LESSON LEARNT

WHEN I was in my late teens, I read Danielle Steele novels by the truckload. I guess these were the equivalent of young adult novels today, which did not exist in my time, or were few.

A favorite theme for Danielle Steele is the journey. Often the young lady protagonist would go on a journey, either for a holiday, a purpose or a quest, and there meet love and adventure!

The journey is an old theme in literature, starting from Odysseus in the Odyssey, then Aeneas in the Aeneid and Dante in Divine Comedy.

Personally, I loved young Edward Waverley's journey in Sir Walter Scott's lovely novel, Waverley. Like with every journey in a book, Edward travels both outwardly, across Britain and through battle and war, and inwardly from childhood to young adulthood.

Those Danielle Steele novels were not without faults. Yet, you know what? I wish I had learnt something from those novels too: taking control of your life, believing in love, not waste time, get rid of all things negative at once. Better learn from a novel than learn the hard way.

More on Sir Walter Scott and Danielle Steele in later posts!