About the Book
The time for Revolution is ripe
The earliest parts included in this work were written when I was 16, in 1986. Other parts were written in 1996, but I started writing and compiling in earnest in 1999. The whole volume here before you was written first by hand, which writing was completed by mid 2001, then to be transcribed into type. It is a misnomer for an author ever to say something is finished or completed; it never is. I have always wanted to be a writer, but it wasn't until the singular events of 1999 that I took up the pen in the form found here within these pages. As far as categorizing, I believe this work defies all genre, defying even explanation. There is much pain recorded on its pages. That is the dark part. But there is much happiness and growth, and that is the part of life, of light.
I will not deny that the inspiration for its commencement and consummation came in great part from real-life events happening to, and around me. It was the singularity of these events that sparked my own destiny into active form. The result is a chronicling of these successions. Despite the fact that much of what is here found takes place in the realm of everyday life, what with its bickering and quibbling, there was always a greater goal, a higher aim. Sometimes that aim came accompanied with aches, sometimes with smiles. I have changed, I have grown, and I have, to a great degree, controlled myself. I have always viewed, from day one, that this whole story was, in the end, my voice to the entire Earth. I saw everything I was saying to be analogous to life in general. It was the underlying meanings I was talking to, and not the outward symptoms. I hold strong to the faith that I was always doing it in love. I just told my story, that's all, filled with heroes and villains, one and the same.
There was a lot of anger left here. I know now it was the anger of awakening. I became angry at the world, but only because I couldn't understand. My time came to act, and at first, I wasn't ready. I was too young, too green. Of displaying my weaknesses, I am not ashamed. On the contrary, it is when I display my weaknesses that I am the proudest. I know that the passing of the years shall forgive me. I stated my opinion, in my own hand, and I do not ask forgiveness, as I am not above anything. It dawned on me that what I had to say may be followed with bitter tears, but that did not stop me, on the contrary, it propelled me further, urged by some internal necessity to convey the message that within me resided. I always felt much better after writing, and sometimes, it was the only thing that would bring me consolation during a time of extreme confusion.
It is a work based on friendship and human relations. I saw a dire need in the world for what I had to say. I saw the world changing, and I was changing, and then clouds started hanging, and then all hell broke loose. You see, for me, it was all part of the same dream, these last 5 years. Today, it hasn't let up. We are still in a nightmare. That was my real nightmare, the modern nightmare the world was gonna drop into. That's what I was writing about. It is a story of archetypes personified.
The Four Quad Rants is what it claims to be: four love rants. I wasn't aware of love at the time, but I needed it desperately. I never really realized what true love really was, love of the self, of the creative force, of life, of man for man. I learned I was a selfish arrogant kid, but not really unlike any other kid. Until 1999, I was any other kid. Is there a bottom line to this book? To me there definitely is: educate yourself. But that is not enough, for this education must also at some point be applied. To me this book was about knowledge, and it was about reality. It was imaginary non-fiction.
The time is ripe for a revolution. Let us be the ones to bring it.
About the Author :
R.F. Salazar-Nader is from both North and South America and currently resides in Europe. He travels extensively around the world and has lived and worked in many fascinating places including Colombia, Brazil, the Philippines, California, Colorado, Seattle, Tokyo, Kyoto, Singapore, Venezuela and Spain. R.F. speaks 3 languages fluently and uses them all on a daily basis. He is a husband, a father, a diver, a cyclist, a skier, a lover, a friend, a professional and a human, among many other things. He has a deep interest in comparative religion, in ancient history, and in mythology across epochs and cultures. He seeks to find the things that bind men and the universe. His main ambition in life, apart from being a good family man, is to write books that help people know themselves and to contribute to the Great Work of past masters in his small yet significant way.
