Sunday, August 31, 2008

the feeling that it is happening

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- grisham
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as i rushed through the gates to catch the train, out of breath and sweating, i realised it was one of those days when i had never really woken up. it seems to help to go for a walk in the mornings rather than starting right in on the laptop. anyway, i was in a weird mood as i sat down to a book my father had just given to me. trash for the train - john grisham's the chamber.

the strange thing was that i knew somehow as i ploughed through the introductory pages, reading about a ku klux klan murder of a jewish lawyer and how one of the accomplices got caught, that there would soon be some reference to the netherlands. this is not a randomly selected country for me, far from it in fact,

and then there it was, on page 80 or thereabouts. a mention that the imprisoned man's nephew lived in amsterdam.

Monday, August 25, 2008

a synchronique avond


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* steven gould
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I visited an old friend a few days ago. The library is still small and inadequate; nevertheless, i browsed the shelves and four books leapt out at me.

When I am planning to move to a place, it is ... interesting to see it crop up in an American scifi thriller (Reflex):

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And it wasn't just being in one room. Davy lived outdoors more than most people. Weather didn't constrain him the way it did others. If it was raining or snowing or too cold in one place, he simply jumped elsewhere, usually staying in the same hemisphere but not always. Early morning in the States was always a good time for a walk down the esplanade in Brighton or tramping in the high meadows on the Calambrian Way in the mountains of Wales. Late afternoon in Oklahoma was a great time to snorkel at Hamoa Beach on the east side of Maui or to hike up to Puako Petroglyphs on the Big Island.
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There is an extended section in which the female protagonist draws strength from artworks, in her case the paintings in a museum.

Watching Futurama that night Fry ends up saying how important it is to get books of your local library. And I couldn't agree more.