A friend of mine called me out after reading my review of Love in Penang. She said I was being suspiciously vague. Apparently I'm known for being bold & direct (her words), and my review stank of my chickening out.
My first instinct, of course, was to get defensive. After all, I have a story in the anthology, and saying outright which stories suck would be counter-productive. And using "bleugh" is part of my voice, just as I like using "pfft" and fragmented sentences and single word and/or sentence paragraphs. However, one word she said kept ringing in my head as I stood in the shower contemplating a proper reply:
Credibility.
Initially I kept telling myself that no one reads my blog and reviews, anyway, and the only reason I went against my stand to not review local English books again was that I was inspired to share the beauty that is Leroy Luar's "Happiness" with the world. Well that was a long sentence. Anyway, as hot rain-shower eased the tension off my shoulders, I thought about my previous reviews and about how right my friend was. If I was going to review the book, then the least I could do was to commit to my truth, my style, my voice. So here it is, the unadulterated review of the stories that make up Love in Penang.
"Double-Blind" by Zen Cho is about misguided assumptions from gender stereotyping. The use of Manglish is quaint, if somewhat niched, and the story line is quite standard. Read enough QUILTBAG-themed stories and you'll notice certain tropes: us against the world; finding the courage to come out; the queer pining for the straight; discovering and accepting one's own sexuality; mistaken orientation and/or gender assumption; out and proud and looking for love. I may have left a few. Zen's story employs one of the tropes. I like the little well-placed twist at the ending (definitely not a trick ending, which is a major plus), but I don't see the need for the first scene. The story would have been stronger if she had started from the second scene. As for the Manglish, though I don't personally prefer it, I do believe that the author pulled it off quite well.
"Amah's Bicycle" by Julya Oui is a quiet little story about a teenager who takes out her boredom & angst against a rickety old bicycle that has become a permanent fixture outside her grandmother's house, which prompts the grandmother to talk about the past, thus giving the girl a new perspective in her surroundings. It's an anecdotal story, where the scenes move not in front of the reader's eyes, but through the grandmother's storytelling. This means there is no sense of immediacy, but the story is beautifully written nonetheless. The narrator is transformed at the end of the story, so it's a definite plus.
"Happiness" by Leroy Luar is beautiful, pure and simple. As I mentioned before, the prose touches the literary. The story isn't about the narrator, but about his best friend Rachel who's always been haunted by her mother's abandonment when she was four. There is a certain subtlety that you don't realize the change until the story is over and you think about it and then it hits you. To me this should have been the opening story. I am now on the lookout for more works from Leroy Luar.
"Tingles" by Khaliza Khalid is one of the weakest stories in this anthology. There is no sense of place, there is no character depth or development, the plot is weak, and the solutions are immature. Made out of mainly narrative summaries, there is a lack of immediacy & intimacy. The story doesn't move me, doesn't give me tingles.
"When it Rains" by Celine Wu Yee Pheng is among the shorter stories in this anthology. It's a standard boy-meets-girl (in this case, girl-meets-boy), and is baby-platypus-in-a-top-hat cute. The style is simplistic, almost juvenile, but shows potential.
"Yana" by Nadia Khan is one of the few tragic love stories in this anthology. There's something about her writing that grabs you right from the start and keeps you enthralled. Mark my words: Miss Nadia will be one of Malaysian's literary giants of our generation. Her prose is unassuming and candid--in Malay we call it selamba--and you can't help but fall in love with the characters. My only concern is that most of the dialogs are in Penang-Malay, with no supplementary English explanations. While I had fun imitating the dialect, this much bilingualism may alienate readers who have no clue what is being said. However, the story carries its own weight, and I'm quite confident in saying that people will get the story anyway. The story works, dammit. It works.
"Rock 'N' Love" by Gina Yap Lai Yoong is about a man duped into entering the rat race and has to forsake his dream of being a musician. The complications and solutions are convenient--a bit too convenient, in fact--but the prose is clean and the story arc is complete. Standard story.
"Oil on Canvas" by Eeleen Lee is quietly beautiful, as expected of her. It revolves around the identity of a woman in an oil painting, and the love the deceased painter had for her. I was able to guess where the story was leading somewhere in the middle, but the story moved me nonetheless. It's one of the pieces in this anthology that gives it strength and solidity.
"Katak" by William Tham Wai Liang meanders about, and is a bit too generous with adjectives. It's about a guy pining over the memories of an old flame. I think. I kinda lost my concentration halfway through.
"The Baobab Tree" by Shivani Sivagurunathan -- I couldn't finish this story. I tried. I'm trying right now. Maybe one day I'll finish it, but not in the near future.
"Love Letters" by Lean Ka-Min is a fun read. It's about a bookworm who finds a love letter tucked between the pages of a book in the library and decides to trace the addressee. Complication arises and he flails and fails at attempting to save the day. The stakes aren't high, but it's a fun read nonetheless.
"Oh, Snap!" by Mamu Vies touches on corrupt politicians and the measures opposing parties take to defame one another. I can easily see this piece as a screenplay, and it's actually a solid read. Nothing groundbreaking about the plot, but it's entertaining and well-written. Definitely short-film material.
"A Swift Tour" by Kris Williamson can be a tour-of-Penang piece...if the author had any sense of the location in the first place. Where he excelled in describing Kuala Lumpur in his novel, Mr Williamson floundered here and ended up repeating "Penang" so much that it feels like a placeholder, letting readers conjure up their own images of the island-state. And to fit the theme of the anthology, the author also insisted on repeatedly saying how the protagonist loves Penang, because in essence, it's not a love story. The plot is simplistic, but the story could have been saved if actual descriptions of setting are used. Lazy writing, perhaps? However, I like the author's cheeky inclusion of his novel's title in the story. Sorta like finding an Easter egg.
"At the Bridge" by Agnes Ong is about what happens when reality follows happily-ever-afters. It's one of the only pieces that actually describe the setting. Not one of my favorites, but nothing glaring either.
"Runaway" by Dayang Noor is about a woman with commitment issues. Seriously. It's refreshing to know that this affliction is not limited to men. Clean prose, excellent characterization and a complete story arc. What's there to complain? One more pillar to lend this anthology strength. Like Eeleen Lee's works, I think by now I can recognize Dayang Noor's signature voice.
"She, He" by PP is about first loves, forbidden loves. The prose is a bit pretentious and overreaching, but it's not exactly bad, either.
"Majestic Heights" by Marc de Faoite is a beautifully-crafted piece. It's about the potential of love between a Nepalese and an Indonesian, both looking to make a living in a foreign land. I use "foreign land" instead of "Penang" because the setting could have been anywhere: Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Timbuktu. The story could have been leaps stronger had the author grounded the setting, which is a shame, really, because it is a good story.
"Name" by Fadzlishah Johanabas. Eh. That's me. I'll let you decide if it's good, bad, or blah. I know I wrote it with much love and affection.
So why did I give this anthology 5 stars on Goodreads, when there are weak stories? Stories I hate may be your cup of tea. Stories I swoon over may be blah to you. My actual grade is 4.5, but I rounded it up. There are plenty of pillars in this book that make up for the weaker ones, with -- for me -- "Happiness" being the central support pillar. There is a mixture of voices here that represent Malaysian English (except for barely-legible-English, which you can find on Twitter). The arcs are mostly complete, a rare commodity in Malaysian anthologies, and the contents of this book aren't overwhelmed by political, racial and religious parodies. It shows how Malaysia is moving forward, growing up. It shows grace, and there is much beauty in grace. I hope this book will be read far and wide, and I hope more anthologies of this quality (and more) will be published in the near future.
I am excited by the potential this anthology heralds.
