I haven't seen my twin cousin (we were born two weeks apart) in four years. We made up for it in five hours, when he kidnapped me in Beyrouth, took me out to lunch ,gave me a tour of the city and of course caffeinated me. He teased me a lot. But he also gave in by dropping my husband and I at an art gallery. Then he turned to me and asked : "Do you need to go to the bookstore?"
He hadn't forgotten my love for books! I was touched by that detail.
I must not walk into a bookstore with a caffeine rush. No wonder Borders and Starbucks collaborate! This morning, as I was sipping my grande skinny cappuccino, I remembered my daughter's schoolbooks had arrived and I rushed to pick them up, a warm paper cup of coffee in hand.
The smell of the paper, the color of the book covers. I felt at home at the pretty French bookstore near our school. I tied my hands behind my back and resisted searching for more books to grace my night stand. I already have so many piling up to be read, many of which I purchased this summer because I know the imported French books in Dubai are much more costly.
So I walked in, coffee in hand, and marched right up to the comics section. This is what my ten year old son resorts to now that I have forbidden him to watch DVDs and TV. In my opinion, comics aren't so bad. They have covers and a binding and actual text. They fit the description of books, even though I would much prefer he read entire paragraphs that are not entirely in direct speech.
He has already finished the entire manga collection of Naruto. He awaits the upcoming volumes every trimester. He has now ventured into Alix, a Roman hero living the Roman, but by extension also the Greek and Ancient Egyptian experiences. He has always been a fan of that historical period and thoroughly enjoys battle stories and legends of legionnaires. I found six volumes and bought him all six. That will provide me with interesting prizes for good behavior and/ or good grades.
I also snuck in an adaptation of Le Petit Prince in comics. When he rereads it for class, he can always take the short cut to really understand the classic.
I really should never walk into a bookshop while drinking coffee!
not only was he a total gracious host..but the twin cousin has a wicked sense of humor that is very typical of this great family....one can say so much about a city that has a real, indigenous and extremely dynamic print industry. beirut is many things for many people, but for me it is the simple fact that it is a city has a real feel to it as a home and the people who live in it represent that....
ReplyDeleteBart( as he is known to people who love him),this particular cousin is special in his dry humour,that borders sometime on the obscene.On a trip last year to Beirut last year,I took the blogger's son,then a 9-year old kid with me.At a dinner party,he met Bart for the first time.He saw that he was chain smoking and going out to the veranda to avoid the wrath of the finiky non smokers like myself. He lamented at the boy and asked him whether he wanted to try a smoke.Taken aback the boy,said:but smoking will kill you!Bart with his usual dryness,shot back:but we will all die one day.I am sure the kid will remember this experience all his life!
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