Here are some books or writers I like.
This is not a book title, nor is it the name of a writer. It is the motto -and indeed the main vocabulary- of the librarian depicted in the 'Disk-World' books by Terry Pratched. The Diskworld is a world -I wouldn't dare to call it a fictional world- that's flat, carried on the back of four Elephants that on their turn are carried by one big turtle, and is inhabited by people much like us. There might be sorcerers, dwarfs, dragons and a man called C.M.O.T. Dibbler, but then again, our world has politicians, managers, big corporations and a man called Bill Gates. Nothing different really. The books are absolutely hilarious and filled with beautiful and brilliant ideas.
... A careful arrangement of sticks had been constructed around them. Bits of thin wood shadowed some parts of the rocks. Small metal mirrors directed sunlight towards other areas. Paper cones at odd angles appeared to be funnelling the breeze to very precise points. [.....] Brotha took the tiny mountain. It had a strange, unreal heaviness -to his hand it felt like a pound or so, but in his head it weighted thousands of very, very small tons...
(excerpt from Small Gods)
How about a pastime for the really patient ones: why not try your hand at bonsai-mountains? I have one at home, and my house has become a better place ever since...
The librarian I prefer to quote is the librarian at the 'Unseen University', centre of knowledge on the occult, and in some magical accident was turned into an Orangutang (don't ask). He came to the conclusion that life as an ape had many pro's -including the reduction of life's problems to the one question where the next banana was going to be found- and resisted all attempts to reform him ever since.
My favourite internet-link: The L-Space Web
--o--
(only available in Dutch as far as I know)
This is a series of boy-books (Dutch expression) about three boys and their adventures.
The main charm of these books is reminiscence to a world that was about just dying away when I was growing up. The Netherlands -and for that matter the rest of the world- in the fifty's, in a time of simplicity, optimism and opportunity. Not everything regulated down to 5 decimals, countries still separated by some serious borders in Europe, that sort of thing.
The books -34 by the original writer- are funny and as far as boys-books can go quite realistic. The writer took real pride in checking his facts and places. Whenever I see MacGyver on tv, he more or less reminds me of the three boys in these books.
--o--
Quote:
'Honoria Glossop,' I wrote, 'was one of those large, strenuous dynamic girls with the physique of a middleweight catch-as-catch-can wrestler and a laugh resembling the sound made by the Scotch Express going under a bridge. The effect she had on me was to make me slide into a cellar and lie low till they blew the All Clear'
Unquote.
Need I say more? This man made Jeeves and wooster and Blandings Castle immortal. A lost world where twit-of-the--year-gentlemen were absolutely lost without their valet or butler, where aunt's were dreaded nephew-crushers and clubs still were men-only.
--o--
A book that enlightened me, and showed me the meaning life. It is the story of a man, forced of the world with nothing more then a towel, an alien friend called Ford Prefect and an electronic book with the reassuring words 'DON'T PANIC' on the cover.
'Alright,' said Deep Thought, 'The answer to the Great Question...'
'Yes...!'
'Of Life, the Universe and Everything...' said Deep Thought.
'Yes...!'
'Is...,' said deep thought, and paused.
'Yes...!'
'Is...'
'Yes...!!!...?'
'forty-two,' said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.
What more can anyone want?
--o--
Three men in a boat
(to say nothing of the dog)
((nee G, dit is geen sneer naar je honden, dit is echt de ondertitel van het boek))
I red this book as a child, and recently was reminded of it by the people on the Wodehouse discussion group, so I went to the library and red it again. I remember liking it as a child, but it was better, much better then I remembered.
Life's experiences have added to the sense of recognition in a big way. I go on camping-trips with friends several times a year, and if only I had the gifted pen of Jerome, new volumes along the same lines would see daylight every year. If ladies want to learn what's going on when their spouses leave to spend a weekend with the boys, read this, and you'll know.
Besides this direct connection to my life, I also like the way another time and place links with my time and place. Were it not for some delivery-boys -a now lost breed- and some steamboats on the river, nothing would indicate how much life has changed over the last 110 years.
--o--
