Wood, Fire, Sorcery: Bibliotherapy Zine #16

  • 1 Jun, 2021

"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking." ~ Haruki Murakami

Welcome to another issue of Bibliotherapy Zine - an effort to showcase goodreads at random from my reading history, in an attempt to nudge you to read more, to read beyond the current bestsellers / trending lists. Hope it helps! ~ Nitin

(WANT TO BOOST YOUR READING HABIT this year? JOIN THE TELEGRAM CHANNEL [T.ME/READMORE2021] TO RECEIVE REGULAR NUDGES.
Also, ADD YOURSELF TO THE BIBLIOTHERAPY READERS' LIST for personalized recommendations - coming soon)

[I] HARUKI MURAKAMI:- NORWEGIAN WOOD (1987) + KAFKA ON THE SHORE (2005)

The year - 2015. I spot the title of my favourite Beatles song while browsing a friend's bookshelf. I borrow it for my next read. Courtesy a tune composed 50 years earlier in England, I'm introduced to a new author from Japan...

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Out of the six Murakamis I've had the pleasure of reading so far, Kafka on the Shore is the closest to heart. Not only does its protagonist get to live inside a library for a while, but last summer, this book also helped in ending one of my worst reading slumps ever...

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[II] RAY BRADBURY:- FAHRENHEIT 451 (1953)

The latest book to blow my mind...

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Instead of stuffing your head with social media every night, try this...

"What you’ve got to do from this night forward is stuff your head with more different things from various fields . . . I’ll give you a program to follow every night, very simple program. For the next thousand nights, before you go to bed every night, read one short story. That’ll take you ten minutes, 15 minutes. Okay, then read one poem a night from the vast history of poetry. Stay away from most modern poems. It’s crap. It’s not poetry! It’s not poetry. Now if you want to kid yourself and write lines that look like poems, go ahead and do it, but you’ll go nowhere. Read the great poets, go back and read Shakespeare, read Alexander Pope, read Robert Frost. But one poem a night, one short story a night, one essay a night, for the next 1,000 nights. From various fields: archaeology, zoology, biology, all the great philosophers of time, comparing them. Read the essays of Aldous Huxley, read Loren Eiseley, great anthropologist. . . I want you to read essays in every field. On politics, analyzing literature, pick your own. But that means that every night then, before you go to bed, you’re stuffing your head with one poem, one short story, one essay—at the end of a thousand nights, Jesus God, you’ll be full of stuff, won’t you?" ~ Ray Bradbury (2001)

Watch the scintillating lecture in full below... (54 minutes)

Better than any of your Twitter Spaces / Clubhouse rooms.

Also, Find an extensive collection of wisdom from Ray Bradbury here...

And finally, enjoy this vintage documentary from 1963 on his story as a writer (25 minutes)...

[III] JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE:- THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE (1779)

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To know more about the life and times of Mr Von Goethe, check out this illustrated School of Life article.

Highly recommended viewing for kids of all ages...

And from the archives, a collection of Fantasia-related internet goodies in one place...

ADD TO LIBRARY

[I] HARUKI MURAKAMI:-
a. NORWEGIAN WOOD (1987)
b. KAFKA ON THE SHORE (2005)
[II] RAY BRADBURY:- FAHRENHEIT 451 (1953)

If you want any assistance with picking up your next read, feel free to message me on Instagram / LinkedIn. See you soon with Zine #17. Till then, happy reading! ~ Nitin

JOIN THE TELEGRAM CHANNEL [T.ME/READMORE2021] TO RECEIVE BIBLIOTHERAPY UPDATES, OR SIGN UP BELOW TO READ MORE...

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