Reading

As part of my "mind refreshment" here in Pittsburgh I promised myself that I was going to read a lot. I actually read a lot at work but this time I mean reading true literature, not just scientific papers. It's a good habit which I've been losing probably in the last years.

And I think my first book choice was a good one. I read "An history of pi" last weekend. Yes...pi, the number. You must say: "well, man, you've completely lost your sense of having fun in America reading math stuff after work" :-) Maybe it's true but keep on reading...

When I was 16 1/2 I read a clever small book called "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4" (wikipedia reference). It a funny diary of a boy who is discovering the world. Adrian's life was a disaster, a quite strange teen life, including, of course, an impossible love for his classmate Pandora or problems with the school thug. So he decided to change everything and became an ‘misunderstood intellectual’ and tortured poet :-) The most interesting parts of the novel are the continuous references to the books Adrian is reading. Comic situations are originated when Adrian is objectively describing what he doesn't understand but that the reader grasps, oftenly through these books he is reading. An example: "Finished Animal Farm (...). From now on I shall treat pigs with the contempt they deserve". Most of then are related to political satire or the changes he is seeing in his family.

Said that, think about me as an older Adrian Mole still trying to understand the world. So what has "An history of pi" has to say about me? Coming in the next post :-)