South Korea II - 5

From the time I could read, books became my favourite objects. Dreaming away in a world of fantasy and other realities was so important to me .. In a way I "ate" books. The letters, the words, the pictures .. I hungered for them.

I grew up in Suriname, at the time still a part of the Netherlands. Our schoolbooks were in Dutch and our reading books were about "Ot and Sien" two Dutch children and stories about their daily life. I learnt about the four seasons, about having to wear a coat when it was cold, about autumn storms, about winter. There were these pictures of a world turned white overnight .. it was sensational. Those were situations totally unknown to a child of the tropics.

I just could not wait for the new schoolbooks to arrive during the "big holidays". The moment they did, I started to read again, so by the time we actually had to read them in class together, I already knew the stories by heart.

Where would I have been without books.
I discovered many authors and one of my favourites in my twenties and thirties was Edgar Mittelholzer, who wrote a plantation series. A description of life before the abolition and situated in my country's neighbour country,  former British Guyana. Oh boy .. they were a great read.

Edgar Austin Mittelholzer (16 December 1909 - 5 May 1965) was a Guyanese novelist, the earliest novelist from the West Indian region to establish himself in Europe and gain a significant European readership. Mittelholzer, who earned his living almost exclusively by writing fiction, is considered the first professional novelist to come out of the English-speaking Caribbean. His novels include characters and situations from a variety of places within the Caribbean, and range in time from the early period of European settlement to the twentieth century. They feature a cross-section of ethnic groups and social classes, dealing with subjects of historical, political, psychological, and moral interest. Mittelholzer is "certainly the most prolific novelist to be produced by the Caribbean". (with thanks to Wikipedia).

It seems like going through memory lane here.

I love to read English written book, but a friend of mine, re-introduced me to Dutch authors. I appreciate that very much, but thus far they are a bit "heavy" to digest. I look forward, though, to get acquainted again. New titles are welcome!!

Yesterday I wrote a blog about the collection I took with me to South Korea. Yes,  I am still a fervent reader. Novels,  popular science and studying certain subjects keep me very, very busy.
The librarian inside of me will never ever leave me alone.
Interestingly enough I do not like reading magazines. It is only, when I have to wait at the hairdresser's that I pick up a gossip magazine to catch some "news".