Ich habe die letzten Tage zwischendurch frei gemacht und weil ich ein neugieriger Mensch bin habe ich die Zeit genutzt, um Dein Buch „Nirwana Blues“ zu lesen. Ich habe es in einem Zug gelesen, es hat einen eigenen Sog, ist sehr gut geschrieben, spannend, mit feinem Witz und spiegelt den damaligen Zeitgeist treffend.
Es hat mich auch persönlich beschäftigt, da es einige Berührungspunkte zu meinem eigenen Leben gibt: Der Spirit der 70iger ist auch an mir und meiner Familie nicht spurlos vorbeigegangen, im Guten wie im Schlechten: Die beschriebenen Ideale prägten uns gleichermassen (bis heute), die Konfrontation mit schwierigen Realitäten ebenso, die zitierte Musik spiegelt das damalige Lebensgefühl und war täglich präsent, und Vieles mehr.
Das Buch hat mich zum Nachdenken gebracht, vor allem aber zum Erinnern, u.a. an die Kraft der Jugend, die wir uns ja vor allem im Geiste zu bewahren versuchen sollten.
Ram Dass was one of the most influential spiritual teachers in the West since the late ‘60’s, sharing his homegrown wisdom based on traditional Eastern philosophy. I had the good fortune to have a couple of hour-long video chats with him as I was writing my novel Nirvana Blues. The insights and knowledge were most valuable in helping make the story authentic. His journey from a Harvard University professor (known as Richard Alpert) to a yogi was documented in the book Be Here Now and inspired many people to look in the same direction. One person was Steve Jobs, who after reading the book as a teenager, went to India in search of Ram Dass’s teacher. This true story was the inspiration for my novel.
Refugees from all around Europe including a group of misfit artists found a safe haven in neutral Switzerland one hundred years ago while World War One raged. A mix of painters, poets, sculptors and performers banded together and founded the avant-garde art movement known as Dada.
It was a dark and stormy night two hundred years ago this June when Frankenstein was first animated in a Swiss chateau by the 18 year old Mary Shelly. She created the legendary monster after a challenge by Lord Byron who had invited a group of young British literary types to spend the summer on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Sometimes it takes a death to remind you the value of life. I got several messages yesterday to tell me the CEO I used to work for had taken his life at 59 years old. The last time I had seen him was in a coffee shop where we had chatted about the changing neighborhood and the noise from the upcoming techno festival that day we were both trying to escape.
