| | An Evening In Borders The Bookstore
I was just standing. Hands folded at my chest. One leg leaning against another. That's how I am when in a bookstore. Sometimes the fancy colors on book covers attract me. Most of the time, I read the synopsis - one by one, until I found the right book to buy. That evening, I was just looking at the titles and tried to decode the stories from there. After that I would read the back cover to see whether I really had the superhuman decode-the-encrypted! power bestowed upon me.
Then two voices came approaching. One wore an american accent, another - a normal 'manglish' we malaysians favour most of the time. The owners of the two voices finally took place beside me.
The american accent:
"....you know it's sooo bor-ringgg but yeah I was like, okay whatever, you know. Oh! Oh! Take a look at this book! Here's the book I've been telling you about!"
The manglish:
"What? Which one?"
The american accent:
"This one. Ohhhh my god. You really have to read this. This book is like, reaaallly, really good."
The manglish:
"Really? Have you read it?"
The american accent:
"I've read a little. But my friends who have read it told me it's like, realllly good. I'm gonna start reading it for real when I have the chance."
The manglish:
"So you're not gonna buy this?"
I stole a glance at the book they were referring to. Miss american accent was holding The Life of Pi. I resumed looking to my front.
The american accent:
"Nah I already have the book."
The manglish:
"Yeah okay you must lend it to me after you've finished reading it okay."
The american:
"Okay sure ohhhhh my godddd. Here's the book I've been telling you about!"
The manglish:
"Which one?"
The american accent:
"This one! The one which I told you praises Oprah Winfrey a lot! I think it's SO annOying that people look up to Oprah as if she's like, goddd or something. It's too much!"
The manglish:
"Yeah exactly. How's the book though?"
The american accent:
"Nah I only read it like, a few pages only. Then I was like, nearly dozed off...you know. SO boringgg."
This time I didn't bother to look at the book they were talking about. But my ears couldn't help but listen. I wasn't eavesdropping. Their voices were for the whole bookstore to hear.
The manglish:
"Yeah, Oprah is so overrated. It's so annoying, right? People talk about her like, all the time! So what's it gonna be? What are you going to buy?"
The american accent:
"Gee... I haven't found it yet. Ohhhh my godddd... Look at this one. It's Catcher In The Rye in a new paperback. Look at the cover! It's sooo magnificent!"
The manglish:
"Oh my god! Yeah! This one is much nicer than the old cover!"
The american accent:
"I know, right? This is so cooooool!"
I tuned out after that as the two girls continued their book-trekking (godspeed, I silently wished them). However, I couldn't help but wonder...
...since when did bookworms become the "coolness"?
|
| | Posted 9/13/2008 6:52 PM - 76 views - 6 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
