Helluo librorum

I've just finished rearranging my books for the umpteenth time, and decided to count them. I found out that I had more than a hundred books. I really do the rearranging because my frequent reading invariably mixes up the books, and also because I am striving for some semblance of order in my life. (Naks naman!) Hmm. To tell you honestly though, I rarely spend more than half of my monthly allowance on books, because of Booksale. But I really am a sort of escapist when it comes to books. I actually have gone so far to make a hypothesis that I would have credited were I someone who believed in reincarnation: I may have been African in a past life. Why is this, you ask? Well, I enjoy reading the works of African-American or African authors, such as Chinua Achebe, Alice Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lewis de Soto, Laurens van der Post, Wole Soyinka, etc. I only realized that now, and it's quite weird. I can't help it though, they are so much fun to read, so earthy, so realistic, so deep. But if I really want to wipe my head-slate clean I read something else. Hemingway's short stories are good. I used to borrow The First Forty-nine Stories all the time when I was in high school, and my favorite Hemingway novel among those I've read so far is The Sun Also Rises. I don't know what there is about reading Papa Ernest(Yes, I call him that in my head, because he was so handsome. Ay, nababading na ako!) that has a soothing effect on me. Hindi ba dapat nakakabangag siyang basahin dahil ang daming misterio sa mga kaugnayan sa kwento niya? But he tells stories simply, so you don't have to over-analyze. Pero pagdating sa nobela niya ibang kwento na yan. But for all his faults, magaling siya. Pero hindi siya ang paborito kong manunulat. Wala pa akong nahahanap na paborito. Pero siguro hindi na rin dapat maghanap ng paboritong manunulat, kung hindi magbasa na lamang at timbangin ang kanilang sinasabi sa timbangan ng puso at utak. Humahanga ako sa mga manunulat na hindi kumita ng maraming pera ngunit hindi tumigil sa paglikha ng kanilang sining. Sila ang mga tunay na dakila, na hindi nasilaw ng pilak at hindi natakot sa anumang sasabihin o gagawin laban sa kanila. Sila ang nagsikap na manatiling buhay ang ating kasaysayan at katauhan bilang mga Pilipino. Sana'y sila rin ay mabuhay sa ating mga isipan, sa ating pagbasa sa kanilang mga akda, at sa ating pagsulat ng ating mga karanasan.