Mavericks, a world of their own

When the small pot of succulent plants in front of me changed from clear to blurry, and then from blurry to clear, I found that I had been sitting in a chair for a long time.

The book "Little Little Fire" lies quietly at hand, and the traces of turning over it make the book slightly fluffy and swollen. Another fascinating story - I thought silently.

In my mind, I can seem to see a small Volkswagen driving on a straight road sandwiched in the middle of the empty land of the United States. Mia and her daughter are sitting in it. It was stuffed with stuff, the most conspicuous thing was the big camera that looked like it was lying in a violin case.

Where will they wander? What kind of story will happen?

This new work "Little Little Fire" by Chinese-American female writer Wu Qishi tells the story of two families. Mia, a mother and her daughter from a single-parent family, moved to Richard in Sickle Heights. The rental house of the Mori family intersected with their family of six, triggering a series of unexpected stories.

Through the completely different life choices of these two families, Wu Qishi discusses the meaning of life with us.

Does life need to be carefully designed and carried out in an orderly manner according to a plan? Or do you not need to plan, follow your heart, and follow your intuition?

As a story, "Little Little Fire" throws this question to the reader, but of course, there is no answer.

However, to a certain extent, the author favors the latter choice. She hopes that everyone can follow their hearts and live the life they really want. Because she spent a lot of pen and ink describing Mia, from being mysterious at the beginning, to using Mrs. Richardson's investigation to unveil her veil little by little, and finally made her life experience public.

Throughout the whole process, we always felt Mia’s kindness, sincerity, intelligence, and warmth. She seemed to be glowing with light, the kind of light that a talented person would emit. However, this light was not dazzling, nor did it give people a feeling of superiority. It was just soft and gentle. Because not only did she secretly curb her talents, keep her voice low, and she also lived a life of poverty and displacement willingly. Despite this, she can still use her little strength to silently protect her daughter, help her friends, and care for the several children of the Richardson family.

On the contrary, Mrs. Richardson was completely different from her. She is wealthy, enterprising, has a stable career and life, and has great planning and control over her life. However, in this seemingly stable family, many things are actually out of control unknowingly, such as her youngest daughter Iqi.

Control is a wonderful feeling. It can bring people a sense of security and accomplishment, but it can also bring fear. In order to avoid this fear, people will do their best to strengthen control and prevent losing it. However, wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. The stronger the control, the stronger the resistance to escape from control.

Mrs. Richardson was trapped in an endless loop. So, eventually Izzy started a fire and left the house. She remembered what Mia said to her: "Sometimes, you need to burn everything clean before new things will grow. The same is true for people. They can start over and always find a way."

< p> Because of Iggy's fire, Mrs. Richardson may rethink her life. Although the story ends here, the photo Mia left for Mrs. Richardson, the metaphorical photo of a golden feather in the birdcage, will definitely stir up emotions in Mrs. Richardson's heart. The uproar left her quietly chewing the consequences of being too controlling during the days of rebuilding her home.

In fact, she also lives very seriously, but sometimes she forgets that she is just a part of the world, instead of when she feels good, she seems to dominate the world.

When the real and complex world came to her in the form of drama, she realized that of course she was not the only one in this world. People of all kinds lived their own lives. Has its own pace.

For example, Mia, such as Van Gogh.

Mia is obviously talented and has many resources to utilize, but she still chooses to remain anonymous and huddle silently in a corner of the world, blocking out all the interference in the world and doing what she wants to do most—— Photography creation.

If Mia is a fictional character, then Van Gogh is a living example. He was homeless and impoverished because of his art. Although the value of his works was not recognized until his death, he still persisted in painting. How can you persevere despite repeated failures? Maybe like Mia, he also has a small fire in his heart. When he creates, it burns and warms his body and mind.

However, the fire eventually burned him, which has to be said to be a tragic and depressing thing.

But no matter what the final result is, Van Gogh's example and Mia's story in "Little Fire" are telling us that not everyone in this world will choose to live a step-by-step life. They will choose to take a road less traveled, breathe the air of freedom, and give up a stable and prosperous life that is important in the worldly sense, just to pursue the world in the spiritual sense.

Such a world has its own charm.

This charm is that it can make people content with poverty and enjoy being homeless; it can make people stay pure and gain the power of life from simple things; it can also make people stay pure and pure. Make people smart and understand everything.

Therefore, no matter how long it takes to remain silent, such a world will eventually shine, just like Van Gogh. Although he was not recognized during his lifetime, today, hundreds of years later, he is almost No one knows it, no one knows it.

To a certain extent, Wu Qishi also created a new world for us. "Little Fire" is a world. Whoever is lucky enough to read it will stay in this world for a short time. , following the movement of the world immersively, and experiencing other people's lives, just like a dream.

Such an effect cannot be described by ordinary authors. Therefore, this book won 27 awards and became the 2017 American Fiction Book of the Year.

If my description is not enough to attract you to open this book, then I think these awards are enough to arouse your curiosity and take a look at why it has won so many awards.

Take a trip to the world in the book, I believe you will make your trip worthwhile.