book on grassI am always amazed at how many interesting and unique books are published.  Right before Christmas I read about Letters of Note, which started as a blog and then the blog owner decided to have a book published with all those lovely, interesting and diverse letters he had found: the documents that were published included letters from slaves during the American Civil War to correspondence between Gandhi and Hitler (yes, I was amazed as well that these two people corresponded, how unlikely is that, but the letter is there and gives an insight into Gandhi’s way of thinking -obviously, he wrote to Hitler, not the other way round).

Today I read about this blog where New Yorkers say something about their life, and have their photo taken.  I like that we, writers, authors and bloggers have concentrated our attention to people: we want to get in touch with real people and then project them into our books, make them heroes, villains, martyrs, wise people, victims or simply … people.  In the books and blogs I mentioned, people laugh, discuss and share the most intimate and funny stories about themselves, the human touch being always there, to grasp and impart with others.

I like that it’s not done in a vulgar, cruel or intrusive way: such endeavors can easily reach Bigbrotheresque displays of human passion.  Instead, in both instances, it’s done in a soft and gentle manner, in short sentences that give the essence of people’s humanity without being invasive.

A few days ago I wrote in this blog about how books are always about a quest: this quest always involves people.  I constantly feel that we write about and for people.  So, when I see such beautiful books being published and such fascinating blogs being promoted, I feel happy because it means that our attention is focused in the right direction: people around us.