the open choice of libraries: that you can just walk in and are surrounded by so many books you havn't heard of before, that a simple method to pick one is to go by the cover, or by the title, or by sheer random curiousity.
that's how i arrived at "Vorn" ("In Front") by German author Andreas Bernard: an autobiographic novel about starting a job as a journalist of a trend magazine, adjusting to the "in" and "outs" of the seasons (and of the circle of fellow journalists), and being part of this trendsetting system oneself. joining the game of guessing a person's character by a detail of their outfit, and feeling trendy doing so, not judgemental. and living in 2 worlds: the media/trend world, and the partnership with someone who doesn't fit into this system at all... an interesting and thought-provoking read.
in contrast to that: "The Sigh" ("Der Seufzer"), by Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-born author of the modern autobiographical/political graphic novel "Persepolis", which set the expectations high. turns out, "The Sigh" is a fairy tale story, a tale of 3 daughters, with the youngest = the most beautiful making a wish, which makes a ghost appear... and later the good prince in the dragon skin appears, and so on. only that it doesn't really work for a fairy tale. fairy tale satire? i thought hopefully for a while, as it includes so many bland stereotypes. but no.
next... would be a book about a walking journey ("The Old Ways"), but it starts in December snow, so i guess i will postpone that one a bit.
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(more reading notes: life as a journey with books)
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