Owl, lantern, madness (ePub)

This book is one of the most enriching books I have read in my long life, it is an encyclopedia of aesthetic and philosophical knowledge that undoubtedly situates it in a prominent place among the epistles books. The letters are the fruit of an exceptional friendship between four friends.

The poet, Yenisley Brito León, writes from present time to two friends from the past, among them Lynn, the beloved muse, who becomes a light, and a redeemer of longings. In these letters there is a poetic and reflective language where the human soul, exposed in the most beautiful way imagined, transcends boundaries, and where pain ceases to be pain to become unconditional love, thus showing the beauty and wisdom that is achieved in that act.

This is how the author expresses it in several passages, This test has united us to be walking sticks for one another, a refuge in storms; and it will continue to be so up to the end of all of us and of our time on earth. As long as one of us breathes, he will be in his position protecting and supporting the other. Even in the distance we will never be alone. If not in body, we will be in soul. It is my truth, although it may seem unusual.

For the composition of her book, Yenisley Brito León has chosen a special form of writing, the epistle. This is a type of written communication, basically between two persons, which can revolve around a particular reason or deal with various issues that concern both the sender and the addressee. In general, since both, one and the other, are people who share an approximate degree of confidence and education, everyday language is used without further stylistic elaboration. Logically, this depends on the education of the people and also on the greater or lesser seriousness of the subject being addressed. A letter that seeks to establish a certain business deal would not be the same as another where aspects of people's common life are updated, or another in which somebody tries to establish a loving bond with someone else. Of course, there are epistles that an individual writes for a group of people, that is, a writing that an intellectual, leader or religious figure makes to communicate a matter of interest to a community. In each case it will be the receiver, in the first place, and the subject what mark the way in which the epistle is to be written.

The fact of choosing this literary form is a challenge in itself, if one takes into account the number of epistles already published by famous authors, from Saint Paul, Petrarch or Montesquieu, to Benito Pérez Galdós or Franz Kafka. This leaves little edge for the author to be creative. Nevertheless, by dint of being sincere and undertaking her task with a high poetic tension, the author achieves a book not only beautifully written, but also one that encourages personal reflection due to the topics it touches on and its peculiar approach to them.