TV Panorama Report (7 November 2002, 22:00)

Crowds of avid readers came this evening to one of Warsaw’s most famous cafés, at the Czytelnik publishing house, for the launch of Ryszard Kapuściński’s latest book — Lapidarium V. As the author says: “From the torrent of words and information it is worth extracting and recording valuable thoughts.” That is why, for twelve years, successive volumes of the Lapidaria have been coming into being.

Lapidarium is reflection on everyday life. Ryszard Kapuściński says that before he writes a single sentence of his own he reads a thousand by others. He writes every day, always by hand. A single thought may crystallise over several hours. When writing goes well, a page and a half may be produced in a day.

Ryszard Kapuściński: “We receive this current information constantly in the press, on radio, on television, but what we lack is any attempt to synthesise these events, some reflection on them; in what direction is our world changing, in what direction is it developing, and where do we all stand in this world, what will it be like for us?”

For each of the Lapidaria, four times more material is produced than is published. The writer makes the selection several times over. Work on the Lapidaria proceeds simultaneously with writing reportages from travels. It is precisely those reportages that have brought Ryszard Kapuściński world fame. The Emperor, Imperium, and The Shadow of the Sun are only some of the books published in dozens of languages. Ryszard Kapuściński witnessed 27 revolutions and was formally sentenced to death four times.

Compiled by www.kapuscinski.info

source: kapuscinski.info