Recently read an article from a Cuban woman blogger decrying the conditions she encountered in a book fair in Havana. Not much to choose from other than old titles and whatever the Castros happily pump out of their propaganda mill. Words to that effect, in a nutshell.
In America, one seldom experiences book fairs nowadays. There is no need for it. The book market here is saturated with so many titles and looking for quality is like cleaning the stables - so much horse manure to wade through before you stumble on a gem. Book signings happen everyday everywhere but one can't be everywhere everyday so the fallback is the online book review and that can't be trusted either. Book reviewers are generally paid hacks. They review for money! Even the authors review their own work (using pseudonyms, of course)! It's marketing gone mad. Authors write for money, not for literary creativity.
One day, I decided to hold my own "book fair" in the tool shed where I stashed about 80% of my books when we put our house up for sale five years ago. Surprise! I rediscovered my collection of bibles! The oldest was a Hebrew Pentateuch printed in the early 1900's. There were four KJV's I'd picked up at yard sales; two Douay versions (one was leather bound - bought that from the defunct Caldor 19 years ago); "The Other Bible" edited by Barnstone); Another leather bound (white synthetic leather) bible weighing close to 4 pounds published for Freemasons; the original Jerusalem Bible (1966); and several related books (commentaries: The Bible as History; Jewish Literacy (I like it better thant the Torah); The Birth of Christianity; Cracking the Bible Code; and more bible-based works such as two of Dan Brown's books; The Hiram Key; Holy Blood Holy Grail; The Jesus Christ Mysteries; The Jesus Papers; Rosslyn's Guardian of the Secrets of he Holy Grail; Jesus and Yaweh; and many, many more.
In short, I imagined myself on a journey of discovery. Not as a scholar but as a curious Sancho Panza riding with my imaginary Don Quixote! Of course there were other books in the tool shed but I'll just concentrate on the "holy" works. I posted some harmless observations about these bibles in Facebook but elicited no reactions. Conclusion: most people viewed my post as a potential challenge to their beliefs. Perhaps that was one of my intentions. I never thought much about it but it really is intriguing to wonder why we view this supreme being (deity if you will) differently. Assuming there are 100 religious denominations (christian, muslim, buddhist, scientific, pagan, animalistic, etc,) all religions have one common characteristic: exclusion. If you don't belong you go to hell.
I'd like to assume at least one is the right one but which one? That one that promises me 72 virgins? Heck, that'll be lots of work! Or, that one where I can earn my wings and white robe? Or, that one that unites me in a state of perfection to the first source? Or, that one that allows me to come back again for another chance of "graduating" from a sinful life? It's like a trip inside a beehive if debates happen. Everybody gets stung badly. We're all so set in our beliefs that anything different that drifts our way becomes a threat to heaven's stability.
Why is it necessary to believe in a life after death? Isn't one life (this one that I now enjoy) enough? Why impose my presence on others in another world? Why must I suffer the presence of other "souls" in another world? I see nothing wrong with just one life (this one) a long as I don't mess it up (e.g. becoming a negative element by getting consumed with vices or committing wanton acts of criminality). Unfortunately, none of the "holy" books I rediscovered in my tool shed provided me any worthwhile answer. I locked up the tool shed and walked back to the house and looked at my other books.
And I found my other loves! War and Peace; Brothers Karamazov; Anna Karenina; Lady Chatterley's Lover; Robinson Crusoe; Jay Winik's The Great Upheaval; Wizard of Oz; Cold Mountain; Kiyosaki's Prophecy; History of Philosophy by Fuller; History of the Civil War by Dupuy & Dupuy (what funny names!) dog-eared copies of Penthouse and Playboy! Hey, I'm not a eunuch, you know! I still have tons of libido coursing through my veins (Lol). Oh, I've got more in the bathroom bookshelf where I have El Filibusterismo in both Spanish and English plus a phone book with lots of missing pages. Don't ask what happened to the phone book.
My favorite book for now is the "The Elegant Universe" by Brian Greene. I've read it thrice and I still struggle through the maze of theoretical possibilities that hint to a power more omnipotent than Yaweh himself. A "being" or, power, if you will that the human mind will find intriguingly beautiful and wonderful once it is felt. Yes, "felt". Understanding (for me) is still far down the road. I'm still grappling with the multiple universes and the unlimited dimensions waiting for me out "there." I'm still thinking how I'll evade the dark matter flowing through my frail body.
And that that is where my book fair ends for now. Perhaps my Cuban blogger, Yoani Sanchez, has yet to realize how lucky she is with having no "real" book fairs in Cuba. She's getting spared from all my confusions. Hmmm... where do I go after The Elegant Universe?
