Sep 02, 2008 22:20
It's a funny-shaped old building, shabby and weather-worn despite the climate. The shiny tiled floor contrasts sharply with the plaster-covered concrete construction, and most of the lights don't actually work. The ceiling in the back is too low, sloping downwards to the corner giving an impression from the inside that the building is slowly melting in the sun. The end with the computers and spawar phones sees constant use, the end with the small bookcase almost none, save the dark cave that holds a tv nook. i spent all day in there myself today, eleven hours, reading Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. i'm not sure why, actually, but after seeing it on the shelf i felt a compulsion to read it. It was one of Mother's favourite books, or at least, one that she enjoyed a great deal. Read it some time, if you haven't. Oh, i've seen the movie a thousand times, and the stage-play too, but there's something different about picking up a book. The pages are aged, slowly burning into oblivion, as is the wont of the older printings. It smells nice, if a little sad. It's a familiar smell i can't find much of anymore, and truthfully, once i understood the source, wanted to avoid in my own collections. Too bad they can't package it in some non-destructive way. i can't say that the story really moved me in anyway, i have no great new understanding of the human condition. i probably would have read it a long time ago, but my childhood wasn't really centered on Pulitzers, but Hugos and Nebulas instead. What i did discover though, was another author i wish i could emulate, a style i really enjoyed reading. Got a story idea out of it too, but nothing i'm able to pull off. i don't really have any news to share, no great revelations, no hints on the progress of this conflict. i have yet to see an Iraq citizen in person, even from a distance. Ramadan promises to change that, but it hasn't really started yet. i am not eager. Anyway, i have nothing else to share really, just an pale echoing of Lee's style that wants to come out. Hopefully this shadow wasn't too offensive. Until next time.
--dunerat