Philosophy

Although I have not eschewed all philosophical reading while writing Fragments of Berossus, I have scrupulously avoided anything to do with the major themes of the book, particularly ethics and jurisprudence.

Language

Fragments of Berossus is written entirely in prose-poetry: it is neither pure poetry nor pure prose. Like poetry the text makes extensive use of metaphor and imagery, and, like poetry, the sounds, rhythms and cadences of the words are important; but, like prose, the text is simply presented in ordinary paragraphs and there are no rigid metrical or rhyming schemes.

The Star-Myths

There are sixteen "star-myths" in Fragments of Berossus. With the exception of Vega and Sirius —  which were written purely to contain the rest of the book — the various star-myths are genuine excerpts of mythology from extant and extinct cultures across the globe.

The star-myths counterpoint the narrative — they are entirely independent of the story (indeed they can be read in complete isolation) but they shape the perceptions of the chapters to either side, and the book as a whole.

Readers' Favourite Quotations

This post is specifically for readers to record and comment on their favourite bits of Fragments of Berossus.

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