Book | A Zestful Quest

I’ve done something yesterday that I wasn’t able to do in a long long time: I’ve finished a book… I know that might sound odd to some but I haven’t been able to finish a book in years. I always start reading them but I never finish. Last Friday when I was at the hospital I had to wait for an hour so I was clever this time and brought a book. I started reading this book for the third time in December last year when I had to go see the doctor for a checkup on what happened in October. Needless to say that I stopped reading again after that particular occasion until Friday last week. I remember I was at page fifty of 177 but started at page thirty again and by the time I was called in by the doctor I was at page seventy. I have to admit when the doctor called I didn’t feel like putting the book away, I wanted to continue reading and was slightly disappointed that I had to put it in my handbag where it has been hidden till last night…

Last night I decided to have an early night and read the book instead of spending a few hours playing my Sudoku game. It was a strange decision because playing a Sudoku game is a challenge to me while reading a book seemed to have lost its glam over the years and I think it has to do with me not being patient and in a way with trying to find closure. I always had endless to-do-lists and they used to stress me out, so these days I try to manage things in a better way and finish them. It’s better to finish a few than having a list of half-done unfinished projects. Reading a book would be one of them since I don’t have time to finish it within a day for instance. I would have to continue reading it for at least a few days or even weeks which would cause a possibility for procrastination hence not finishing the book at all. Which is exactly what happened all those years; there would always be a better moment or the next day…

So finishing this book was quite an achievement and I couldn’t have done it without help from someone who didn’t even realise that he has been an example to me, has been unknowingly given me the encouragement that I needed. I read about treasures, destiny, the One true love, about losing everything, about leaving the past behind and living in the moment: here and now, about giving up everything and start allover again from scratch, about the universal language and the Soul of the World, about omens, the Philosophers Stone and the Water of Life, about despair and about hope. It was the right moment to continue reading and the right evening to finish the book. It all started to make sense to me while I was able to take in each and every word, read between the lines and gather the deeper meaning and understanding of what the author was trying to tell.

I’ve been touched by this book and found my long lost hunger for words, knowledge, facts, wisdom and much needed lessons in life again. So from now on I will continue to feed the mind and soul and try to finish more books. Thank you… you know who you are!

© Zesty Gal, The Soul of the World

The Alchemist, by William Fettes Douglas 1822-1891

I went to an amazing place last Sunday: the British Library, near St Pancras tube station. I wanted to see a temporary exhibition called ‘The Printed Face of the European Avant Garde 1900-1937’. It was nice but I guess I have seen most of the printed books, posters, record covers and brochures at exhibitions in the Lowlands already. One thing was quite funny: ‘de Stijl’ was one of the subjects of the exhibition as part of the Avant Garde. Each subject was linked to the city of origin. So the first thing I noticed when I walked in was my own place of birth ‘Leiden’ printed in huge block capitals followed by ‘Amsterdam’. I have to admit I had this funny feeling all of a sudden. It’s just weird to see such a familiar name in such an unfamiliar place.

The other section is a permanent exhibition where you can find books, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, photographs and stamps. Examples are the Magna Carta, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground by Lewis Carroll, Shakespeare’s First Folio of works, the Gutenberg Bible and Mozart’s music scores along with some other scores of great composers. I was sneaking a few pictures when I was told off by the security guard so my camera ended up in my handbag. I think this part of the British Library was the most interesting part to be honest. I love to see all the old handwritten books, the thick paper, the beautiful bright colour illustrations in the bibles and manuscripts. It’s a shame that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures because these really are wonderful treasures.

Another part that caught my eye was the King’s Library: a glass tower of books at the heart of the British Library. The private collection of George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820. The Tower is designed by Colin St John Wilson, architect of the St Pancras building. Possibly inspired by a similar tower at Yale University in the United States. It has six levels all linked by one internal staircase and two lifts. All book cases are on rollers so they can easily be pulled back to allow access. The books are kept in a controlled environment with a temperature of 16º C [61º F] and 50% relative humidity. The Tower houses the King’s Library and the private library of the politician Thomas Grenville, about 105000 volumes in total.

The King’s Library Collection compromises around 85000 volumes, mostly books and pamphlets with smaller numbers of periodicals, maps and atlases some of which are manuscript dated from the 1450s to the 1830s. Almost all printed in Europe or America. Much of the material is in English or Latin, but many other languages are well represented especially Greek, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish.