Los libros que me cambiaron la vida – Blog

Why did I start reading? Why do I keep reading so much? A reflection on the books that (I think) changed my life – and the stories that there are landslides.

There are librars that mark you. They open doors to other worlds, make you think differently and stay with you, sometimes forever. I share here how my story began with reading and some of those books that changed me.

But, let’s go for steps. Why do I read?

How everything started

I am the youngest of four brothers, which basicly significant that I did not make a grain case and enjoyed enough freedom. I had access to the Librars of my older brothers, so I learned to read soon and devoured the entire collections of Astérix AND TintinWhose adventures fascinated me.

During my years at the French Lyceum of Barcelona it was decisive for a teacher to deal with us: For every four library we read, an extra point would add to us in the final note. That was enough for me. That is, at first, I did not read for the love of literature, but focused on the amount of library that was able to read. Thanks to that I ended up discovered the pleasure of reading. I never bored anymore.

More or less at the same time, my father imposed a mass rule that also had a great impact on me: for every hour of reading, I could see An hour of television. It was the time of television boom, a final of the 70s and early 80s, and like most children, I wanted to live pigeon on the screen. Suddenly, the books became the key to accessing that other world that I liked so much. And I empused a read, and read, and read.

From quantity to quality: discover the power of great literature

It wasn’t until I studied at Atlantic College, in Wales, one at age 16, when I discovered true the quality of literature. The merit was from an exceptional professor of Spanish literature who had hobed me of two novels that changed my life: One hundred years of loneliness Delaware Gabriel García Márquez AND The city and dogs Delaware Mario Vargas Llosa. Curiosamé, both lived in Barcelona and were great friends (until their famous fight, collected in the book The geniuses). These two giants of literature, both Nobel awards, opened my eyes to power and the depth of language.

Once I met García Márquez in a restaurant and ran home, I took my entire collection and returned, it was 3:30 in the morning when he finished doing so!

How the work expanded my leceuas

I lived three years in MozambiqueFrom 2004 to 2007. During that time, I was interested deep by the free about AfricaI specially those of Ryszard KapuścińskiWho captured the complexities of the continent in works such as Ebony.

My research work on the causes of death also fell to explore Librars de Forensic scienceas Everything is left. In the amit of the Scientific disseminationHe stood out for me Far from the tree Delaware Andrew Solomonfor his challenge a traditional concepts of Identity and differenceLike the fact that some deaf parents want their children to be, because they do not see it as a disability but as a valuable trait and a way of preserving a «closed community.» Other SOLLO Libraries Henrietta’s immortal life lacks AND The family that could not sleep.

For me, it is also important books that address the darkest chapters of the history of research, such as those related to the Talidomide catastrophe or the Nazi human experiments. It is important buyer that not everything is worth in the name of scientific progress.

Obsessions beyond the expected: sects, climbers and fiction that touches closely

Some of my reading interests come out of the expected. From teenager, he had an extra myiedo a being captured by a sectWhat fascinated me with a library as The power of sectsWhere the author infiltrated them and reported his experience. This curiosity evolved towards a broader interest in the Engiro: Not in the impostor syndrome, but in real imposters, people who pretend to be the ones who do not son. I started with The adversary And I continued with The imposterand The woman who wasn’t there.

Another recurring theme is the mountaineeringI special the epic stories in the Himalayas. I never scaled (with Montjuïc I have enough!), But those stories of resistance, tragedy and loyalty at high heights attract me.

Then it is HomelandA beautiful beautiful bella novel written about the Basque terrorismand Two brothers Delaware Milton HatoumSet in MEAJOBrazil (I thank Professor Marcus Laceda, who recommended this author). It is an exciting story about twinsAnother issue that obsesses me curiously. Something special moving to read fiction set in a place you know … intensifies all experience.

Some more favorite libraries

If there is a book that was given more than any other, it is Silk Delaware Alessandro Baricco: A short and poetic novel about a man traveling to Japan to buy silk. Just 120 pages, but unforgettable.

This year, he added The bad habit Delaware Alana S. goalkeeper A my list of essential readings. It tells the raw and powerful story of a transgenna girl who grows in Madrid in the 80s. Sometimes it is hard, but it is a very necessary reading in the poll context and is written in a very beautiful way.

And, finally, my favorite photographer’s books. I, as a child, dreamed of being a photographer, but soon realized that I had no talent for that. Devoted admirer soy of any of the libraries of Sebastião Salgadoincluding autobiography. The topics that photography interest me: for example, the landscapes of Africa and the Amazonand the powerful portraits of their gleases. When a journalist tried to label him as «Misery photographer»Salgado responds Serenamete: «There is no soybean the photographer of misery. I am the photographer of dignity.» That says it all.