STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: OGDEN OLIVAS
Ogden Olivas picks up the next entry in our Staff Recommendations feature, where we ask a worker, past or present, to share a book recommendation, as well as a few suggestions for enjoying the book. Ogden is a student of photography and ecology at California College of the Arts. He went from being a frequent customer at our Oakland shop to a helper there in the autumn of 2017. Born in Santa Fe, Ogden is a citizen of the world who has lived everywhere and reads everything (as you'll see in his multiple recommendations). He's also an experienced fencer who we've made Book/Shop's first sponsored athlete. Thanks, Ogden!
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1. What book would you recommend?
Stories of God by Rainer Maria Rilke or Geschichten vom Lieben Gott if you speak German.
2. What edition would you recommend?
The Frankfurt publication from 1973 which is in German and has a gorgeous E.R Webb illustration as the cover; or the version I read from which is the Norton Library edition from 1963 translated by M.D Herter Norton.
- A beautiful orange and navy blue cover that is usually sun bleached in just the right spots.
- This edition has a great bright set of colors, it's not a threatening book!
3. A place you'd recommend to read it?
I would recommend this book to someone who is on the road, passing from place to place. I would even venture to say that this book should be read when one is in a new environment, talking to new people or seeing new things. These stories are perfect to pass back and forth between a new person; I read this book with a new friend and each time we passed it off to one another we exchanged a sort of surprised expression and a ‘just wait until you read the next story’ nod. If you have children, read this book while you are around them (it will be apparent why in the stories)
4. What to eat/drink while reading it?
A drink that reminds you of your childhood is ideal for reading this book, for me it was sangria, and mineral water.
5. What would you recommend listening to while reading it?
Old music from your parents or grandparents country that you like, maybe secretly like; or Angelo De Augustine; especially ‘If I could fly’
6. What bag would you carry it in?
On the inside of my coat! However! I kept leaving this book on my pillow and forgetting it was there until I came back for the day, and that was a great way to read it.
7. What library would you check it out from?
I think it would be appropriate to check this book out of a library in Prague, or in Moscow for reasons the book will reveal, however, I would head over to the berkeley city library, and if you aren't in the bay area, go to the smaller and older library in your town for it.
1. What book would you recommend?
The Cambridge Monograph in Experimental Biology, Number 12 on Bird Song.
2. What edition would you recommend?
The 1961 hardcover, although, I don't think the series has been re-pressed, or at least there aren't that many versions if it has. The book is gorgeous, it is slight but has a great weight… the cover is a solid green framing a nice set of dots; classic for old printing, it gives off feelings of osmosis.
3. A place you'd recommend to read it?
Read this in the mountains, or in the forest where you can actually hear birds! It'll make you question their motives and personalities.
4. What to eat/drink while reading it?
Gunpowder tea, I had mine with this book in a thermos while I was in Moab listening to mourning doves.
5. What would recommend listening to while reading it?
Birds!
Or the album Mimicking Birds by Mimicking Birds.
6. What bag would you carry it in?
Mine was in my backpacking rucksack next to my field guide for flowers and on top of very necessary warm clothes.
7. What library would you check it out from?
The Cambridge University Library.
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1. What book would you recommend?
Meditation by Kafka, otherwise known as Contemplation or Betrachtung if you speak German.
2. What edition would you recommend?
I dont know of any edition except the one I picked up which is published in Prague by Vitalis, 1998. It's dark green and white with buildings all over it which seemed unattractive at first but I love seeing it on my shelves, and it's full of old pictures!
3. A place you'd recommend to read it?
Very early in the morning, or at night before you go to sleep, anywhere, especially public places like cafes or metros, this one's great for pausing and looking out at what people are doing.
4.What to eat/drink while reading it?
Turkish or otherwise harsh coffee.
5. What would recommend listening to while reading it?
Etude Number 2 by Philip Glass
6. What bag would you carry it in?
My father's Filson backpack that still has Czech dust on it from where Kafka was probably wandering around!
7. What library would you check it out from?
The Klementinum Library in Prague, or really, any library you happen upon in the city.
