One of the cultural links we share with Havana, Cuba, is a street book fair. Culture-starved Cubans treasure this precious source of mental nourishment, and the Castro government is wise enough to let up somewhat on its usual censorship policies, and allow a long-suffering people to enjoy one rare luxury as they browse over tables of dog-eared, sunned and sometimes brittle paperbound volumes on all subjects under their Antillean sky. In Chicago there is a two-day summer festival called the Printers Row Book Fair which fills the same need, though Chicagoans hunger far less for culture. Both cities share the same love of books and reading, yet cannot share the same books for political reasons. There it is the Castro regime's suppression of external mail, which prevents Cubans from sending books overseas. Here it is the 45-year embargo on all goods sent to Cuba, including books.
On both sides more enlightened heads need to prevail. Just visualize a Printers Row browser in front of a Havana book barrow, or a studious Havana University student under the Powell's tent: how can one not be filled then with a sense of the literary brotherhood of humankind? What will it take to bring down the "Berlin Wall" of censors and embargoers so booklovers everywhere can share their passion across the seas?
It is my conviction that propagation of books and reading among all cultures will bring the world closer together, with multiple ultimate benefits to the race. Is there anyone who reads regularly who does not occasionally feel a curiosity to know what a fellow human being is reading?
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Congratulations on a great first post! Behold the power of the great and almighty Internet! Now Cubans can peer into their computer screens and see that there is at least one American (or Cuban-American?) who feels strongly enough about their embargo troubles to blog about it. Thankfully, they can also read a vast number of books on many online libraries. People from the unlikeliest countries around the world are using the internet to gain access to information, organize, become empowered, and explore different cultures. It's rapidly becoming a small world, after all. And who knows? Thanks to the Internet, you may be more likely to have a meaningful exchange with someone across an ocean than you would if they were standing besides you at a book fair--say, drooling over the same rare first edition?
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