Affinity by Sarah Waters is included on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, though not on yours truly - 7 out of 10

 

Affinity by Sarah Waters is included on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, though not on yours truly

 

7 out of 10

 

Sarah Waters has three books on the aforementioned, everyone must read list, however, seeing that the first encounter was not auspicious, who knows what will happen with The Night Watch and Fingersmith, especially the former

 

Fingersmith is in the Crime Department, ergo it could be more palatable, in any case, detective stories do not have the same panache, significance, unless we talk of Crime and Punishment, and such magnum opera

Here, there would have been a link to one of my reviews, probably Crime and Punishment, only I do not have an internet connection, not since some time in the afternoon, yesterday, and it is not a pleasant circumstance

 

Evidently, it could be a blessing ‘in disguise’, it is clear that we are addicted to phones, screens, and life is moving away from ‘reality’, into cyberspace, young ones do not crave to meet others physically, opting for the ethereal

The Zen Master story could be appropriate here, although ethically, a spoiler alert is required, I am unlikely to return to the topic of Affinity, let us just say it did not enthuse me, hence, I take leave of absence or something similar

 

I was just thinking, before I turn to the Zen Master, about According to Mark – maybe I will remember to place the missing links in those spaces, that is, if we return to normal, and do not enter the Russian Federation in the meantime

Penelope Fitzgerald (without connections, there may be mistakes here, I cannot check online) says that the writer is God, he decides on the fate of his personages, indeed, he/she/they have created them in the first place

 

To turn this upside down, I claim I am God (reclusion from the world {wide web} has turn me mad) in the sense that I accept the figures I want in my garden of Heaven, and stay with them forever, banishing the ones I dislike

The thing with heaven is from Umberto Eco -yet another missing send off to another one of my brilliant (better said silly) takes on the world – but no quote, I do not have access to the online libraries now, so it goes:

 

-          The one who does not read lives on life…the reader lives five thousand, reading is immortality backwards

 

This is approximately true, the point about reading and immersing into so many lives is so fantastic, did it say about backwards, and if so, why backwards I wonder, it might be, sure it is my own contribution, which spoils the thing?

Then there is a combination of ideas from Malcolm Bradbury and Schopenhauer – ‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life. As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality. Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…’

 

Meanwhile, Schopenhauer has said you must avoid bad books, or else you have no time for the good ones and I apply this to books that have a population that does not appeal to me, does not satisfy the above, not in absolute terms, to entered the lists of worthy books, they have enchanted others, but it is not my food for thought

It could also be the setting, here we have the beginning ‘I was never so frightened as I am now. They have left me in the dark, with only the light from the window to write by. They have locked the door…’ quite disturbing

 

We need to read about suffering

 

Yet, I could say that I have lived under communism, with its litany (a check if it means what I think it means would have eliminate this possible mistake, but where to go, no net) of horrors, cold, no freedom, blackouts, repression, long queues for anything, and I did my share, I can include a link here, and at the end of this note

 

                http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

I took part in the revolution of 1989, which took down a tyrant, one of the worse, Ceausescu, although the tragicomic thing is that now, after thirty-five years, idiots want to see him coming again, in a different form, clearly, the monster has been dead for all this time, they shot him, after a kangaroo trial it was objected, only he deserved it nevertheless

 

We had presidential elections, first round, and a candidate that promotes Russia (which brought communism and thus Ceausescu and the rest of the horror show, the last is from Clockwork Orange, no link, you know why) the shock being that the elections have to start over again, since Russia has distorted the process!

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”