Compound Eye: If human eyes were compound eyes, what kind of scene would it be like? What would they see?

Author: Wang Biao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: This is a work pursuing the purity of novel art, exploring through French novelistic zero-degree writing and intricate structure: What would the world be like if human eyes were "compound eyes"? What would people see? The protagonist of the novel, Ma Yi, is an amateur insect specimen collector. The compound eye trait of insects makes him constantly imagine what life would be like if humans had a pair of "compound eyes" like insects. Thus, his present life and his historical life are presented in fragments in his conscious and subconscious, as the world's objects are presented in peculiar ways to the eyes of an insect: temptation, betrayal, mysteries, crime, lust, and so on. The author is also ingenious in the structural framework of the novel: on one hand, the protagonist is immersed in the imagination and exploration of life under the "compound eye"; on the other hand, the author uses the "compound eye" structure to infuse the novel's structure, making the entire novel a "compound eye" that reflects the real world. The protagonist of Compound Eye is an insect enthusiast who collects butterfly specimens. Anyone with basic biological knowledge knows that insect eyes are very different from human eyes; insect eyes are "compound eyes," each composed of many hexagonal small eyes. This trait makes the protagonist, who is obsessed with the insect world, often absurd fantasies: If humans had a pair of "compound eyes" like insects, what would life be like? What kind of world would he see? As a result, his present reality, his historical experiences, temptation, betrayal, mysteries, crime, lust, and so on, are all presented in fragmented forms in his consciousness and subconsciousness, just as the world's objects are presented in strange ways to the compound eyes of an insect. What is particularly striking is that the author ingeniously transplants the structure of a compound eye into this novel, making the entire novel appear as a super-sized "compound eye" that reflects both the real world and the inner world. This also makes the novel greatly surpass many of the current novels that are in a hurry for quick success in terms of quality.