I had coffee this morning with a man who talks with his hands, and closes his eyes for the best moments.  His name is Dirk.  He had just bought a novel called Alkibiades.  And he was loving it.

Alkibiades is a teenager in ancient Greece who is being mentored by the philosopher Socrates.  No video games … just the grand opportunity to sit at the feet of his teacher and absorb his wisdom.

The author is from the Netherlands – Ilja Pfeijffer.  His writing has drawn Dirk in on the first day.  My neighbour sits there inspired … and transported through time.

Pfeijffer describes the building of the Acropolis – a gathering of temples on a hill in Athens.  All those people doing all those things for a very long time.

I look over to the couch.  Closed eyes and a beating heart.

Dirk tells me about Pfeijffer.  For years he was an alcoholic yelling at the world in Amsterdam.  A woman really saw him and wanted to talk.  They did a lot of that.  They fell in love.

She convinced Ilja to live in Genoa, Italy – her home.  She convinced him to enter an alcoholism treatment program.  She convinced him that he was good … and so was his writing.

Alkibiades took its sweet time to evolve out of Ilja.  Now it has landed, especially in one particular apartment on the Oudburg.

Ilja sits in his apartment in Genoa … and smiles