40 vs 8 — Ep4: Metaphor (with special guest)
“40 vs 8” is a weekly newsletter where a generation gap meets literary exploration. Join me, a reader with four decades of life experience, and my curious 8-year-old daughter as we share our favorite reads and uncover captivating stories together.
Today we will talk about the power of metaphor, and how people feel about Steve Jobs. We also have a special guest, a ? years old mother with her favorite quote at the end.
40 years old
“To be honest, I was uneasy about Steve. He had a forceful personality, whereas I do not, and I felt threatened by him. For all of my talk about the importance of surrounding myself with people smarter than myself, his intensity was at such a different level, I didn’t know how to interpret it. It put me in the mind of an ad campaign that the Maxell cassette tape company released around this time, featuring what would become an iconic image: a guy sitting low in a leather-and-chrome Le Corbusier chair, his long hair being literally blown back by the sound from the stereophonic speaker in front of him. That’s what it was like to be with Steve. He was the speaker. Everyone else was the guy.”
- from the book “Creativity, Inc” by Amy Wallace and Edwin Catmull
The quote describes a famous picture that you may have seen.
The quote is a powerful metaphor. It engages multiple senses: you can “see” the hair being blown away, and you can feel the “touch” of the strong sound wave on your face.
Speaking to the feeling when receiving someone’s speech, there is a Chinese idiom called “如沐春风”. This idiom means when talking or being influenced by an erudite or virtuous person, it is like being bathed in a spring breeze.
When you speak to someone next time, which style would you choose: to blow away or to spring breeze bath?
8 years old
“The rage building inside her rose like the smoke from the body of the bronze bull, until she could taste ash in her mouth and her mind blazed with the bloodred words that had been left for her on the wall.”
- from the book “LORE” by Alexandra Bracken
I asked her why?
I like it because it is very detailed, there are some adjectives such as bronze, bloodred. I can picture her in my mind — I see her frowning and smoke coming out of her head. Also I can taste ash in my mouth — bleh!
? years old mother
Mother rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling. I looked up there, too. But I didn’t see anything.
- from the book “Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus” Barbara Park
Oh yea, I have seen the look, and I haven’t found anything in the ceiling yet.
If you’d like to see more, follow me on Medium. Your claps and support are the best motivation for us.
