Today

First two hours, covered Children's; questions: books about Spring, rainbow, for pre-K; Spiderman.

At 11, up to Reference, question about Marco Polo's travels. Man said he had already traveled to the East, while in the service (Armed Forces). Wants to follow some of Polo's route. Asked about a city called Kamul. Found a result that puts it in western Iran. (Just noticed there is also a Kamul-li, in Korea.) Also asked about Tabriz (in Iran, as well). Said he'll probably go to China; fascinated with the East. I endorsed Venice.

He already has this book, but when I showed him the one I knew, he became enthusiastic, and took it with him.

Marco Polo : from Venice to Xanadu / by Laurence Bergreen.


This book (right) is the companion to the show I saw on PBS. Found it online, showed him it can be watched online.




In the afternoon, back at Reference, a young man came over to the desk, looking for a book on SAT Math; alas, our copy is out. He returned, asking for The talented tenth, by W. E. B. DuBois. We own a book, The Negro problem; a series of articles by representative American Negroes of to-day, which contains that essay. A new one to me; there is always more to learn.

Willow Tree - film

Saw this film last weekend. Excellent. A man blind since age 8 is taken to Paris for a medical exam; a tumor is found behind an eye, and surgery strongly recommended to save his eye. Tumor turns out to be benign, and the surgeon finds that further surgery might restore his sight.

Indeed, it does. What happens, how the man reacts, is the essence of the film. A fascinating story, well acted. Seeing shots of Tehran was great. Iran turns out to look, well, normal. With all the stories of economic and political tensions, one never gets to see how it looks. This films gives that.