向左走, 向右走

And you thought I couldn’t write in Chinese!  :)
Oh well….I have been trying to read some Chinese writings once in a while.  I actually bought a Chinese book at Taiwan airport. It was a short “internet” novel which I managed to read in a couple of days. I was so proud of myself even though I have to admit I skipped some word as they were written in traditional Chinese.

Anyway, one of the other Chinese books that I have been reading are …well..not really books, but more like pictorial.   It is by this artist Jimi (几米). He drew the story “Turn Left, Turn Right”.  If you remember, I had blogged about being at his book signing when I was in Taiwan in Sept last yr.  I had read ‘flipped’ through some of his books before that.  All of his books are pictorial based with short paras of writings.  Although he does not write alot, the writings are quite thought provoking.  One of his books “幸运儿”tells of a tale of a “lucky” man who had all everything a person ever wanted – family, wealth, position, intelligence etc.  Everyone called him the “lucky person”.  One day, he started to grow a pair of wings on his back.  Everyone thought he had the best fortune in the world to be so special, but it brought the man great misery to be “special” as he was alienated from everyone.  It is thought provoking in the sense that when we see someone as being “more fortunate” than us, we then only look at the surface rather than see what this person really is or really wants.  “Lucky”, “Blessed”, “Fortunate” are all terms we – “outsiders” give to others based on society’s values, ideals and desires. Is that really what the individual? 

Jimi’s books are not difficult to read ( partly cos he has lots of very nice pictures) but they really make you think quite a fair bit.  His observations of the world around him is quite intriguing…he has this ability to make you think about the people around you and to make observations about human interactions with one another. It is hard to describe…you will need to read it for yourself :)