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YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS: Mount Ararat has always served a source of inspiration for numerous artists. Holland writer Frank Westerman in his search to fathom the secret of the mystery wrote book entitled ''Ararat''. The inauguration of the Armenian translation of the book is scheduled on September 15, in Matenadarn. Before his arrival to Armenia the author gave an interview to Armenpress reporter. The book dwells on search for Biblic Mountain , Noah's Ark, analysis on religion and sense.
Mr. Westerman, why you decided to write about Ararat, about Armenia?
My vision of Ararat was shaped by the biblical account of the Flood, when I was child - raised in a protestant family in the countryside of Holland. The Armenians that live in my hometown (Assen) were refugees from Turkey, prosecuted because of their believe and who they are. That was all I knew. Many years later, in 1999 while I was working as a newspaper correspondent, I saw Mount Ararat from Yerevan, first time in my life. And I was shocked: by it's beauty, it's powerful symbolism, it's 'impossible' location. I immediately wanted to go there, but could of course not get any closer than Khor Virap. Only a few years later, when I had become a father, I decided to climb Mt. Ararat and write a non-fiction account of it, in dedication to our daughter Vera.
From which point of view you referred to Ararat?
I see Ararat as a mountain that speaks to humanity as a whole. It's a universal symbol, that rises above regional wounds and divides. I tried to stress this unique character by telling about my personal experiences in life. I tried to listen to what this magnificient mountain had to say to me, as a person who has lost the faith of his childhood and sees himself as a rather rational person. I asked myself these questions: Where is the God of my children's Bible? And who or what has replaced him? In my book, Ararat is the carrier of both fact and faith, science and religion, geology and mythology. Its summit, to me, symbolizes the place where the story and the rock touch, and that is exactly where I wanted to go.
What questions have you highlighted concerning the Biblic Mountain in historical Armenia ?
On my way to the summit I make some carefully selected digressions in time and space, all related to either science or religion. In Armenia these digressions center around a modern day seismologist and a volcanologist from Jerevan, and a priest in Etchmiadzin. I also visited the Arguri-canyon, while recounting and reflecting on the ascent of Ararat by Friedrich Parrot and Khachatur Abovian in 1829.
When did you write the book? Have you been willing to climb to the Mount Ararat, or do you want to do it now?
I ascended Mt. Ararat in September 2005, and started writing immediately afterwards. I promise, when the last remnant of the Iron Curtain opens up one day, I will ascend Ararat again from the Armenian side!
How many languages is the book translated to?
Armenian included, my book is now available in ten languages.I'm very much looking forward to present my book in Armenian on September 15, and I feel it as a huge honour that I'm invited to do so in the fabulous Matenadaran.