Martha has created, in her book packed yurt, a most winning and cozy atmosphere. We sit in quiet companionship, reading late into the night. Martha, crossed legged and back straight. And i, very much a lounger, make no attempt to imitate the ritualised way she reads.
Once i rashly declared i was going ‘to do a Quixote’: read from dusk to dawn. Despite my best intentions, i could not emulate Cervantes’ famous character whose feat of stamina and concentration is one that Martha achieves on a regular basis. She is an indefatigable reader, endowed with amazing powers of concentration. Weeks go by when she never sleeps, reading mental fatigue into submission. These marathon reading sessions conducted in a pale yellow glow of light. Her mind utterly entranced by a book’s contents. A mind at liberty to imagine anything and everything.
Reading is indeed a pure mental pleasure. Sometimes though it leaves me feeling slightly nauseous. i trudge from Martha’s yurt to my own, hoping that sleep will come quickly. The château cloaked in darkness. Glow worms in its grounds.
In becoming a proficient reader i became aware of this universe of ignorance existing – within me! There are piles and piles of books – in the yurts of Martha and Calculus – on subjects i have no knowledge whatsoever.
So what is worth reading about? There seemed to be no definitive answer. i became paralysed by the choice of reading material on offer. Thankfully Martha doled out a piece of invaluable advice: that i should give myself up to the randomness of fate.
– Often in this way books find their right readers.
So, following such an anti-plan, i mind ramble through her library. i use the word loosely for, despite her former profession, it is no organised collection of books.
Martha is a big fan of Montaigne, the king of digression, whom these days would probably be diagnosed ADHD.
In summer i sometimes read under Wilders tree; supine and serene in its leafy shade. Sunlight dappling the pages.
When it comes to reading, silence is not an absolute pre-condition. i can in fact read just about anywhere, including the kitchen where i enjoy the domestic clinking sounds of a meal in preparation. If i am not then involved in the actual cooking!