilitated the building of monumental pyramids, temples, obelisks, faience and glass technology, a practical and effective system of medicine, new forms of literature, irrigation systems and agricultural production techniques, and the earliest known peace treaty. Egypt left a lasting legacy: art and architecture were copied and antiquities paraded around the world, and monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of tourists and writers for centuries. A newfound respect for antiquities and excavations in the early modern period led to the scientific investigation of Egyptian civilization and a greater appreciation of its cultural legacy for Egypt and the world,' were the last lines in "Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors: Activities". Kuchiha sighed and reached for the next book.
'At about 3300 BC, the historical record opens in Africa with the rise of literacy in the Pharaonic civilisation of Ancient Egypt. One of the world's earliest and longest-lasting civilizations, the Egyptian state continued, with varying levels of influence over other areas, until 343 BC. Egyptian influence reached deep into modern-day Libya, north to Crete and Palestine, and south to the kingdoms of Aksum and Nubia. An independent centre of civilisation with trading links to Phoenicia was established on the north-west African coast at Carthage.
Following the conquest of North Africa's Mediterranean coastline by the Roman Empire, the area was integrated economically and culturally into the Roman system. Roman settlement occurred in modern Tunisia and elsewhere along the coast. Christianity spread across these areas from Palestine via Egypt, also passing south, beyond the borders of the Roman world into Nubia and by at least the 6th century into Ethiopia.
In the early seventh century, the newly formed Arabian Islamic Caliphate expanded into Egypt, and then into North Africa. In a short while the local Berber elite had been integrated into Muslim Arab tribes. When the Ummayad capital Damascus fell in the eight century, the Islamic center of the Mediterranean shifted from Syria to Qayrawan in North Africa. Islamic North Africa had become diverse, and a hub for mystics, scholars, jurists and philosophers. During the above mentioned period, Islam spread to sub-Saharan Africa, mainly through trade routes and migration,' the blackhead yawned. 'Yeah, so basically everything was cool in Africa before the colonization...' The girl convinced herself in human stupidity once again as she closed the book, called "A Glorious Age in Africa".

Subject: Re: First Table Tue 02 Sep 2008, 23:12

O_O next?

Subject: Re: First Table Wed 03 Sep 2008, 20:09

The next two books Kuchiha read were about Ancient China. The girl had the feeling she had already read something about them, but pushed the thought away.
"Eyewitness: Ancient China" was something rather intriguing, since it was told from first person and told about the Ancient Era of China. It was divided by the periods different Dynasties had ruled over the country. The Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty were the families, from which the emperors came out before the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period had begun.
After she was done with her first spring of knowledge about the east nation, the blackhead started with the second: "Ancient China: 2,000 Years of Mystery to Unlock".
'Chinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River valley in the Neolithic era. The written history of China begins with the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600 BC - ca. 1100 BC). Turtle shells with ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty have been carbon dated to as early as 1500 BC. The origins of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy developed during the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC to 256 BC) that followed the Shang. It was the longest lasting dynasty and spans the period in which the written script evolved from ancient oracle script to the beginnings of modern Chinese writing.
The feudal Zhou Dynasty eventually broke apart into individual city states, creating the Warring States period. In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang united the various warring kingdoms and created the first Chinese empire. Successive dynasties in Chinese history developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the Emperor of China to directly control the vast territories.
The conventional view of Chinese history is that of a country alternating between periods of political unity and disunity and occasionally becoming dominated by foreign peoples, most of whom were assimilated into the Han Chinese population. Cultural and political influences from many parts of Asia, carried by successive waves of immigration, expansion, and assimilation, merged to create modern Chinese culture.'
There she had it, the last closing passages from the book, she had read them.

Subject: Re: First Table Mon 08 Sep 2008, 11:29

Next ones ^^

Subject: Re: First Table Tue 09 Sep 2008, 19:07

'Marco Polo for Kids' was... like a picture-book for coloring. Kuchiha had never expected something so... dazzlingly stupid to be in her list. Of course, maybe Bookman thought she was an imbisle, but nevertheless it was offending for her pride of a 16-year-old.The well being of Marco Polo in pictures was a reading matter the blackhead finished very quickly and with unsurprising ease. The girl reached for the next book and held it in front of her eyes.
'Oh, my, what ever will I do if I don't read 'Great Wall of China'?!' the Bookman Helper caught her sarcasm after she had looked through an old blueprint of the magestic wall. Sure, it was proof of the genius of the humans, something really rarely shown, however it wasn't a necessity for her to read this too. She had already read through the thorough history of the Chinese nation. This was over with soon enough and Kuchiha stretched towards her next 'victim'.

Subject: Re: First Table Tue 09 Sep 2008, 19:58

Next ones ^^ Try to make longer posts if you want to read two books at a time >.>

Subject: Re: First Table Fri 12 Sep 2008, 17:29

//Give USEFUL and MEANINGFUL books to read and I'll write ones. I knew we should've discussed such things beforehand... Seriously, when I see you at school, I'll tie your neck in a knot (not only because of this, you know...) >.<

'"Confucius: The Golden Rule", huh?' the young woman looked blankly at the cover of the book. After going through the opening lines, she looked at the main things Confucius had taught.
'Confucius presents himself as a "transmitter who invented nothing". He put the greatest emphasis on the importance of study, and it is the Chinese character for study (or learning) that opens the text. In this respect, he is seen by Chinese people as the Greatest Master. Far from trying to build a systematic theory of life and society or establish a formalism of rites, he wanted his disciples to think deeply for themselves and relentlessly study the outside world, mostly through the old scriptures and by relating the moral problems of the present to past political events (like the Annals) or past expressions of feelings by common people and reflective members of the elite (preserved in the poems of the Book of Odes),' Kuchiha read on and on till she felt her hand rubbing her temples uncosciously. She had reached the end of the book, but she hadn't gotten much information into her head. Well, she had expected this much, after all it WAS Confucius they were talking about.
After looking at the next title, the young Bookman Helper smirked. "Find Out About Ancient Japan" was something she could bear with and understand since, after all, she was Japanese. She wasn't proud of it, however, it was helpful sometimes. The reading matter told mosty about the REALLY ancient history of the country and the blackhead wasn't acquainted with most of the facts that were written down.
'The Japanese Paleolithic covers the period from around 100,000 to 30,000 BC, when the earliest stone tool implements have been found, to around 14,000 BC, at the end of the last Ice-age, which corresponds to the beginning of the Mesolithic Jōmon period. The 35,000 BC date is most generally accepted: any date of human presence before 30,000–35,000 BC is controversial, with artifacts supporting a pre–35,000 BC human presence on the archipelago still being of questionable authenticity,' the ending passage was one of those that recapitulated the whole book. It was good, since there was a lot of needlesss details in the text as a whole, according to the girl. After staring at space for quite some time, she stretched her hand and it gripped the next thing she was supposed to read.

Subject: Re: First Table Fri 12 Sep 2008, 18:15

Next ones...

Subject: Re: First Table Sun 14 Sep 2008, 10:42

"A Single Shard (Ancient Korea)" was Kuchiha's next reading task. As the name suggested, it was about the far-off past of the East nation; from its first years up to the latest events in the country. The blackhead was so engulfed in the book, that she had not realized that she had "entered the present" of Korea. 'In 1392, the general Yi Seong-gye established the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) after a coup. King Sejong the Great (1418-1450) promulgated hangul, the Korean alphabet. Between 1592-1598, Japan invaded Korea, but was eventually repelled with the efforts by the Navy led by Admiral Yi Sun-shin, resistance armies, and Chinese aid. In the 1620s and 1630s, Joseon suffered invasions by the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Beginning in the 1870s, Japan began to force Korea out of China's sphere of influence into its own. In 1895, Empress Myeongseong of Korea was assassinated by Japanese agents,' she smirked under her bandages. 'No kidding...'
After a small break, in which the girl had stretched in all possible directions, due to the lack of movement in the past... she realized she didn't know for how long she had been reading. "Step Into Ancient India" was waiting for her and she needed to take care of it.
'The history of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period lasted from 2600-1900 BCE. This Bronze Age civilization collapsed at the beginning of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic period, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plains and which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th century BCE, who propagated their Shramanic philosophies among the masses...' the Bookman Helper began to read, her mind starting to drift off, but her will kept it intact, her whole being wanting to get this over with.