I found Skanda was challenging to follow. I recognize that the inserted lists of textile materials and equipment generated a mood through imagery, but the way I just described it here-flat and analytical-is similar to the way I responded.
I wish it wasn’t. Perhaps a second reading would help. I did feel like the reading traced the history of textiles in a rather selective way, but the author seemed more motivate to mystify rather than clarify. Perhaps I was in the mood for something concrete rather than poetic.