Libraries

"In those days libraries were still sacred places. One went into the 'stacks', dusted off the old books one needed to read, treasured their covers, sniffed their bindings, and smiled by their sometimes strange, outdated spellings. Then came the best part, randomly lifting out books on the same shelf out of pure curiosity, and finding the most unexpected things. We were informally trained how to think about sources, how to evaluate them, compare them, dismiss them, enjoy them. Chance was built into the learning process. Surprise too." (Anderson, 2016, p. 196)

I just completed reading Benedict Anderson's very special and moving autobiography. He talked so much about how it was like for him, fieldwork, and university scene over the years, and of a passing era... It felt so sad. There's a longing within me, I wished I had his kind of education, I wish I had an interest in languages, and picked up many, I wish I had access to the minds of people different from me... But... Who I am today and how I came to be... are totally different from Ben's own. I will never be like him.

They say you should only try to be yourself. And maybe I shall be... I was very intrigued by the things I am recently reading. I read another book called Making Stories by Jerome Bruner and he cited people that Ben cited about - great minds of long ago. And in one of my readings, though the article was very poorly written, the author had quoted something from Walter Benjamin, whom Ben was greatly influenced by, so I went to look for a collection of Walter Benjamin's work, and I loved an article inside about storytelling. I looked at the pages the author cited as I held that book in my hand imagining that someone once held a book just like mine in another library in another world, at that particular page 89, stopped, paused and found it quotable.

This is my own way of discovery through "chance" and "surprise", through how one person cites another. And recently, I have been more intrigued by the words of foreigners and a time long past. I don't have any background of these people, but at least I am exposed to a bit of their work and thinking.

Reference
Anderson, B. (2016) A life beyond boundaries. London, New York: Verso