A Cultural Perspective

See how evocatively, but to the western eye exotically a very common occurrence can be described.

from Hunger Trilogy
Wang Ruowang

"Hey! Look--there are lights over there!" Someone had discovered light glimmering in the far distance. Everyone looked int he direction he was pointing and, sure enough, there were spots of light looking like soy beans in the distance.

It would never occur to me to describe the glimmering of lights in the nighttime as "looking like soybeans in the distance."  There is something about this that is strangely evocative--particularly considering the title of the work and the primary focus on times of starvation.

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