If We Give What We Treasure Most

We Live But For A Short Time, We See But Very Little, And We Know Almost Nothing; So, At Least, Let's Do Some Dreaming. Have Yourself A Very Good Sunday, My Dear Readers.

Of Course In Turkey I'm Seen As Being On The 'western' Side, Criticised By The Nationalists, Criticised By The Communitarians As Not Belonging. Even, Sometimes, Criticised For Looking At My Country Through Western Eyes. And In The Western Media I'm Portrayed As Belonging To The East.

In His Brilliant New Book Pankaj Mishra Reverses The Long Gaze Of The West Upon The East, Showing Modern History As It Has Been Felt By The Majority Of The World's Population From Turkey To China. These Are The Amazing Stories Of The Grandfathers Of Today's Angry Asians. Excellent!

Yet Does Illustrating In A New Way Signify A New Way Of Seeing?

When You Look Into The Faces Of These Quiet Creatures Who Don't Know How To Tell Stories--who Are Mute, Who Can't Make Themselves Heard, Who Fade Into The Woodwork, Who Only Think Of The Perfect Answer After The Fact, After They're Back At Home, Who Can Never Think Of A Story That Anyone Else Will Find Interesting--is There Not More Depth And More Meaning In Them? You Can See Every Letter Of Every Untold Story Swimming On Their Faces, And All The Signs Of Silence, Dejection, And Even Defeat. You Can Even Imagine Your Own Face In Those Faces, Can't You?