Nick Tesch Lisa Balvanz English 111X 9/29/11 Reading Response: Gyromancy What started as a history article about

Vincent Van Gogh turned into an interesting read about vertigo. I found it interesting because the author explained the hypothetical situation historical scientists Van Gogh was in by relating his own experiences. I feel that it would not have been enough to provide a textbook definition to vertigo attacks; however, Ron Rindo explaining the disease with a personal story really helped me understand what Van Gogh could have possibly been going through. I was not really bugged about the scientific explanations inserted into the story. Of course, I also didnt mind the explanations about whaling in Moby Dick. Well, most of Melvilles explanations were interesting, but thats beside the point. I found the background information very informative. For me, I honestly had no idea people could come under vertigo attacks. From Rindos descriptions, it sounds like an awful experience. In Gyromancy, Rindo writes, Your sense of hearing waxes and wanes-sounds seem to arrive from a distance, or up from the bottom of a well. Wracked by nausea and soaked in sweat, your body is of no use to you as an instrument of pleasure or locomotion. (447) Like an entry straight out of a horror novel, Rindo paints a horrible picture of anguish using words with such negative connotation as nausea and sweat. If the reader already knew about vertigo attacks, the informative sections will come off as being very dry. Even though I enjoyed them, I think a good balance should be made to simplify

the explanatory parts of the story. I will definitely consider the use of horror and disgust if the situation should call for it. It certainly keeps the readers attention.