(no subject)
Funny thing with books, recently.
A week ago I was at my parents', and they took me to a bookstore so I could choose a birthday present for myself. On one of the shelves I noticed Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss. The author's name, the title and the cover seemed just right, so I thought that's something I'd like to read. But I decided to look around a little more and I noticed one of Murakami's novels. I wanted to read Murakami for a long time so I took it to have a short look at it. Then someone standing just beside me took the same book, looked through the pages and said 'What is it? It's not literature! The paper is worth more than the words!'.
'I asume you're not a Murakami's fan, then', I answered. He was over 50-year old man, dressed casually, with an air of something artsy about him. We started to talk. He never read Murakami, so he was not a very reliable critic, but he was sure that Murakami can't be better than Herman Hesse anyway. Simply because noone can be better than Hesse, in his opinion.
When my parents asked me to leave I had a whole reading list in my notebook (the gentleman said it will broaden my horizons and improve my intelligence; 'every humanist deserves a guide', he said): Hesse, his biography, Hamsun, Asturias, Sabato. And I also had notes that I should hear Richard Strauss' music. 'Remember: Richard, not Johann!'
So I went back home without a book, but very excited after the conversation, already feeling my horizons broad a little. I opened a newspaper and, to my surprise, found an interview with Kiran Desai. After reading it I was even more determined that I should read her book. I also noted name Salman Rushdie she mentioned ('Salman is the family's old friend. He advises me to write many short books instead of one big one - because you get paid the same amount!'). And just a few days later in the virtual world I met Joylita, a Rushdie's fan, who recommended me some of his novels.
Funny thing with books, with signs, isn't it?
A week ago I was at my parents', and they took me to a bookstore so I could choose a birthday present for myself. On one of the shelves I noticed Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss. The author's name, the title and the cover seemed just right, so I thought that's something I'd like to read. But I decided to look around a little more and I noticed one of Murakami's novels. I wanted to read Murakami for a long time so I took it to have a short look at it. Then someone standing just beside me took the same book, looked through the pages and said 'What is it? It's not literature! The paper is worth more than the words!'.
'I asume you're not a Murakami's fan, then', I answered. He was over 50-year old man, dressed casually, with an air of something artsy about him. We started to talk. He never read Murakami, so he was not a very reliable critic, but he was sure that Murakami can't be better than Herman Hesse anyway. Simply because noone can be better than Hesse, in his opinion.
When my parents asked me to leave I had a whole reading list in my notebook (the gentleman said it will broaden my horizons and improve my intelligence; 'every humanist deserves a guide', he said): Hesse, his biography, Hamsun, Asturias, Sabato. And I also had notes that I should hear Richard Strauss' music. 'Remember: Richard, not Johann!'
So I went back home without a book, but very excited after the conversation, already feeling my horizons broad a little. I opened a newspaper and, to my surprise, found an interview with Kiran Desai. After reading it I was even more determined that I should read her book. I also noted name Salman Rushdie she mentioned ('Salman is the family's old friend. He advises me to write many short books instead of one big one - because you get paid the same amount!'). And just a few days later in the virtual world I met Joylita, a Rushdie's fan, who recommended me some of his novels.
Funny thing with books, with signs, isn't it?