Writings based on practicality, explicability, clarity and relevance can be read easily. There are, however, so many writings which are deceitful even if some efforts and researches were carried out to make them readable and clear. In addition, we might be mainly accustomed to the books which we regard as prominent for they provide us habituated and simple messages.
Nevertheless, there are writers who can imagine and go beyond the apparent reality and creatively bridge the seemingly unbridgeable thoughts. For some of us their writings are really complex and perplexing. They not only provoke our appreciation but also our understanding. Let alone to be grateful for their writings, we might not even be in the right position to know the exact messages they want to convey. There might have been some books which we undermined their imaginative and inspiring contents, instead of trying hard to discover the real lesson they give us. But, if we can genuinely examine ourselves, the problem might lie on our lack of deliberation. Usually, such kinds of books are highly creative and imaginative.
In philosophy, some say that truth and the basic universal principles are beyond the visible, and others say truth and universal principles should be assured by practical and concrete observations. The former ones who have beyond materialistic thoughts are called to be idealists and the latter ones can be called materialists. Both have similarities and differences.
However, in this article, we will mainly see the idealists who have usually used their highly imaginative and creative talents. As a matter of fact, we can’t avoid and despise their thoughts as if they do have nothing to say about human beings. In fact, they are the first philosophers. Their subtle, argumentative and plausible thoughts are the basic and crucial foundations on the long way of scientific discoveries. They have so far contributed great imaginative and creative works in the fields of art and literature.
In Eritrea, although it requires an extensive research to grasp writers who can especially reflect such artistic writings; at least we have one who can be considered as one of the highly creative and imaginative writers: author Beyene Haile.
Beyene Haile has recently contributed two books entitled Dukan Tiberh and Titsbit Bahgu. He was known by his famous book, Abidu do Tblwo, “Do you think he is crazy?” There are so many people who really lack the capacity to understand and appreciate his writings. If we devotedly pass across his books, however, his writings are really bewildering. But, if we can comprehend and transcend the bewilderment, there are enjoyable creative messages inside.
For instance in Dukan Tiberh, the writer gathers Eritreans of all walks of life in the Dukan (shop). In the shop, Ms. Tiberh has a box that has bulk of miscellaneous goods. Here, Eritreans of different types and behaviors interact intensively. It looks as if it doesn’t have an end; in fact it is difficult to bring an end to people’s behaviors and thoughts. Even though the book appears to be a narration of fiction, it is a research on the people of Eritrea.
One of the reasons that make this book worth reading is the fact that it touches issues on who we are and the experiences we have. But, it needs thorough understanding of the language and the narration to go into the deeper meaning of the words. For some, the narration looks like a forest that cannot be passed through, and they stop reading at some point. The style of writing of the book is a bit different from the main stream writing techniques, needs courageous initiation to read. This kind of new contribution is encouraging and opens the door for others to consider writing in such artistic and creative way.
There book entitled Foucault's Pendulum, written by the famous Italian writer Umberto Eco, is very similar to Beyene Haile’s writings in that it is not an easy read. The book, however, includes vast amount of information: history, obscure facts and rich background for the characters. The book starts with a pendulum which looks irrelevant at first, and develops a huge narration around this pendulum that you cannot grasp easily. Just like Beyene Haile’s books, this book is a forest that one is likely to find it difficult to understand the contents at first.
The similarity in both the writers is very clear. Both start their stories from a simple looking incident and go to a very deep, complex narration. Again the two of them have high creativity, knowledge and imagination. Their writings are usually meant for strong spirit, people with perseverance that are willing to reach the ultimate truth that only the very few have mastered.
If we’ll get to see Beyene Haile include vast knowledge with simple looking narration in his future books, he will inevitably be on the short list of top writers.
