The figurative language of Sameer Pandya

Reading time: About 1 minute

I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similes and metaphors by Sameer Pandya….

A professor of creative writing and Asian American literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Sameer Pandya (pictured above) is also the author of the novel, Members Only.

Although told in a mainly light-hearted way, the story is really about invisibility and the impact of racism through micro-aggressions. Like Pandya himself, the protagonist is an Indian-American professor at a California university.

A friend of mine picked up the book, by chance, at a local library and then recommended it to me. While enjoying the story, I was also impressed by the author’s use of figurative language. Here are my favourite examples:

  • The room was completely silent. We could hear the cicadian murmur of kids finishing up at the pool outside.
  • On the station platform, with sweat trickling down my legs, my wool slacks seemed to be growing fangs.
  • She had long fingers, longlegs tanned amber, and an exquisitely long neck; she looked like a tropical heron.
  • The deep wrinkles in her face looked like the map of a country I’d like to visit.
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