* * *
And on the subject of books, I had a present from Ms Wong in
the post this morning – a copy of Kafka’s The
Metamorphosis and Other Stories. You should have seen how elegantly it was
wrapped. I’d say that if there’s one word which best sums up Ms Wong it would
be ‘immaculate.’ Everything she does – from the way she wraps parcels to the
way she wears her hair to the way she dresses – says ‘effortlessly immaculate.’
Maybe it’s because she’s Chinese. If you look at the art, architecture and
artefacts in traditional Chinese culture, it does have a knack of knowing
exactly where to put things. And yet it’s graceful, demure, unforced and
unpretentious. That’s why I like it.
* * *
And while I’m on the subject of things Chinese, I might just
add the following (albeit via a circuitous route.)
The house fly that's invaded my office has finally
discovered that the gum on an old envelope flap tastes good. He’s also started
acceding to my request to go away if I point a finger and speak to him in no uncertain
terms. (I suspect it has more to do with willpower than the expletives I use.)
Good. Maybe now I can concentrate on the beautiful Yu
Hongmai playing the erhu rather beautifully (most Chinese instruments have
broadly similar counterparts in the west, but nothing of ours quite matches the
earthy mellowness of the erhu, the instrument which most defines Chinese
music.) Even she, however, for all her willowy wan-ness, pales alongside Ji Wei
on the guzheng. Such elegance, such grace, such compelling inscrutability. Why
on earth the western world continues to laud the painted, under-dressed garbage
which passes for pop culture celebrity over here when there are Ji Wei’s to
look at escapes me. You can watch them both here if you want to, although I
doubt anybody ever does.
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