Reading books in Dublin
05.08.2010
Owen ist stolz auf die Stadt, in der er studiert hat. Natürlich englische Literatur!
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When I was 18, I went to see my school guidance councillor to talk about my future. I wanted to go to university, but I didn't have a clue what I wanted to study. My councillor was a big man, and he sat behind his desk and looked at me long and hard. "Well, Owen," he said in his extremely posh accent. "What do you like to do in your spare time?" "I like to read," I told him. "Then you should study English literature!" he boomed, as if he'd just discovered the meaning of life.
And that was it. That year, I went off to study literature at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland's oldest university. Although my guidance councillor didn't spend much time giving me advice, he actually hit the nail on the head: I did love books. And since my first-year reading list was as long as an average-sized novel, I got plenty of chances to indulge in literary pleasures.
So I am very happy that Dublin has been named an official City of Literature by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). There are only three other Cities of Literature in the world: Edinburgh in Scotland, Melbourne in Australia, and Iowa City in the US.
Dublin's new honour is well deserved. The city has produced many great writers, including Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, W. B. Yeats, G. B. Shaw, Bram Stoker (who wrote Dracula), Roddy Doyle … the list goes on and on.
But since I'm living in Munich now, I expect UNESCO to recognize my new hometown too! Or Berlin, or Weimar, or ... Which German city deserves to become the next UNESCO City of Literature? Let me know what you think!
The first act of Samuel Beckett's classic play Waiting for Godot
etwa: Beratungslehrer
ich hatte keine Ahnung
hier: vornehm, gebildet
Freizeit
dröhnte
begann
hier: da
durchschnittlich dicker Roman
jede Menge Gelegenheit
schwelgen, genießen
verdient
hier: hervorgebracht
