This is a treat! Famed author Haruki Murakami will be writing an advice column in Japan, will tackle any subject, and will respond in a variety of languages. It might be worth talking to him about jazz one of these days.
Galleycat has more here.
Literature
[Lit] ‘Dr. Zhivago’: The Classic Book That Was Almost Never Published
Russia bans books and movies from time to time. It takes a lot of cheek to compare banning a literary classic like Boris Pasternak’s ‘Dr. Zhivago‘ to trash like Pussy Riot, but this is what one learns to expect from the Huffington Post.
Still, the literary world would have been a poorer place had ‘Dr. Zhivago’ had never seen the light of day.
Read Petra Couvée’s article for HuffPo here.
[Lit/Culture] Why Did Borges Hate Soccer?
I’m ambivalent towards soccer. As a kid, I supported a few teams (namely Celta Vigo and Cruz Azul), but never felt the raging support some comrades who love ‘the beautiful game’ felt for their teams. It was no big deal to me, just something fun to watch.
Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges, who witnessed fascism and Peronism destroy his country, makes some valid points against soccer for the same reasons people who become zealots for politics and religion (even fashion, as I’ve seen some women go at it over dresses more than once in my life). It causes strife and division for no good reason.
The New Republic posts the story here.
Homenaje a Octavio Paz por la Academia Mexicana de la Lengua
Octavio Paz is to Mexican literature what Jorge Luis Borges is to Argentine: a demigod. He is being honored by the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua for his contributions to literature.
The Tamayo Museum has more on this event here.
[Photo] Oxford Union Library
A slice of heaven for me.
Many thanks to mirrior, who posted this photo today. I love libraries. My best memory comes from them, spending time with my parents or grandparents, learning about the world, letting my imagination run wild, while also keeping it grounded with history, philosophy and religion. It was a kindred soul, Jorge Luis Borges, who once quipped, “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” Perhaps he’s right.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 