4th September

4^th September

“Enough. Once science has spoken, one should remain silent”

I just finished reading Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne and liked that quote. The book was interesting, and its nice to finish another classic, although I suffered from my major complaint with books from that period. Namely how the author often diverges from the story, often with rambling monologues. While never ruining the book, they do add a lot of filler. Also the annoying tendency of at least one of the characters for irritating bursts of emotion, of which Axel is guilty in this book!

I am currently reading two books (of course!), one being the text book for the course in Islamic Art that will start at the end of the month. Islam, Art and Architecture by Markus Hattstein is a huge tomb of a book, full of amazing pictures and interesting writing and its very interesting to read. I am much more interested in the architecture of the Islamic world than its art, which is mainly limited to calligraphy, and some of the pictures are breathtaking. It is fuelling my travelling desires… so many great buildings to see! Alas, many are in Iran, Afghanistan and Syria so whether I will ever get to see them is another matter.

The other book is Lolita by Nabokov, an infamous story as I am sure you are well aware, but something I had on the kindle and thought I should read, mainly due to its infamy. I have only just started, and from what I can see, its very well written and the prose is engaging, although the subject matter – well, lives up to its reputation.