I sure am thankful that I learned to love to read and generally never get bored because the way things are currently, not a lot of people are very sociable. Went into a store yesterday with two clerks and li'l ol' me and in spite of the room being quite large they slipped on their masks with practised ease almost like a magician conjuring something out of thin air and didn't even rip out the receipt of the machine to hand it to me. Felt like a leper. Am looking forward to the day someone asks me do sanitise my hands and tell them that I did so just 5 seconds ago when leaving the previous shop.
The books I read currently are not about anything much: A writer who has entered his sixth decade goes on a sea voyage on a commercial vessel carrying containers to revisit some places where he stopped over in his youth. Admiring the views from the vessel's cabin or on deck, sometimes getting ashore for a few hours or a couple of days depending on the loading and unloading schedule of the ship, he is somewhat preoccupied with his enlarged prostate and his thirst for red wine while searching for his literary creative spark. This is probably the kind of book one will only enjoy if one is in a somewhat similar state of mind and at the same point in life. Nostalgia for lost youth and only too aware of it.
Then there is a book about the same writer's literary trials and tribulations, occasionally scoring a bestseller or two, only to slide back into the mass of the mostly unknown authors. In the book he re-introduces some chapters from his books, some of it a bit cheesy and dated, like a 60's psychedelic dream, but some of it quite intriguing, like describing quite fascinating characters.
I read this author originally many years ago, when he was a bestselling author and remember rereading those bestsellers a couple of years ago thinking they were not as great as I thought back then. Now however I seem to have developed a desire to collect and read more of his work, what of it is available. Thankfully the books that are available sell for very reasonable prices of a few dollars apiece.
It seems I have a nostalgia for and some unfinished business with these books.
Well, this is just intended to serve as an excuse to post here again knowing only too well that often time slips through our fiingers and suddenly a fortnight or more has passed since last communique.
