I received a really nice message from someone yesterday asking if I could recommend some books. of course I took it very seriously so here we are. this week I’m just recommending links relating to books, as I’ve been addicted to reading since I was a child. for many years I used books to be somewhere else, because I was often not where I wanted to be, where I was comfortable, and where I felt intellectually stimulated. one summer my grandmother told me that I should try reading my books twice because I was reading a book a day and my demands for new books were becoming a strain on our budget. if you’re reading this and are like “you should’ve gone to the library instead!”, i’m talking about a seaside village in turkey in 2001, there was no library babe. there was only a big migros with a small magazine and pulp section. be so fr
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Reading: As Dangerous as Any Drug?
“Much of this hand-wringing was directed (by men) at women readers… who were thought to be particularly susceptible to the dangers that reading presented. It would make them less active, less mobile, less productive […The philosopher Johann Fichte said: ‘Reading, like any other narcotic, sets one in a comfortable state suspended between sleep and wakefulness. It lulls one into a sweet oblivion.’”
SOUND
Dune, Book 1 (Unabridged Audiobook) narrated by George Guidall
this audiobook is the king of all audiobooks. george guidall is incredible: i love and hate his princess irulan voice. the recording is so much better than the movie! also makes you realise how often frank herbert used the word “presently”.
VIDEO
i went to bilkent university, which has the best library i’ve ever been to - yes, to this day. european university libraries have nothing on the approachability and usefulness of bilkent’s library, for a young person interested in self-development. this library is where i gave myself an education in european literature, spending so much time on the basement floor (-1) looking through everything, going aisle by aisle, devouring any book that sounded interesting. i was especially fond of the french literature section, where i found all of simone de beauvoir’s oeuvre (yes all of it), cocteau, rimbaud, genet, sartre - it was a total feast. this same section is also where came across bonjour tristesse. i read it during a hot summer, very aware that i was 20 and full of jeunesse that needed to made good use of. a bit later, i found that there was a bonjour tristesse film directed by the infamous tyrant, otto preminger. it’s a delight, and it’s on youtube. have a watch.
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Cover of Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
it’s my favourite book!
