A new kind of hero

From An Intimate History of Humanity:

"There has been a shortage of modest heroes. That is why antiheros were invented...heroes must be able to receive as well as to give, because influence which travels only one way can become dispiriting or corrupting. To benefit from a hero, one must be a bit of a hero oneself; one must have courage. Heros need to be intermediaries, who open the world up to one another. To be an intermediary who does not cheat is within everyone's grasp." p. 468

Tough book to read because Zeldin kept raising questions and then not answering them. But the last chapter includes that definition of a hero which I really like. I think the word "hero" can be embarrassing for real heros, so we'll just have to think it and beam warm thoughts their way.

Then there's the question of creativity, which according to Zeldin is a fairly new (Victorian) concept. Yet he quotes Michelangelo:

"I am, of all who were ever born, the most inclined to love persons. Whenever I behold someone who possesses any talent or displays any dexterity of mind, who can do or say something more appropriately than the rest of the world, I am compelled to fall in love with him."

You know where all this is leading right? Because I don't. I've got a million and one things to do and I'm sitting here looking out the window, enjoying all the different colours of the leaves. Feet up, highlighter in hand, about to start reading "All Quiet on the Baghdad Front" by Michael Yon. I printed it out and it looks pretty substantial. He's a storyteller, first and foremost, and this is a story I'm eager for.