Though Darwish writes about a part of the world that is unfamiliar to me and though many of his experiences are so different than my own, his use of aptly chosen metaphors and similes allowed me to understand his perspective and make a connection with his writing. I think that the idea of using metaphor and simile to help make writing more accessible for readers is an important technique for writers. Readers who have shared similar experience with Darwish may understand exactly what he is talking about, but for someone like me who knows almost nothing about his world, metaphor is a technique that helps me to understand.
The technique from this book that I would like to emulate in my own writing is Darwish’s use of metaphor and simile. I often avoid using those techniques when I write because I’m afraid that they might seem too contrived, but after seeing how effective they can be when it is used well, I am inspired to experiment more with metaphors and similes in my own writing. Some of my favorite examples of Darwish’s use of metaphor and simile are: “yellow is the color of the hoarse voice that only the sixth sense can hear” (21), “waiting is like sitting on a hot tin roof” (44), “the small clouds are towels drying the drizzle off the mountain tops” (111), “a clear sky is a thought without an idea, like a garden that is completely green” (117), and “cooking is the poetry of the senses when they are combined in the hand, an edible poem which cannot tolerate mistakes in the balance of the ingredients” (134). I love how concise yet full of meaning these phrases are and how rich they are with vivid details and imagery.
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