> unlike most people, you can read > another long day > bitterly cold scriptorium > city of fleas > parchment, which stinks > candle, which stinks Author

> unlike most people, you can read > another long day > bitterly cold scriptorium > city of fleas > parchment, which stinks > candle, which stinks Author managed to disparage literacy rates (literacy was mostly unnecessary in the 9th c.), monks' work ethic, their resilience to a cooler climate, their closeness to animals, and their good stewardship of animal products. Author paints a fake word-picture of disgusting and wretched conditions that can be blamed on the monks themselves, or the patriarchy or something. I can't think of any way this single paragraph could be more disparaging of the whole scenario.