(no subject)

[lethargic_man]

Their manner of writing is very peculiar, being neither from the left to the right, like the Europeans, nor from the right to the left, like the Arabians, nor from up to down, like the Chinese, but aslant, from one corner of the paper to the other, like ladies in England.

—Jonathan Swift, Gullivers Travels

If you thought boustrophedonic writing (alternating lines left to right, then right to left) was strange, wrap your brain around this, which I encountered by chance in Jastrow: גּוּנְדְּלִית, writing in spiral form. (See p. 233 of Jastrow for an explanation and diagram.)

Comments

[curious-reader.livejournal.com]

Talking about Gullivers Travels I have never read the book or think I did not, definitely not in English. I have seen lots of films about it but it can't be like the real book. Do you have the book? I might read it after I read your disk world book.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

I only have a soft copy here, but I'm sure you'd be able to find it in the library. (Note: Gulliver's Travels is in four parts, but many editions nowadays, especially children's editions, only print the first two.)