tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403019785955049265.post1964108390584355857..comments2023-12-12T22:59:15.831-08:00Comments on The Club of Compulsive Readers: The book of barely imagined beings. (El libro de los seres casi imaginados)Myriam B. Mahiqueshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04877775531588362818noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403019785955049265.post-65289624569089438592014-01-10T07:37:38.513-08:002014-01-10T07:37:38.513-08:00Dear Caspar, thank you so much for your visit and ...Dear Caspar, thank you so much for your visit and clarification. You surprised me , as the post is written in Spanish, I did it on purpose, to show the book to the Spanish speaking, as it seems there´s no translation for now. Yes, I´ve read the full paragraph, but maybe it´s my prejudice. I watched the movie when I was a teenager and was so shocked, I felt so anguished for Merrick´s mistreatment. And when I read about him in your book, I supposed it was an out of context example, though you were so careful and nice in your words. The picture is showing him in peace, that´s right. But I found his mention a little misleading for the readers, specially in Amazon preview. I scrolled the pages to read about Merrick and was lucky they were complete, imagine if they were hidden, let´s say in the middle, the readers wouldn´t understand your intention. Well, I´m very tempted to buy your book, of course I have Borge´s Bestiario. Again, thank you so much for your kind comment. You are invited to comment all the posts you want. Best regards,Myriam B. Mahiqueshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04877775531588362818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403019785955049265.post-26962207761925616132014-01-10T01:40:08.199-08:002014-01-10T01:40:08.199-08:00Thanks for you review Myriam. Regarding Joseph Mer...Thanks for you review Myriam. Regarding Joseph Merrick, I wrote: <br /><br />"The photograph, taken in 1889, was intended for passionate medical study but is hard to look at without twinges of horror and furtive fascination such as one might have felt at the freak-show where Merrick spent a part of his life. Look carefully, though, and you can see something important and moving. From his left eye, set between small areas of ‘normal’ temple and cheek (on the right hand side of the photo, of course), Merrick looks back at the viewer. He is calm and aware: a dignified human masked by stupendous deformity.<br /> I sometimes think of this picture when confronting aspects of the natural world that seem especially strange. Pay a little more attention, the picture says to me, and you may see something remarkable and even beautiful in beings which prejudice tells you are ugly. To be clear, I am not suggesting equivalence between healthy sponges and humans, deformed or otherwise. The differences are obvious and substantial. But even a creature as weird and apparently boring as a sponge holds wonders if only you look closely." Caspar Hendersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04667141284390082748noreply@blogger.com