Books &hearts
While in South Africa I bought a few books in Hermanus, in a bookshop that was called Hemingway's. One was a collection of poems of Auden, whose poems I love even if they are a bit tricky and seemingly nonsensical at times. But I'm even more proud of the other book I bought, which is called One Hundred Great Books in Haiku. And that's exactly what it is: one hundred haikus that sum up the classics of the western book culture. They are simply hilarious and somehow they really capture the spirit of the book sometimes.
For example, earlier this week I finished the miniseries Brideshead Revisited (a very literal and detailed adaptation of the book with Jeremy Irons) and this is what One Hundred had to say about it:
Gay Catholic toffs -
what else to expect from a
man named Evelyn?
I'll give you a few more of my favourites, like Pride and Prejudice:
Single white lass seeks
landed gent for marriage, whist.
No parsons, thank you.
Or the Odyssey:
Aegean forecast -
storms, chance of one-eyed giants,
delays expected.
Or the Canterbury Tales:
Pilgrimmes on spryng braecke -
roadde trippe! Whoe farrtted? Yiuw didde.
Noe, naught meae. Yaes, yiuw.
Frankenstein;
A mad scientist
creates a ghastly Monster
who just wants a hug.
Little women:
Snowdrops hang like tears.
Shy, sweet, saintly Beth has died.
One down, three to go.
And finally, Oedipus;
Chorus: Poor bastard.
Oedipus: This is awful.
Blind seer: Told you so.
Yeah, I know, I know, it was hard not to copy ALL of them but I'm just really really glad I bought this book. Makes me feel like composing a few haikus myself, although I know it will never amount to anything.
Also, the day I left for the airport in Johannesburg, a nice American girl I was staying in the backpacker's with, Barbara, asked me if I wanted any of the books she would leave behind because they were to heavy to drag back home with her. She must have thought I'm a freak, looking at her with open mouth and eyes like saucers, saying: "Why would you want to get rid of Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown??!!"
But hey, not complaining of course, seeing as I now own a hardback copy of it. Hooray!