The Airportline: Observations

A few months ago, or maybe more, I saw an interview with the Israeli writer Amos Oz. He stroke me as being brilliant, his understanding of the world, the way he reasoned about life and his striking life which he usually began with a walk in the desert at five in the morning followed by very focused writing. I've never read anything by him and soon forgot that I was suppose to, until this weekend, when browsing the amazingly stuffed shelves in Dublin's The Secret Book And Record Store. There, among pages and pages turned by unknown people, I found 'Black Box'. 4 Euros later I greeted Dublin's Sunday sun with a paper bag containing that very book. Now I am reading it simultaneously with Ulf Lundell's Swedish coming of age novel Jack and some coffee. So far they are both amazing, with Amos Oz employing a practical and focused tone that feels almost judicial but somehow also very passionate. And then Lundell, with his airy and often hilarious spoken language and conversations combined with his philosophical and poignant metaphors that paints a Swedish summer landscape with endless beauty. Two books I highly recommend after reading about 100 pages in each.