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A similar experience is not necessary for empathy

I enjoy reading local authors. I like the familiarity of their language that probably stems from being nurtured in a similar environment and sharing similar experiences. I've been a fan of novelist and photographer Colin Cheong ever since I read Sixteen back in secondary school. Looking back after all these years, I think what struck me about Sixteen was the simplicity of the language used to convey experiences which were at once familiar but at the same time difficult for me to frame with words. Last night, I picked up Tangerine and was transported back to my little sojourn in Vietnam. I particularly enjoyed how the book did not succumb into a travelogue but instead focused on the interaction between the protagonist and the people he met. Ultimately, it is the people that make all the difference in a travel.