Life Is Not a Novel

Author: Abdo Wazen

I always liked to call myself a reader, just as a doctor is called a doctor, an engineer an engineer, and a carpenter a carpenter... And it often occurred to me to answer those who ask me about my specialization or profession by saying: a reader. But I never dared to give such an answer. They would think I was crazy or foolish, or perhaps they would think I was joking. But if I confirmed this description to them, they would surely laugh and mock me. What does it mean to be a reader? Is this really a profession? I never cared what others might say about me, nor did I care about the image they painted for me. I had decided on my own to be only a reader. Rather, to create a new profession that requires no specialization or study: the reader. There was no meaning to my life outside of books, but rather novels. Outside of reading, I was nobody. I became a reader without explaining this matter. And I did not search in critical books for the concept of reading and the reader. I am a reader, and that is enough.