Terminand de scris cele de mai jos tocmai am realizat ca, fara sa-mi fi propus, am scris astazi despre trei carti care, in moduri diferite, vorbesc despre copilarie.

„Born a Crime”: O carte miraculoasa. Am inceput sa o citesc de-abia dupa ce l-am ascultat pe Trevor Noah pe youtube. Pana atunci, desi vazusem ca are rating bun, fusesem ceva de genul: apartheid, mmm…. poate nu chiar acum?…

Si , evident, ma asteptam la ceva amintiri haioase din copilarie, ce altceva sa astepti de la un comediant, nu? Si, evident, cartea chiar are o sumedenie de amintiri din copilarie si adolescenta, cu siguranta nu toate haioase, unele chiar deloc. Dar este mult mai mult decat atat.

Cartea iti prezinta de la firul ierbii starea lucrurilor din perioada apartheid-ului si postapartheid, absurditatea regulilor de segregare rasiala (care includeau de exemplu un japonez la categoria albilor si un chinez la categoria negrilor), abuzurile de tot felul – nu doar cele bazate pe rasa ci mai ales cele „traditionale”, impotriva femeilor, care azi ca si atunci, la ei ca si la noi, ii puteau crea unui barbat impresia ca are dreptul sa decida asupra vietii unei femei.

Dar cea care este in fapt eroina nu doar a acestei carti, ci o eroina pur-si-simplu, este o femeie. Mama lui Trevor, Patricia Noah. Careia Trevor Noah ii aduce, prin aceasta carte, fara ode si declaratii, un omagiu.

Cartea este plina de invataminte de viata din care am selectat cateva mai jos. Si cum nimeni altul decat Trevor Noah nu ar putea vorbi mai in cunostinta de cauza despre mama sa si viata sa… mai jos, fragmente din carte – in ordinea in care le veti intalni acolo. Iar inainte sa termin: aceasta este cea mai buna carte pe care am citit-o de ceva vreme.

„Nobody ran like me and my mom. She wasn’t one of those „Come over here and get your hiding” type moms. She’d deliver it to you free of charge. She was a thrower, too. Whatever was next to her was coming at you.”

„Honey, I’m not alone„, she’d say. „I’ve got all of Heaven’s angels behind me.”… She always came back to the phrase she lived by: „If God is with me, who can be against me?„” Tineti minte fraza aceasta pana la final. Atat va zic.

„That’s how a police state works – everyone thinks everyone else is the police.”

„My mom raised me as if there were no limitations on where I could go or what I could do. When I look back I realize she raised me like a white kid – not white culturally, but in the sense of believing that the world was my oyster, that I should speak up for myself, that my ideas and thoughts and decisions mattered.”

„I was blessed with another trait I inherited from my mother: her ability to forget the pain in life. I remember the thing that caused the trauma, but I don’t hold on to the trauma. I never let the memory of something painful prevent me from trying something new. If you think too much about the ass-kicking your mom gave you, or the ass-kicking that life gave you, you’ll stop pushing the boundaries and breaking the rules.”

„I was wanted. Being chosen is the greatest gift you can give to another human being.”

„I don’t regret anything I’ve ever done in life, any choice that I’ve made. But I’m consumed with regret for the things I didn’t do, the choices I didn’t make, the things I didn’t say. We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most. Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer. Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answer to. „What if…” „If only…” „I wonder what would have…” You will never, never know, and it will haunt you for the rest of your days. „

„You must be careful who you surround yourself with because where you are can determine who you are.”

„Everything I have ever done I’ve done from a place of love. If I don’t punish you, the world will punish you even worse. The world doesn’t love you. If the police get you, the police doesn’t love you. When I beat you, I’m trying to save you. When they beat you, they’re trying to kill you.„

„My mother had exposed me to a different world than the one she grew up in. She bought me the books she never got to read. She took me to the schools that she never got to go to. I immersed myself in those worlds and I came back looking at the world a different way.”

Trevor Noah a publicat recent si o carte pe care o veti gasi la sectiunea de carti pentru copii, desi el insusi afirma in carte ca aceasta nu este neaparat o carte pentru copii. „Into the Uncut Grass” este o aventura in afara ariei de protectie a casei parintesti, presarata cu graunte de intelepciune gravitand in special asupra unor eventuale metode de disipare a tensiunilor si evitare a conflictelor. De actualitate, as zice. Cartea vine promovata ca fiind una pe linia celebrei „Baiatul, cartita, vulpoiul si calul”.

O carte care insa mie mi s-a parut a fi in linie cu „Baiatul, cartita, vulpoiul si calul” este superba, splendida „Baiatul, bivolul si iepurele”, scrisa si ilustrata de artista cu origini taiwaneze Regina Linke. O carte in admiratia careia poti sta perioade indelungate. O carte duioasa, inteleapta, o carte cu „parabole despre iubire, compasiune si comunitate”. O carte ilustrata in stiul chinezesc Gongbi – care pune mare accent pe finetea detaliilor (spre deosebire de stilul opus Xieyi – celebru in arta chineza, ce pune accentul mai degraba pe expresivitate, pe esenta subiectului – ambele, oricum, absolut superbe).

„-Ai facut vreodata in tinerete ceva ce regreti acum?

Bivolul a zambit.

-Un singur lucru. M-am grabit sa cresc.”