Reader's Diary #1084- Zoran Živković, translated by Alice Copple-Tošić: Words

Despite my love of reading, I've never been much of a logophile. That's a lover of words. I had to look it up. A true logophile would not have had to look it up. The narrator in Zoran Živković's "Words" isn't a logophile at the beginning of the story either, but becoming one is the basic plot. 

Oddly, this story is found at a website called Infinity Plus that typically publishes sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Except for the surreal ending, "Words" doesn't seem to fit any of those. It's a deceptively simple story about a man whose life changes forever when he picks up a book of poetry instead of his typical "how to" books.

While on the surface it's about words, I began to think of it in broader terms, as the discovery of art itself. The most special part? When his eyes are finally opened to art, he begins to see it everywhere, even where he'd ruled it out before. 

It's a beautiful little story.

  by  Larah McElroy