Invisible Cities is an interesting read that gives wings to let my imagination fly among different unique cities. Olivia in chapter 4 is among those that impress me the most.
The opening in this chapter talks about that acceptance of failure is worse than failure itself. One of my favorite sentences in the book lies in this opening, that is “If you want to know how much darkness there is around you, you must sharpen your eye, peering at the faint lights in the distance.” It is the need to find the good even in the darkest times, and it reminds me of a city in Vietnam – Saigon – that later somehow resembles Olivia to my surprise.
Olivia, “a city rich in products and in profits,” can be “indicated its prosperity only by speaking of filigree palaces with fringed cushions on the seats by the mullioned windows.” It is not only described by its look, but also signatured by the leather smell of saddlers’ shops, by the sounds of women chattering, and by “an action repeated by thousands of hands thousands of times at the pace established for each shift.” Marco Polo’s need to use different words to describe Olivia allures to the fact that there is no true perception of the city: each person forms their own understanding and perception of the city upon their position in society. The inability to acquire one true description of Olivia, as Marco Polo later remarks, is also because of the city itself: “Falsehood is not in words; it is in things.” Olivia, in itself, is impossible to be perceived in one true way.
This part of Olivia reminds me of my city. It reminds me of myself sitting on Saigon river’s bank, on the side of Binh Thanh district looking towards the lights of skyscrapers on the other side that create a magnificent skyline. Saigon, just like Olivia, is also “rich in products and in profits.” Saigon, like Olivia, is impossible to be perceived in one true way. Ask a person to describe it to you and you will get a different answer – or perhaps an entirely different city – each time. One man frequenting the skyscrapers will paint for you a glorious Saigon. Cross the river and the people residing by the riverbank will tell you about a peaceful side of it. But just as the great Kublai Khan does, one must remember that “the city must never be confused with the words that describe it.” In all of its glory or peace, in every of its skyscrapers or terraces, Saigon in itself is a city of a million colors. Why describe it with just one color, one adjective?
Another detail of Olivia that resonates with my city is the repetitive cycle of a human’s life working for the industry, living one identical day after another. This cycle, as monotonous and perpetual as it is, if omitted, will lead to the collapse of the whole system. The repeated labor of a human is, after all, an indispensable gear in the industry.
