(17/07/22)
This book is very special to me.
I purchased it at a flea market when I was very young, fascinated by how very old it was. It was in my possession for years and I never read the whole thing. Instead, at random moments in my life, I opened it, read a few sentences and carried those fragments inside me throughout the years, always collecting some new ones after a while. I would imagine who owned it, how they lived and how they died. It inspired me to write a whole story of my own and any book that inspires you to write is a special one.
And the best thing about this little book - someone marked the sentences they liked. Often reading only those, it made me feel like I was getting to know some stranger from the past. When I finally picked up the book and decided to read it “properly”, I also underlined sentences and often they were already marked or our lines would meet. I was sharing that reading experience with someone from the past, someone probably already dead, but very present in those moments. I could smile when we shared feelings for a piece of old writing and imagine what kind of person it was. It was magical and made this book something more than a book to me, so it's hard to judge it as one.
But about its content I will say this: you will find emotional, beautifully written poetic prose here, that is often harsh or sad, decadent or pessimistic and with questionable morals, but carries sentiments about loneliness, nature and arts that will touch your soul. Mostly reflections with dark truths underneath. Some pieces were just strange and I can't say I fully understood them, but I don't feel like the purpose of poetry is to always understand it, it's more about making you feel and imagine and they did just that. There were also some that I loved and the amount of quotes that you can collect here is enormous.
So even if you won't share this book with a stranger from the past, you can find something special in it.
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