Heart of Darkness

Well, dear reader, it's been forever since I last made known my adventures in the land of literature. I've given some thought to the significance of literature in general. Isn't it almost as a reflection of our real world, the personhood of a book, almost a soul, just like we see things personally, so every book speaks as a person of its own, except its body is made of thin leaves with a glued spine. To me, the physical book and storytelling are the most compelling elements of literature and that's why I read fiction. 

Now, since the beginning of this year I've not been an active reader because I fell in love, got married, and expanded my territory, venturing forward with a bigger clan and with my beloved by my side. Life is great. I thank God. 

In April, I took up Camus novel The Plague, but two-thirds into the book, I had to DNF it, as my book-people say, did not finish. Then I took on Steinbeck's magnum opus, East of Eden, and finished just in time for my summer holiday. During my vacation, I read Kallocain by Karin Boye, Perfume by Peter Suskind and Robber Bride by Atwood as well as Kungen av Portugallien by Selma Lagerlöf. Also I began Abdulrazak's Paradise: an interesting account of a young boy being sold into slavery in East Africa, before the time of actual Western colonialism; however did not finish that one. 

After reading The Driver's Seat by Muriel Sparks, a novel of mere 128 pages, I reflected some more on the length of books (compare East of Eden, over 700 pages) and the quality of prose. Quality literature is not a matter of the number of pages; Sparks managed to pull off the most memorable and powerful feminist stories on a mere 128 pages. I salute her! But Steinbeck did no worse in captivating the beauty of life and the band of brotherhood on so many more pages. 

One thing, however, is the quality of reading. Reading to progress and reach goals is not very satisfactory. I didn't set a goal for myself this year. Also, I was about to DNF The Heart of Darkness but instead I decided to listen to relevant podcasts about it and stay with the short stories that Oxford Classic Paperbacks have crammed into their edition, those that precede the actual story, so I've not yet read The Heart of Darkness, but soon... I realize that reading is more than anything an enjoyment, a luxury and a privilege, one that makes me far more happier than mindless scrolling on videofeeds.

I'll be back, as the Terminator said. 

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