We are what we eat, say the pundits. I say, we are what we read, and these sites have me salivating for more. I am in awe of all the great minds of history who have recorded their thoughts in an attempt to reveal the soul of the human creature. Every writer writing from the heart, be it fiction or non-fiction, reveals a facet of the human essence at its best, thereby enriching our brief lives beyond our wildest dreams and hopes of perfection on this seemingly imperfect earth.
As Marina Tsvetaeva says so elegantly and profoundly
I know the truth -- give up all other truths!
No need for people anywhere on earth to struggle.
Look -- it is evening, look, it is nearly night:
what do you speak of, poets, lovers, generals?
The wind is level now, the earth is wet with dew,
the storm of stars in the sky will turn to quiet.
And soon all of us will sleep under the earth, we
who never let each other sleep above it.
That is why books and libraries are for me the very epitome of man's ability to transform the mundane to give us a brief glimpse of the stars we secretly reach for.
Trawling through the Author's Perspectives is a blissful experience and if I have to tweet to join in the global celebration of what is good, well then, I will join Twitter and dive in boots and all.
I delved into BookExpo America to listen to Deepak Chopra talking about his book, Buddha, which I will now read, plus The Paris Review Interview Archives where interviews with many of the all time greats from the past are to be found, including Barbara Brandon, Nathaniel Brandon, and Leonard Peikoff discussing Ayn Rand. The interviews are over half an hour long, so will go back to them when I have finished my "homework" for Karen.
I know of quite a few patrons who will be delighted to learn about these sites. Providing children and young adults with lists of these sites, along with all the extras offered by Google etc., will appeal to their technological expertise and will assuredly enhance their reading skills enormously.
And so, a resounding YES to everything in Module 6 which is the core of our business of making books and people come together, even if it eventually is only over the Web and the library as we have known it to date has disappeared. As long as the books themselves, regardless of format, never disappear, all will be well with the world and we may even in the fullness of time recreate Paradise. I will hold my breath!
Thank you again to the team who prepared the course for us thereby once again drawing us into the present with our eyes and ears trained onto the future as it roars towards us.
May Atlas never shrug!
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