The Book Thief

20 July

Last of my B12 injections today, thankfully. They aren’t so bad really, even if they are slightly stingy. Jan asked me yesterday if I felt any difference in having them done, well, yes I have. I’m not so tired now for a start. Before them I would be dropping off around 4pm-ish before them. Now I’m not doing that, and that is good by itself. From there it’s down to town for a look around the market. Oh yes, that reminds me, I need to find a cap before I go out today; I don’t want to catch the sun as I did the other day.

That’s my hospital admission letter here, now I know there’s an even better chance for it going ahead. No-one likes having operations of course, but when you do have them, then you just have to grin and bear and make the most of it. Actually, the sooner the better for me now. All other medical problems I’m on top of, so that does me fine.

I’m currently reading The Book Thief as I said a few days ago. It’s a remarkable book with Death as the narrator. Some time ago I read some of the Sven Hassle books, which are about the fighting on the Russian front in WW2. Another one I read was All Quiet on the Western Front, the story of one young man’s experiences in the German trenches during WW1. The Book Thief is about the German civilian population during the run up to WW2 and while it is on. This book tells of the grinding poverty and fear so many people, no matter what their racial origins. We have books telling the tale of how the UK faired, but this is the only one I’ve read from the German point of view.

And while all that is going on, those at the top were creaming off the best of it all and living very nicely thank you. We are supposed to learn from history and all the wars in history, and yet we don’t do we. Think of all the dictators who have appeared post 1945 and the way their peoples have suffered while they live in the lap of luxury. There are extremes on the other side aren’t there.

I’m thinking of the ideology of communism and its little brother, socialism. The idea of both is that we should all have the same share of the available resources, that everyone is equal. Oh yes? But who then takes control and runs the country and how it works for the benefit of the all. True communism can’t work as it should, simply because of the need for leaders. From the top down to the village areas where someone is needed to organising the work of everyone else. And that is where greed for both money and power come into play. The thing is, that greed is a human trait and one that can’t be beaten, so we have to live with it.

Well, I’m back from town now and I did get a few new shots while I was down there. The main reason for going down was simply for the B12 injection, but a quick run into town for a look at the market, what there was of it, to see if I could find anything we might be able use. I found nothing for both of us but did get me some new gentle-grip socks. However, there was nowhere near as many stalls as there used to be. That’s a shame really because such a market can be a big draw to the town. I have a feeling though, because the Wednesday market hasn’t been as popular as the Saturday one. Therefore, stall owners gave up on it. I’m afraid it’s a case of ‘use it or lose it’ working in practice.

Today’s photo …

One of my book cases, soon to be no more.

Today’s funny …

These two explorers were lost in the desert. One of them went on ahead. When he came back he said, 'There's some good news and some bad news. The bad news is we're going to have to eat sand.'
His friend said, 'So, what's the good news?'
The first one said, 'There's plenty of it.'