Sunday, August 3, 2008

Fyodor Dostoevsky

There were a few things that I should've done today. Like read an article for my research paper. Or make the reaction paper to the play we watched last Friday.

Instead, I found myself among the crowd in SM North - braving the heavy rains for the mallwide sale. I didn't even know that there was a sale. hehe

It has been a while since I made a pilgrimage to Booksale so I made my way through the crowd - it seemed that the whole of Metro Manila was besieging the mall just to avail of discounted purchases. My sole purpose: see what's new in the bargain bookstore.

That's how I ended up buying Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

Reading the first few chapters is punishing work. A few pages into the story and then you're confronted with a drunken man's monologue that goes on for about eight pages. Then you come across an entire chapter devoted entirely to a letter. Then there are these Russian names that are a challenge to remember - Raskolnikov, Marmeladov, Svidrigailov, Lippevechsel, Praskovya Pavlovna, Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin - names seemingly borne out of an unfortunate Scrabble accident. I may not be able to continue reading this literary masterpiece though, all those "should've been done's" will come back to haunt me tomorrow...

An afterthought: though my purchase may have been seemingly random, the book title has an eerily fitting connection to my Kas 110 research...serendipity perhaps? hmmmmm....

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