Invisible Cities & Brida
I've been eating books not reading them, or it seems that way, at least these last couple of weeks. This has been a tremendous exercise, and in more ways than I can list. After Meditations, I went on to read Invisible Cities - a masterful creation of Italo Calvino (and pleasantly reminiscent of Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams). The ways in which this book exercises one's imagination is incredible. Poetic in its prose, its read journeys one through a myriad imageries cover to cover. The conversations between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo are deep and insightful, leaving one ever desirous for more. A must read.
After Invisible Cities, I read Coelho's Brida. While I was more dismissive of it to begin with, because both plot and philosophy seemed lacking, I've come to appreciate parts of it since. I've always liked Coelho's single-minded focus on following one's heart, and it resurfaces here. I also liked a paragraph towards the end where the Magus talks about loving things (and people) in the time and space where they belong, and not pulling them out of there and trying to possess them instead (I do paraphrase). I wouldn't call this one a must read, unfortunately. If you'd really like to read Coelho, read The Alchemist instead (or The Pilgrimage, fine), but don't read Brida. And if you'd really like to read Brida, make sure you're not trying to judge the book by its admittedly attractive cover.
On the side, I also went through a Selected Writings of Albert Einstein's at the IHC Library yesterday (it was a thin book). I've always found his words inspirational, and these were no different. A great exercise it is, indeed, to acquaint oneself more intimately with the lives of the great who have lived before us. For what may be a better example for us to follow?
After Invisible Cities, I read Coelho's Brida. While I was more dismissive of it to begin with, because both plot and philosophy seemed lacking, I've come to appreciate parts of it since. I've always liked Coelho's single-minded focus on following one's heart, and it resurfaces here. I also liked a paragraph towards the end where the Magus talks about loving things (and people) in the time and space where they belong, and not pulling them out of there and trying to possess them instead (I do paraphrase). I wouldn't call this one a must read, unfortunately. If you'd really like to read Coelho, read The Alchemist instead (or The Pilgrimage, fine), but don't read Brida. And if you'd really like to read Brida, make sure you're not trying to judge the book by its admittedly attractive cover.
On the side, I also went through a Selected Writings of Albert Einstein's at the IHC Library yesterday (it was a thin book). I've always found his words inspirational, and these were no different. A great exercise it is, indeed, to acquaint oneself more intimately with the lives of the great who have lived before us. For what may be a better example for us to follow?
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