A Book, An Afternoon, An Amusement

Like a meal: appetiser, main course, dessert. For the mind

APPETISER:

Shadows Rising by Rohan Monteiro

My friend SHARON LOWEN – odissi dancer, cultural ambassador, teacher and (most importantly) friend – sent me this book. The author is a personal friend of hers. She wants to help him promote the book.

However, I am in that delicate state known to authors as “with book”. People in this condition are (a) unstable (b) desperate to finish the manuscript that is growing ever larger inside their heads ( c) have I mentioned unstable yet?

Authors may remain this way for weeks, months or years, until. Whatever.

Authors in this state would prefer not to even acknowledge the existence of other living authors*. Dead authors are okay because they’re, you know … dead. (exceptions are made, however. See below)

Or maybe that’s just me?

Anyway. So. There’s no question of my reading, never mind reviewing, this possibly excellent novel.

But Sharon is an exceptional person, particularly in the friend department. Saying “no” to her is not an option because she only ever says “yes” – to her friends, to life, to the Universe. She is the quintessential YES! Person.

If you have clicked on her name, you will not need any further convincing.

Therefore, yes: I’m posting about this book, despite not having read it, hoping that at least a few of you, being curious and interested in all manner of delights, will go forth and buy it. Here’s a link: SHADOWS RISING.

MAIN COURSE:

On Saturday, I attended a very enjoyable Guided Reading Meditation (GRM) led by the formidable NILANJANA ROY.

If you’d like to know more about what a GRM is, you’ll need to attend one! There are many ways to approach this activity, but possibly the easiest one is right here on Substack: Readers of 42 Library

Going to this GRM was one of the exceptions (referred to in Appetisers) that I allowed myself.

Not merely because Roy – whom I refer to in my head as “NilRoy” but I’m not sure that she approves – is a friend but also because the Project Bibliotherapy team, Nitin and Nandini, are ALSO friends. Yowza. It’s like when the planets are conjugating (haha. Whatever) and we authors find ourselves attending GRMs, smiling and carrying on as if we were human.

Kunzum Bookshop is a brightly lit, airy, friendly place which even reclusive serial mur…uhh - authors can creep into and not feel oppressed.

NilRoy (sorry! But it’s SO much nicer than just plain old “Roy”) talked about OLGA PEROVSKAYA, a favorite author from her childhood. Then she and N&N read from her marvellously well-preserved old copy while we, the audience, followed along by clicking the links provided, to an online edition of the story. A very cool thing to do, which N&N enable by setting up the link. Some of us are too feeble-witted to do this without assistance, but fortunately there are usually other people present who can do whatever needs doing.

There was a young and lively audience – yes! There really are people willing to come out on a wet Saturday afternoon to listen to an author talking about and reading from a book from her childhood! – plus good questions at the end.

One of these questions remains with me. It was asked by a young woman who, having been told often enough that “reading is good for you”, had gone on to read Kafka and Sylvia Plath. Reading these two authors, she confessed, had left her feeling far from “good”. So, in all sincerity, she wanted to know why or how the statement about reading could be true at all.

NilRoy answered very eloquently, while N&N and I chimed in too. We all made comforting statements about Choosing What You Read and also Reading Ought Not Be Like Medicine etc.

But the question lingers in my mind.

What do we mean when we say that something is “good” for you? Do we mean that it keeps you alive – say, like eating food or breathing? Or that it prevents you from dying suddenly – say, by learning to drive safely? Or – what, exactly?

Reading can get a person into a lot of trouble. Reading Kafka could well turn an otherwise normal person into an insect. Reading revolutionary books might teach a person to see their apparently loving parents as class-enemies to be despised and perhaps murdered in their beds. Reading pornography could possibly produce bug-eyed perverts who will never find love or romantic partners in this life. Reading religious texts can … well, you get the picture.

I would say that reading is something pleasurable, that should NOT be treated as if it were some form of medication. After all, many medicines are only “good for you” if you are unwell.

The true and honest answer to the question is that reading, like crossing a road or waking up in the morning, is a dangerous business. As some wise-acre once said a long time ago, “Life is a death sentence.”

Then again, there IS the option of tuning into N&N and their friendly but also compassionate approach to reading – see above! Cue whatever theme song you prefer!

Enjoy.

DESSERT:

Follow the instructions below. A small paw will appear on the right of the first page that opens.

Having done this, please also try:

Dog – this, so far as I can tell, is the only one other than “cat” that provides a graphic accompaniment! The others are audio-only. But some of them include more than one type of vocalisation …

Raccoon; Rat; Camel; Whale; Goose; Hen; Duck; Horse; Cow; Elephant