Nemrég olvastam David Sedaristól a Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls című könyvet, ami esszék, novellák gyűjteménye. Az úr egy amerikai komikus, a szórakozás garantált volt, de arra tényleg nem számítottam, hogy hangos nevetésben fogok helyenként kitörni a gyakran stand-up comedy-szerű jeleneteken. Vannak érzelgősebb és komolyabb novellák is persze, és valahogy a humorosak is kissé becsapósak, mert bár könnyeden ragadják meg a témát első ránézésre, kicsit oldalról pislantva rájuk, és belegondolva, már mindenhol ott van a társadalomkritika is. Sokszor elgondolkodtató.
Kedvenc novelláim voltak: Easy, Tiger, Dentists Without Borders, Standing By, The Happy Place, Dog Days.
Szimpatikus komikus ez a fickó. :)
Ez a könyv egyébként tipikusan az, amiről nehéz írni, szóval inkább olvassátok el ti is, íme egy kis kedvcsináló ízelítő:
"Thanks to Japanese I and II, I'm able to buy train tickets, count to nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, and say, whenever someone is giving me change, „Now you are giving me change.” I can manage in a restaurant, take a cab, and even make small talk with the driver. „Do you have children?” I ask. „Will you take a vacation this year?” "Where to?" When he turns it around, as Japanese cabdrivers are inclined to do, I tell him that I have three children, a big boy and two little girls. If Pimsleur* included „I am a middle-aged homosexual and thus make do with a niece I never see and a very small grandson,” I'd say that. In the meantime, I work with what I have."
"I should be used to the way Americans dress when traveling, yet it sill manages to amaze me. It's as if the person next to you had been washing shoe polish off a pig, then suddenly threw down his sponge saying, „Fuck this. I'm going to Los Angeles!”
“... even if I were informed, what's the likelihood of changing anyone's opinion, especially a couple of strangers'? If my own little mind is nailed shut, why wouldn't theirs be?”
“For an American, though, Australia seems pretty familiar: same wide streets, same office towers. It’s Canada in a thong, or that’s the initial impression.”
“In my house, our parents put us to bed with two simple words: “Shut up.” That was always the last thing we heard before our lights were turned off. Our artwork did not hang on the refrigerator or anywhere near it, because our parents recognized it for what it was: crap. They did not live in a child’s house, we lived in theirs.”
*A Pimsleur egy nyelvtanuló oldal és program.
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