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Jun. 10th, 2016
Manuscript Found In Accra
Jun. 10th, 2016 04:32 pmI have re-listened to Manuscript Found in Accra at least 5 times now during the course of the 2-week check out period, and some sections many more times than that.
Written by Paulo Coelho, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, and read by Jeremy Irons (yes, THAT Jeremy Irons)
What I find most absolutely fascinating about this book is it's setting. The primary speaker, known only as the Copt, wants to talk about life on the eve of battle, and not just any battle. It's the Siege of Jerusalem during the First Crusades.
That setting brings home the messages presented by the Copt as he answers the questions of the attendees. When he talks about life, it's on the brink of destruction, and as history shows, it was the destruction of many. Given the setting, you can assume that easily 80% or more of the attendees will die during the upcoming battle, but in this moment they are just a group of people talking about life, hanging on to whatever shred of hope they can. The brief one or two sentences introducing each character still manage to bring the reader close to those characters, because with just the right amount of info you can so easily imagine this or that person to be people you know in your day-to-day life today.
Another thing I like about it is that although it's set in Jerusalem during the Crusades, and although there are religious undertones, that's the extent of the religiousness of this book. It draws more on the combined view of man as a simple biological creature making his way through his life with all his faults and glories trailing along with him. Yeah, there's a reference here or there to a soul or God, but even those references take a back seat to the overarching concept of basic decency and a universal view of existence.
A review of the book likens the writing style to an iPod shuffle where "anything and everything can be read selectively in order to provide either insight into or justification for one’s particular perspective." This is true because each of the aforementioned characters is in a different state of life and past affairs. They have all gathered due to their shared current-moment state of affairs (the threat of the siege), but they each come from different backgrounds and histories and have differing perceived futures before them. The questions remind the reader that every person on the planet has their own "things" they are going through, even on the eve of battle, or perhaps, ESPECIALLY on the eve of battle.
It reminds me of Robert Fulghum's books, which truly are iPod shuffle books, and with just as much life insight.
Written by Paulo Coelho, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, and read by Jeremy Irons (yes, THAT Jeremy Irons)
What I find most absolutely fascinating about this book is it's setting. The primary speaker, known only as the Copt, wants to talk about life on the eve of battle, and not just any battle. It's the Siege of Jerusalem during the First Crusades.
That setting brings home the messages presented by the Copt as he answers the questions of the attendees. When he talks about life, it's on the brink of destruction, and as history shows, it was the destruction of many. Given the setting, you can assume that easily 80% or more of the attendees will die during the upcoming battle, but in this moment they are just a group of people talking about life, hanging on to whatever shred of hope they can. The brief one or two sentences introducing each character still manage to bring the reader close to those characters, because with just the right amount of info you can so easily imagine this or that person to be people you know in your day-to-day life today.
Another thing I like about it is that although it's set in Jerusalem during the Crusades, and although there are religious undertones, that's the extent of the religiousness of this book. It draws more on the combined view of man as a simple biological creature making his way through his life with all his faults and glories trailing along with him. Yeah, there's a reference here or there to a soul or God, but even those references take a back seat to the overarching concept of basic decency and a universal view of existence.
A review of the book likens the writing style to an iPod shuffle where "anything and everything can be read selectively in order to provide either insight into or justification for one’s particular perspective." This is true because each of the aforementioned characters is in a different state of life and past affairs. They have all gathered due to their shared current-moment state of affairs (the threat of the siege), but they each come from different backgrounds and histories and have differing perceived futures before them. The questions remind the reader that every person on the planet has their own "things" they are going through, even on the eve of battle, or perhaps, ESPECIALLY on the eve of battle.
It reminds me of Robert Fulghum's books, which truly are iPod shuffle books, and with just as much life insight.