When I was in junior high school, my friend wrote a novel and sent it to Longmans’ for publication. They sent it back to him asking him to simplify it. They wanted it published under the children’s category but the language is a bit above kid level. Well, he did simplify it but they wanted him to simplify it more. He told me that he can no longer to it. He is satisfied with the term ”Your Novel” which Longmans’ publishers used when they wrote him. And that over- simplification will destroy both the structure, texture and overall beauty of the novel. I agreed with him. The novel was good by many standards, better than most I had read. And I was an avid reader.
My question is, should he have gone on simplifying the novel even if it cost him the structure, texture and overall beauty of the book? Personally, I think what the writer mean is more important than what the reader makes out of his book. That’s why schools are there. God bless every government that offers her citizens free education. Education improves ones capacity to understand and the hunger to discover. But the most important discovery of all is self. I remember my mum telling me one day after listening to a teacher that there is a difference between education and enlightenment. You can acquire one but the other is inborn. Enlightenment offers more than education and can be achieved through contemplation and self examination. It leads to self discovery. Whoever discovers self has discovered life hidden formular. And should political leaders spend a little of their time on personal comtemplation, they would soon discover the recipe for world peace.
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