ASEAN#178: Intimacy with Paper

Hello, Asean people on board. Paper. I'm typing about paper on a digital paper. When I talk about paper, I think of trees. Oh, and if you're a Potterhead, you might remember that during the publication of the seventh Harry Potter book series, author J.K. Rowling used more environmentally friendly paper for editions published in several countries, such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This news was a big hit, making Rowling fans even more proud and impressed by the environmental awareness campaign launched by the author and various book producers. I've been a Potterhead since the early 2000s. I started reading books and the complete collection around 2010. All of the books in that series are my favorites.

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So, since today we're discussing our intimate relationship with paper, as a reader, I can't possibly be without paper or books. In my daily life, for example, the paper that's always in my hands is the book I'm currently finishing by Sally Rooney, Intermezzo. It's a great book.

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I deliberately read this book slowly and in installments. I loved all the characters involved, and none of them were superfluous. Even though I'd been reading it for a long time, I still occasionally caught a whiff of the book in my hands. I inhaled the distinctive scent of paper. What exactly is the name of this book's scent? I don't know, but it was definitely calming.

Besides Sally's book, another book about the wisdom of life by Arthur Schopenhauer. Does this seem particularly philosophical? LOL. Yes and no. Yes, because Schopenhauer was indeed a pessimist and metaphysician.

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I'm not actually someone who studies philosophy. It's just that I enjoy sitting with friends discussing philosophy in easy-to-understand language. After all, discussing philosophy means discussing life issues or knowledge for everyday life. Because all of us philosophize.

That's my intimate relationship with books in our daily lives. I can't wait to read my friends' books, too. To conclude today's post, I'll quote a famous quote from the pessimist...

"Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom."
― Arthur Schopenhauer

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