On my morning commute, as my train approaches the station, I see a Brother reading The Idiot, by Dostoevsky.  (People who know my literary tastes, know that I had a “Russian Period,” when I was reading many Russian authors.  Dostoevsky is my favorite, and my favorite book by him is Crime and Punishment.)

“Have you read Crime and Punishment?” I asked the Brother.

“Yes, and The Brothers Karamazov,” the Brother added.

I had done my due diligence.  I have read all of Dostoevsky.  I am at my stop.  I want to stay on the train and talk to the Brother about Russian Literature.  I want to know if he has read Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn.  People who read books on trains, I think, are not just escaping interaction with their fellow commuters.  Granted, they are in another world, but they are more inclined to talk to someone about the book and books than a commuter on his or her phone, lost in the matrix.  What do you think? I have had countless conversations with commuters reading books.  I have also caught commuters sitting next to me reading what I am reading, writing or editing.  Believe it or not, I can write on trains!  Many a blog I wrote during my commute!