Lockruf

Da seh ich dieses Buch über China bei der Buchhandlung an der Tramhaltestelle aufliegen. Ich schaus mir kurz an & dann überkommt mich die Lust, es zu lesen. Also wirds gekauft & dann rasch, aufs Tram springen, die richtige Nummer steht gerade vor der Türe, in Vorfreude auf zehn Minuten im Buch blättern, ehe ich wieder aussteige. Da zupft mich jemand am Ärmel und ich treffe eine ehemalige Arbeitskollegin. Nix da mit genussvollem Blättern und mir das Buch aneignen. Stattdessen wird aufdatiert & gelacht.

Das Buch muss nun halt bis zum Abend warten, ehe ich es näher inspizieren kann.

Das Mysterium der Zahl - Zahlensymbolik im Kulturvergleich

von Franz Carl Endres und Annemarie Schimmel

Anregende Einstiegslektüre ins Thema Zahlensymbolik. In meiner Wahrnehmung für deutschsprachige Menschen aus dem Abendland geschrieben. Der “Kulturvergleich” fokussiert sich hauptsächlich auf jüdische, christliche und muslimische Interpretationen der Zahlen und ihrer Bedeutung, schlägt manchmal aber auch die Brücke zu den Ägyptern und den Inkas und nach Osten, zum Buddhismus hin.

Erschöpfend ist das Thema mit diesem Büchlein sicher nicht abgehandelt, es gibt aber einen ersten Eindruck von der Vielfalt wie Menschen Zahlen interpretiert haben.

Interessant auch die Abbildungen.

The Little Book of Eastern Wisdom by Priya Hemenway

Bought this little book half a year ago or so in the German translation - Östliche Weisheit. Have been reading in it from time to time. Hemenway portrays in it Sufism, Taoism and Zen.

I liked to read it, it gives an informative overview and has a good mixture of information, texts from the respective traditions and - lots of illustrations! These are in my point of view reason enough to buy this little book.

Artemis Fowl - The Eternity Code

Had the book recommended some time ago. Started reading it before Christmas on my commuting to work and back. First, I was fascinated by the world that got presented to me, but after getting beyond the first hundred pages, I found my interest sinking and sinking. The story itself seems to be so obvious, once the plot has been set and fairy technology will be stronger and better than anything humans can think of and Artemis, well, he is definitely the best of all humans, that’s for sure. The characters also, they are too much stereotyped and for my gusto not filled at all with enough real life to really interest me. Last, but not least, the master criminal kid that is above all order and can do as it pleases, well, perhaps kids do like to have a character like that to identify with, I, personally, simply feel bored.

So, I stopped reading it. And I think, I will not finish reading it.

Reading

For the last few years I haven’t been a great reader. I listened to many audiobooks, that’s for sure, but when it came to real books with reading myself involved, well, I had to decline. Of course with one or two exceptions, i.e. Harry Potter vol. 7.

All the same, I kept up this habit of going to the university library and lending out some books. Just for keeping in touch. Today, I had to bring back the books I had lent some time aog. I decided for two of them to stay a little bit longer with me, provided no one else had claimed an interest to read them meanwhile - and - I got both of them back with me.

As I stood at the tramway station, the tramway I needed to take just leaving the station when I was in sight distance, I took out one of them & started reading. And I just found it was so incredibly interesting to read this introduction into process theology and the right moment for me to get in touch with this whole story again, it was quite funny and made me smile a lot.

Sometimes, things simply just fit in, don’t they?