Murky Clarity

Book Review: "The Female Cell" by Rumaizah Abu Bakar

I have a suspicion that by now, I may have built a reputation of tearing apart Malaysian-English works. Oh, well.

Moving on.

"The Female Cell" is a collection of short works by Kedah-born Rumaizah Abu Bakar, published by Silverfish Books in 2011. Do note that I use 'works' instead of 'stories'. But I'll get to that later. Like usual, I'll talk about the cover first.

This book suffers from the same ailment other Silverfish titles seem to be afflicted with. I mean, the "Silverfish New Writing" titles had superb covers, but others are merely meh if not outright ugly. I love the high-grade brown paper between the covers, though, and the scent is just right.

The book itself is divided into two parts: Love, Lies and Lives, and Travel Tales. In the description, the first part consists of works of fiction. Short stories, in fact.

I beg to differ.

The book starts off with "Christmas in July", a story about jealousy and rivalry among chefs at a hotel. Immediately after finishing the story, I went, "Eh?". However, after spending a minute thinking about it, I realized that "Christmas in July" was a freaking brilliant read. It's one of those understated stories that makes you think, and in a good way. It has a complete arc (beginning, middle, ending), and the protagonist is transformed at the end. Yu, a sous chef at one of the restaurants in the hotel, has always been denied a promotion, and has to watch younger chefs brought in from other countries rise and bask in fame. At the end of the story, Yu, who has quit the job and is now married and has two children, has opened his own business, whereas the star chef he's always been jealous of remains the same, serving the same food.

Brilliant, I tell you.

Then the problem starts. Just like Chua Kok Yee's book "Without Anchovies", the editor must have realized the strength of the opening story and placed it there on purpose. Good strategy, I have to say. However, it would have been better if the story had been followed up by other solid, complete stories.

The rest of the first section are vignettes. Not stories, but single scenes without beginnings or endings. They feel like exercises to describe scenes the writer witnessed at that particular time. The pieces are told in the first person perspective, present tense. Actually all the pieces in this book are told the same way. There are merits, and there are drawbacks, of course. And the merits don't become apparent until the second part.

I felt something was off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I started reading Travel Tales. Then it hit me. Except for "Christmas in July", the narrator in the pieces is merely a witness, not an active participant. When you write a story in first-person, the reader inadvertedly assumes the identity of the narrator. Being forced to play a passive role in a story isn't a good enough experience. Just like "The Great Gatsby".

Put these two factors together--single-scene vignettes and passive first-person narration--and you get a frustrating read. There isn't any character development, and as a reader I don't feel invested. And it's a shame, because Rumaizah's writing style is smooth and excellent. She doesn't pretend, and she doesn't try too hard to impress. In fact, the entire book feels like having a thirty-something lady sit across from me at a cozy cafe, regaling me with snippets of her interesting life (or interesting observation of life). The author's presence is barely felt, and I can really get lost in the tales.

Especially during the second part. Oh, the second part.

Travel Tales is a travelogue, pure and simple. And this is where Rumaizah shines. The pieces are still vignettes, and the style of writing is the same, with the same first-person present-tense perspective, but this time, the narrator is an active participant, and by extension, so is the reader. I have not been to a lot of these places, and traveling vicariously through these tales is awesome. I especially liked the tales of Turkey.

Now. On to the technicalities of this book.

I mentioned the cover. I seriously feel that Silverfish Books needs a (new) cover artist. FIXI (and its imprint FIXI NOVO) is doing a great job coming up with brilliant covers, and even the Readings from Readings series has a distinct, beautiful cover concept. Whatever is said and done, we still judge a word-only book by its cover, and using ugly covers is selling the author(s) short.

This book also has the same problem as "Without Anchovies". Great opening piece, followed by a disappointing read, made more so because both these authors show an amazing potential through their opening stories.

I didn't detect that many typos, but there was an abuse of the semi-colon. Especially in the first piece. And I would have appreciated less adverbs, and more strong verbs. I'm not against adverbs, but having them back-to-back can be a tad annoying.

I would have gotten rid of the first part of the book (except for the opening story) and concentrated on the travelogues instead. Travel Tales is indeed an engaging read, not indulgent at all, and would have raised the author's name higher.

First-person present-tense perspective is a delicate thing to handle, and doesn't work all the time. I would have appreciated some of the pieces told in the past tense, or even an active-participant third-person perspective. As it is, the narrative voice sounds exactly the same for all the pieces, and I'm quite certain the first part is told by different people/narrators.

I also mentioned that the entire book feels like a thirty-something woman chatting with me across the table. What I wanted, and didn't get, was a sense of weaving all the threads into one tapestry. Even Scheherazade, with her 1001 Nights, had a bigger, more encompassing arc that tied together everything. Or Khaled Hosseini's "And the Mountains Echoed", even.

This book is far from perfect, for the reasons stated above. But I will judge the author based on the first story and the travelogues. Rumaizah is a raw, unpolished gem. I believe that she will go far if she is given the right guidance and exposure.

I give this book a 3.5/5. It's above average, but it's not quite there.

It is, however, definitely worth the purchase and the read.

Book Review: "Goodbye, Goddess" by Breanna Teintze

Disclaimer: Breanna is not only a close friend of mine, but also my reviewer/editor/beta reader (and I am her reviewer/editor/beta reader). I helped review and edit several (but not all) of the stories in this anthology. Is my review biased? I try not to review books of people I know, because I know I'll end up hurting their feelings. I tackle the book, not the writer, but when you're in direct communication with the writer...well, you decide for yourself.

 

"Goodbye, Goddess", published in 2011, is a collection of 7 short stories with a total word count of over 37,000 words, making an average of 5,000 words per story. The stories are set in the same secondary world (I still don't know what the name of the world is), which, like most Western Fantasy works, has a definite medieval European vibe. There is magic and polytheism, and there are dragons, things you would expect from a standard Fantasy title.

The anthology opens with "Lucky Day", a story about Rion the Erranter (equivalent to Gypsy) who, thanks to his compulsive gambling, lost his horse and he needs to win--or steal--it back. He gets himself into deeper trouble when he crosses paths with a jinn-wizard. Rion gets nagged a lot, and like most new fathers, doesn't know what he's doing half the time. However, he knows his own nature as a thief and gambler, and uses that very nature to save himself & his family.

"Patron Saint" is about loss and redemption. The main character is angry with the gods and the saints for taking away his fiance. He is angry with himself for serving a corrupt king. In terms of action, nothing much happens until the ending scene, but this story is more of an emotional journey rather than a physical one.

"Moon and Bone" is among the strongest pieces in this collection not just because there's plenty of action and magic. Compared to other stories, this is fast-paced, true. It's a cozy mystery, a whodunit. However, it's the narrative voice that grabs me from the start. Corcoran the wizard is irreverent and snappish, but his voice is so strong that even though the story is told in first-person perspective, you can just tell it's the wizard talking and not you as the reader trying to be in the character's shoes.

"Hunter's Daughter" tells the story of an innkeeper's daughter who sells supplies for dragon hunters. When the hunters end up dying, and the guide (whom she loves) is almost killed, she decides to take matters into her own hand.

"Goodbye, Goddess", easily the longest--and strongest--piece in this collection, tells of the story of a duelist-for-hire who has lost his faith and his will to live. This story explores more about social caste systems in Teintze's world, and her worldbuilding is clearer here compared to other stories.

I'll be honest. I didn't agree to adding "Fool's Errand" to the anthology. For one, it feels like a parody of "Hunter's Daughter". Another, since it's told from the perspective of the town's fool, the storytelling feels trivial, at odds with the more serious undertone of the rest of the book. However, having read and re-read the anthology several times, I can see the wisdom in Teintze's blatant disregard of my advice. This short piece shows her range as a writer, and it also gives a breather. There's nothing slapstick in this story, mind. Maybe she did not manage to execute funny as good as some other authors I know of (Sedaris, anyone?), but still. It doesn't make me like the story any better, but still.

Moving on.

"Finer Points" explores what happens when heroes retire. They become grumpy village-folk who roll their eyes at overconfident adventurers who don't know what's good for them. These heroes end up returning from their retirement to save the day. Unlike "Fool's Errand", where Teintz tries--and fails--to be funny, this story is inherently funny and it shines through. Definitely a solid piece that strengthens the anthology.

Is this anthology the best damn thing that happened since ice cream? Sadly, no. This book was published in 2011, with some of the stories having been written long before that. Teintze has grown exponentially as a writer. She is also brilliant at worldbuilding, but the nature of short stories doesn't allow for her to showcase her ability. The fantastical elements are subdued, and for some Fantasy lovers, this can be a turnoff.

However.

The characters in the stories aren't merely characters. They're people. Living, breathing real people. The women aren't stunning damsels-in-distress, but practical ones in practical garbs who can kill dragons just in time to tidy the house and cook dinner. The dialogs are organic and believable. If read aloud, the entire collection reads smoothly. The prose, though not exactly lyrical, is practical, no-nonsense. Have I mentioned the rich characterization? And the solid, complete story arcs?

The cover, though pretty, could be better. It doesn't quite grab one's attention. The formatting is clean but sparse. Could Teintze have benefited from professional designing & formatting? Perhaps.

Don't let the packaging fool you. As far as content goes, this book is amazing. It shows a promise of a quality author who cares about her craft. If you're looking for stories with strong female characters--I'm not talking about muscle-bound jarheads, but mothers who can easily carry a baby in one hand and a sword in another--then you should give this book a go. If you're looking for stories with brilliant characterization, organic dialogs and satisfying story arcs, then you should give this book a go.

If you're looking for fast-paced, action-packed, gory-filled stories, then this book is not for you. If you're looking for adventure stories, then maybe this book is not for you. I said earlier that this book has what you'd expect of a standard Western Fantasy title, but there's nothing standard about how the author approaches the subgenre.

Honestly speaking, even if I never knew Breanna Teintze as a person, I'll definitely look for more of her stories and/or books. She's that good.

 

You can buy the book at these locations:

Amazon
Smashwords
iTunes
Barnes & Noble

 

Fifty Shades of WHAT THE?!

I originally intended to write a rant about immature authors reacting to in-depth book reviews, but that'll only make me sound defensive & equally immature, and I know I'm better than that. For the record, however, I am not a bitter author whose work has been rejected & in turn looking for blood from other authors. I'm steadily publishing my short stories, and I get solicited for projects by editors & publishers.

Ehem. Moving on.

So. "Fifty Shades of Grey". I heard that you either love it or you hate it. Or that you claim to hate it, but secretly you love it. Yes. You. Don't go shaking your head at me and showing me attitude.

The book, originally a parody fan-fiction of "Twilight", exploded into fame & generated a deluge of other erotica books sold (and read) out in the open. Seriously. Ah Sohs with flaming red hair can be seen holding up paperback copies in the LRT, so selamba reading in front of everyone. However, writers all across the globe are perplexed & indignant by EL James's success. The quality of writing is SO BAD! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THE BOOKS TO HAVE GENERATED SALES BY THE MILLIONS?!

Oh, well. I wanted to give the books a try. For research only, mind. I'm not lying so get off my back! At first I couldn't even get through the first few pages. The quality. Is. So. BAD! I left the book alone & picked up better-written Young Adult books. Then I came back & managed slightly farther. Then stopped & picked up better-written Young Adult books.

In the end I gave up on reading the paperback, and decided to try the audiobook. After all, I concentrate on driving while listening to audiobooks. Multitasking. That's how you approach an unapproachable book. Right now I've reached the part where Christian Grey has rescued Anastasia Steele from the drunken clutches of Jose Rodriguez and she's woken up in his hotel room.

Admit it. You know what I'm talking about. Pfft.

Thing is, three chapters in, and I still haven't reached the naughty parts. WHERE ARE THE NAUGHTY PARTS?!

There are a lot of gazes going on here. His gaze. My gaze. He gazes. I gaze. I think I am officially fed up with the word 'gaze'. Remember, folks. Electrifying eye-to-eye contact is a form of foreplay. I think.

Anyway. Back to the issue at hand. Yes, the book is as annoying to listen to as it is to read. That's not the point I want to bring to light right now. It's a particular scene that I have in mind.

The drunken clutches.

Jose Rodriguez is a hunky junior who's into Anna, but she just looks at him as a friend. Upon first contact Christian already knows that Jose is a potential threat. Anna has the hots for Christian right from the start, but her insecurities make her belief that she's nowhere near his league. Clear so far? OK. There's a scene where Anna, her roommate & best friend Kate, and Jose (see how useful the Oxford comma is? I SHALL NOT ABANDON YOU, OH OXFORD COMMA!) go to a bar in Portland to celebrate finishing their final exams. Anna gets drunk, Jose gets drunk, Kate...well, Kate stays hot & sultry. Anna drunk-calls Christian, yada yada yada.

Now here's the important scene: Anna stumbles out of the bar, drunk. Jose follows her, equally drunk. He wants to make sure she's all right. However, being drunk and all, inhibitions are gone & he confesses his feelings for her & goes gropey and stuff. She's still not into him & tries to push him away. Christian comes swooping in, Anna vomits out her entire gastric contents, and Jose jumps away but Christian holds back her hair while she retches onto the street. Still drunk, Anna wants Christian to be physical with her. She doesn't dance, but she still dances with him. She wakes up the next day in her underwear in his hotel room, and gets a little disappointed when she finds out they haven't done the nasty.

See the issue here?

One drunk woman. One drunk man. Drunk woman is not into drunk man. Drunk man is into said drunk woman. He makes his move. He is seen as a jerk. Non-drunk man, who said drunk woman has the hots for, makes his move, and said drunk woman EXPECTS more.

OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD PLEASE TELL ME YOU NOTICE THE DOUBLE STANDARDS HERE!

It's not okay for a drunk man to try and overpower a drunk woman, but it's perfectly fine if the guy is hot & the drunk woman is into him? Come on. Women everywhere are fighting for equal rights & respect, but this kind of trash is still sold by the MILLIONS? Women are lapping this up? Just because the hot Christian Grey holds back Anastasia Steele's hair while she vomits, like a gentleman should?

It's not the quality of writing that I have issues with. It's Anastasia Steele. And I'm nowhere near done with the book.

Because I still want to get to the naughty parts.

In all seriousness, though, what I'm saying is that the book is saying that it's OK for a woman to be violated if the man is someone like Christian Grey. It's messed up, isn't it?

Book Review: "Wedding Speech" by Khaliza Khalid

EDIT: I don't believe that there are spoilers without warning here, but to be fair to the author, I've highlighted the possible spoilers in white. Highlight those places using your mouse to see them.

 

“Wedding Speech” by Khaliza Khalid is the fourth title and the third novel published by FIXI NOVO, the English imprint of FIXI. The protagonist, Yusrizan, a bona fide player, is smitten by Kelly right from the start. However, he has difficulty coming to terms with it, and does everything wrong to prevent himself from getting the happy ending he thinks he deserves until the present day where he finally marries her and has to confess all his wrongdoings in his wedding speech.

Or so the story goes.

What I can say about this book is: Man! It is difficult! To. Finish!

The premise has potential. The execution, however, is a train wreck.

 

The story

I’ve summarized the story above without including any spoilers. Yusrizan is an unreliable narrator (it’s a well-used writing technique, by the way) who has fantasy and reality mixed up. The present is rooted around his wedding day, and the narration goes back and forth as he reminisces the past. Unfortunately, Khaliza flails and fails at writing a non-linear timeline, and should have stuck beginning the story with the wedding reception and reveal everything in chronological sequence as Yusrizan ticks off the six items he has to express in his wedding speech.

 

The language

Part of why the back-and-forth narration fails is because Khaliza has her tenses all jumbled up. The present-day scenes are written in the present tense, and the rest of the story is in the past tense. Fair enough. However, especially while in the present, the tenses get mangled and reading becomes a jarring experience. Is this a failure of editing? I don’t know. Maybe.

Technically, the author appears well-versed with writing in English, which is a definite plus. Unfortunately, she appears to be like the character Kelly, who uses big, complicated words to impress anyone who hears/reads the passages, words that in reality do not fit the context. It’s like she pressed ‘Shift+F7’ on Word, looks for the most complicated words to replace the ones she already has. Or she has a paperback thesaurus ready and does the same thing. I might fill in examples from the book, but finishing it the first time has been painful enough.

I’m a firm believer of using strong, concise verbs instead of adverbs, but bombastic words just to show off? I used to do that when I started writing, and I get irritated every time I read my earlier stories.

Oh. Wait. I remember some examples.

1. I literally burst out of the room. Literally means in the literal sense. Did Yusrizal explode? No.
2. “You’ll never guess my true nature, but I have the audacity to leave you breathless.” Out of context. Audacity means willingness to take bold risks, or impudence. What is she trying to say?

The story is told using first-person perspective. A repetitive usage of specific terms is expected. Think about it. We will almost always call at cat ‘cat’ instead of inter-exchanging ‘cat’ with ‘feline’, ‘mouser’, ‘tom’ or ‘tabby’. In this book: no such thing. Yusrizan is fixated with breasts; that much is clear. However, in one page, he uses ‘mounds’, ‘melons’, ‘globes’, ‘breasts’ and some other terms. I’m a guy, and I feel offended, both by the derogatory terms and the clunky handling of language. I’ve read that schoolteachers have this habit of making sure students use as many terms for an object as possible to show how extensive the students' vocabulary is. This book can be made an example of how wrong the schoolteachers are.

Speaking of terms, this book doesn’t shy away from vulgarities, both in actions and the choice of words. Yusrizal doesn’t shy from using multiple terms for breasts (see above), but he calls his dick ‘member’. Come on. No self-respecting guy calls his own dick that. A woman who writes from a man’s point of view does that.

And boy do I have words on the incongruity of points of views (see below).

 

The characters

Yusrizan is an anti-hero. He is a selfish creep, no questions asked. Pulling off a sympathetic anti-hero is tricky, and Khaliza also fails at this. Yusrizan doesn’t change a bit throughout the book. He even uses his own daughter to woo Kelly. He doesn’t care about his daughter at all. He openly talks about his hedonistic lifestyle in front of her, uses foul languages, and does other things a half-decent father shouldn’t. I still can’t get over the fact that he plants his daughter in Kelly’s path solely to win sympathy points without really caring about his daughter’s well-being. WHAT THE HELL.

He also cannot seem to differentiate lust from love. He acts like a dog in heat, then suddenly reminds readers that he’s only using Kelly for financial support. Then he says he loves her, and suddenly reminds readers that he’s only using Kelly for financial support. It’s like the author unravels the story, then goes, “Oh, I need to remind readers that Yus doesn’t really like Kelly. Let me add a sentence to make that clear.”

Oh. By the way. Yusrizan tries to echo Datuk Narcissus from “Kasino” by Saifullizan Tahir, another book by Fixi. Narcissus lives in sin, but prays on time. Yusrizan sleeps around and doesn’t pray, but he has a strict code against consuming alcohol and pork. The reason for the comparison is that Datuk Narcissus is a fully fleshed, believable person, whereas Yusrizan is a half-baked character.

Kelly is also another unbelievable character. She’s all into Yusrizal one moment, and jumps off to concentrate on reading her thesaurus the next. She wants her sister to see that she’s serious about Yusrizal, but when Karr (the sister) physically abuses Yusrizal, she pretends both of them don’t exist. I think the author wants to portray the unreliability of Yusrizal’s narration and memory, but as foreshadowing goes, this one fails miserably.

Karr…well, I almost felt sorry for her, not because of her character, but because of how offensive the author is in portraying her. The terms ‘gorilla’ and ‘mammal’ and ‘hulk’ are used to describe her, and she is mollified by extra Cornetto cones. She has double degrees, one of them being forensics science, but she flies home to Johor Bahru just to wedge herself between the two ‘alleged’ lovebirds. She is merely a plot device that should have been more elegantly executed to create a link between fantasy and reality. As I said, I almost felt sorry for her.

Oh. Get this. Kelly’s full name is revealed at the end of the book. It’s Khaliza. She has written a novel about her relationship with Yusrizal, which has sparked Yusrizal’s unreliable narration in the first place. Khaliza. As in the author’s name. Fiction reflecting reality reflecting fiction? Whatever it is, an author using her own name for a protagonist is a bit too much, don’t you think?

 

The settings

What settings? The book takes place in Johor Bahru and San Francisco, among other places. However, the descriptions of JB is cursory at best, and there is almost no description of other places. There is no sensory employment in the book, really. “Son Complex” by Kris Williamson may have its own set of flaws, but at least Kris uses his settings well. He also knows how to employ all the senses, including touch, hearing, smell and sight.

 

The storytelling

I don’t know if the author sought advice from men on how to portray a believable male protagonist. She should have. Even if she did, she should have. I’m not saying that women cannot write stories from a male’s perspective; no, far from it. More often than not, it’s an educational experience. My friend Breanna writes using male perspectives. She constantly asks her husband, her brother and me about the congruency of her characters, and her research shows. Ursula K Le Guin’s “A Wizard of Earthsea”? Well-rounded male protagonist. John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars”? BRILLIANT storytelling from a girl’s perspective.

In short, the author should have done a better research on the male psyche. What she has achieved is a stereotypical jackass who’s fixated on breasts.

There are sections where Yusrizan tells the story with intimate knowledge when he’s not there to witness the scenes in the first place. Remember that the story is told in first-person perspective. Yes. I get that the author wants to use this as a plot device, as foreshadow, but come on. Basic rules of narration. Come on.

Toward the end, the story unravels between Yusrizan’s daughter’s point of view and Kelly’s. The daughter’s name: Khaira. He also has a son, whose name is Khairy. Kelly’s sister: Karr. The author: Khaliza Khalid. Yes, yes, it’s a Malay thing to name their children using the same alphabets or alliterations, but in a story?

Back to my point. The scenes toward the ending. Yusrizan is out of the picture, but the story is told in intimate third-person perspectives. I don’t care about plot devices. For a story told exclusively in first-person perspective (Yusrizan’s), suddenly jumping to third-person for the sake of moving the story forward is amateurish, almost as bad as a deus ex machina ending.

Also, the book is told almost exclusively in exposition/narrative summary. Including the dialogs. WHY?! The author has plenty of chances to make the characters real and relatable, but she maintained an unbridgeable distance by not employing immediate scenes. Where are the dialogs?

As for the ending…how do I review the book without spoiling the ending?

Oh, well. Spoiler warning.

I don’t know if you’ve watched “Repo Men”. Not many people appreciate the ending, but to me, it’s one of the better-executed trick endings. The foreshadowing is good, and the execution is brilliant. “Wedding Planner” has an ending akin to “Repo Men”, but the execution is so clumsy that I felt reading the book was a huge waste of my time. To be honest, I only finished reading because I wanted to write a fair, informed review. Another reviewer said this book has a typical FIXI ending. I say this book has a typical Malaysian storytelling ending. The author cares more about appearing smart, thus creating a trick and/or hanging ending, rather than fulfilling a promise made to readers to navigate the story in a satisfying manner.

Still. Man! What a waste of time!

 

Final words

FIXI—and its English imprint FIXI NOVO—has been upfront about publishing pulp fiction. Not books like what Tash Aw and Tan Twan Eng write, but cheap, accessible fiction for all. This is awesome, but let’s face it. “Wedding Planner” is nowhere near ready to be published. Forget the typos. Editing (or lack thereof) is a much more pressing issue. From the awkward timeline transitions, to the flat, unbelievable characterization, to the storytelling loopholes, to the trick ending that could’ve been handled better.

I will still buy books from FIXI NOVO in hopes of discovering local gems, but unless she improves, I’m not likely to read another story from Khaliza Khalid.

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Book review: "Son Complex", by Kris Williamson

Book review: "Son Complex", by Kris Williamson

 

I always look forward to reading locally-published English fiction. Granted, a lot of them out there are bad, but there are also gems, brilliant in their own right. When Buku Fixi announced the launch of its English imprint, Fixi Novo, I was excited, ecstatic even.

Fixi publishes pulp fiction, whose origin started in America in the late 1890s. Back then, short stories and serialized novels were published in magazines using paper made of pulp, making the magazines cheaper & more accessible. The quality of writing was secondary. Fixi & its English imprint Novo aim to continue the legacy of pulp fiction--not by using cheap paper, but by honoring the spirit of accessible fiction. Language purists scorn every single Fixi novel, but the younger generations devour these books with a passion.

 Back to the book in question. I don't often write book reviews because there's not much to say, usually. Either I love it, I don't, or I find it blah. Kris Williamson's "Son Complex" has moved me to share words on it.

 Not in a good way, however.

In essence, this novel is about a young man from Florida whose Caucasian mother passed away (for reasons not stated). After her death, his aunt gave him a set of letters, correspondences during the year his mother spent in Sabak Bernam, Malaysia. He never knew his father, and his late mother never spoke of the topic; the one clear thing is that he has mixed parentages. He discovers that his mother had a love affair with a Malay man who, after almost 25 years out of the picture, turns out to be a prominent politician with a wife and son. With nothing to lose, the young man, Aaron, travels to Malaysia to learn about his mother's past & possibly about his father as well. He appears at the politician's doorstep, assuming he's the father, and latches on to the family.

Since part of Novo's manifesto is manufacturing pulp fiction, I can forgive the paper cut characters, the stilted dialogs, the racial and class stereotyping, as well as the almost non-existent storyline. The book is 1/3 personalized tour of Kuala Lumpur, 1/3 dissertation on Malaysian social and political issues, and 1/3 story. I can almost forgive the author for trying to cram every imaginable social and political dysfunction that makes Malaysia...well, Malaysia. What I cannot forgive, and the reason for the 2/5 review on Goodreads, is how the author breached his contract.

Spoiler alert.

There are many rules to writing fiction--more than half of them broken in this novel--but one of the rules that cannot be broken is honoring the author-reader contract. In exchange for the reader's time and suspension of belief, the author promises to lead the reader to a satisfying conclusion. It doesn't have to be a happy ending, but the story has to end in a manner that the reader doesn't feel cheated.

 I was cheated.

Throughout the novel, the author doesn't describe much about the protagonist, Aaron. We only get to know that he has a wiry frame, and that he has brown eyes (his mother had green eyes). Maybe it's a plot device for the climatic revelation. However, no one in his right mind cannot identify a person with a mixed heritage of Caucasian/Chinese, Caucasian/Malay or Caucasian/Indian. There are distinct features to differentiate these parentages. The author, in a typical Mat Salleh manner, has the audacity to assume that all Caucasian/Asian mixes are the same in order to pounce a trick ending on his readers.

Ending spoiler alert: don't read further if you intend to read the book.

Aaron, Nasri (the alleged father) and the reader assume that Nasri's the father. There's even a scene where Aaron compares his build to that of Iskandar's, his (alleged) half-brother. There is no foreshadowing to indicate otherwise. At the (alleged) climax, the author reveals that Nasri may not be the father after all, but an Indian man from Sabak Bernam who raped Aaron's mother, Nora (also no foreshadowing on the rape other than that Nora left Malaysia abruptly and cut all contacts with Malaysian folks). Not only that, but get this: the frigid Datin, Nasri's wife, also reveals that she was a rape victim by her own father, an Imam.

 Talk about deus ex machina. An author absolutely cannot introduce a new element in the climatic scene. That's cheating. Major cheating. Total breach of contract. I bought the book, all excited and ready to fall in love, got turned off by the agendas this novel tries to cram in one sitting, but I finished the book at half-past one in the morning pissed off.

"Son Complex" should be shelved under creative non-fiction or social studies. I stand by my view that it's more a dissertation on the social and political scenes of Malaysia than a novel. It doesn't have a stake. Aaron has nothing to lose, and as a character, he is not changed at the end of the journey. Sure, Iskandar is involved in a road traffic accident after he is told that Aaron is (allegedly) his half-brother, but their relationship & the horror of losing Iskandar should have been developed more. The characters are inconsistent. For someone who thinks himself as superior to third-worlder Malaysians, Aaron at times acts like a villager thrust into a big city. He tries to exit the house by scaling the gates. Like, what? For a prominent, silver-tongued politician, Nasri accepts Aaron's allegation that he's the father, and invites Aaron to stay at his house. Come on. A politician will do whatever it takes to protect his reputation. He should have demanded a paternity test right away. But no. Then he spews this crap about only acknowledging Aaron as his son if Aaron becomes a Muslim. Because everyone knows that Muslim is Malay and Malay is Muslim. The hell. For a pious Imam's daughter, Datin doesn't don a hijab (because Datins don't wear hijabs, I suppose), and is quick to judge others. I guess the only significance of being an Imam's daughter is the revelation of incestuous rape. Because seemingly pious Malay men rape their daughters. Iskandar, who leads a double life, is the only one that seems real. Oh, and also Mina, the silent maid.

 This novel is all about the agendas. If you have issues against certain political parties and the class and racial dissension of Malaysia, this book will surely tickle you at the right places. If you don't really care for story and characterization, sure, this book is an accessible, cheap read.

 At RM18.90, this book is certainly a steal, considering that the average price of an English novel is RM30. However, the story itself should not be cheap. After all, among pulp writers were the venerated and highly celebrated Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Issac Asimov and Agatha Christie.

Would I buy another Kris Williamson's novel? If he promises to respect his readers and follow the absolute rules of fiction, sure. I don't have anything against the author; I just have everything against this book. "Son Complex" is a major disappointment. I sincerely hope the author will do better next time.

 

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Storytelling: the promise

Book Review: Readings from Readings

Readings from Readings: new Malaysian writing
Bernice Chauly & Sharon Bakar, editors
Word Works, 2011

 

I'm an avid follower of Sharon Bakar's blog. She provides wonderful insights on Malaysian English writing scenes. I've met her in person, when I read an excerpt of my story at Readings@Seksan's back in December 2010. I used to be horrible at public speaking, but I shed most of my jitters--most, not all. Sharon welcomed my whole family with warmth rivaling the sun's. I also met Amir Muhammad there, and it felt good to finally meet the people behind their internet presence.

But this is not about me, nor is it about my reading session. I'll start talking about the book. Yes, sir, ma'am, sir! I found this little book in Kinokuniya, where I almost always find storybooks that I end up buying. I love supporting local publications (and so should you), so I bought the book, priced at RM29.90, along with other titles (not local). As far as fiction goes, this book is sold at a good price.

The cover by Shahril Nizam is clean and simple, but most of all, beautiful. The pages are made from thick, high grade paper, and the layout is clean. I can't say I dig the scent of the pages, though. You know those storybooks with brownish, textured pages? God, I love their scent. Not that I'm being overly critical, mind. I'm just saying. By the way, this book is bilingual--most of the works are in English, but some are in Malay.

Having read numerous Malaysian-English anthologies, I've come to expect a certain pattern of storytelling that, in my opinion, has got to be Malaysian. Cynical stories that meander using elements that don't really contribute toward the climax, with twist endings that reveal how rotten people really are. Rapists, cheats, unfaithful partners,  and bullies, to name a few. And I wasn't disappointed--or, in actuality, I was disappointed to find such stories in this book. The opening story, "Moon Scars" by Lydia Teh epitomizes this. The first three quarters of the story tells the superstition of some villagers regarding the dangers of pointing at the moon, but ends with the uncle molesting/raping the niece, partly as a revenge toward his elder sister who used to be tough on him when they were younger. It's well-written, don't get me wrong; I just don't like this kind of stories, with the meandering and misleading plot device, and the trick/clever ending.

The second story, "It's All Right, Auntie" by Saras Manikam, continues this thread. The narrator is a little boy whose parents have marriage issues. His mother chooses to stay with her brother, while his father is always out, presumably working. The narrator's aunt feeds him, nagging on and on about his irresponsible parents. When his father finally arrives home after working all night, the narrator greets him, catches a whiff of perfume, but happily ignores it and agrees with his father about fetching his mother from his uncle's house.

Dipika Mukherjee tackles this trope with a much-refined grace, though. Her story, "The Rules of Chess" is about a young boy, who's a chess prodigy, whose parents live in separate countries because of work. Like most geniuses he is socially awkward and vies people like objects, pieces of chess. His father has plenty of mistresses, a fact that his mother is well-aware of, but she overlooks his vice because she refuses to lose him. Somewhere in the beginning of the story, the narrator mentions about his maid's mysterious death, but the real culprit is revealed in the climax, where a sacrificial chess move is made in order to save the king. Beautifully written, with a great story arc, and of which all the elements are used to progress and end the story.

In Malaysia, sex is taboo. No, strike that. Taking about sex is taboo. And for a woman to openly talk about sex? People usually brand them with vulgar labels. It came as a pleasant surprise when Nora Adam tells a story about a woman craving for sex from her husband in "Waiting". The husband is not cheating on her; he's just not that into her anymore. I don't normally like second-person point of view narration, but this one is well done, and is highly entertaining. Dina Zaman's story, "How to Stay Married" is also about sex life from a wife's perspective. The story unfolds at an almost lazy pace, taking its time to tell itself. It also reveals how far a woman is willing to go to keep her husband happy and loyal. To tell you the truth, these two stories are eye-openers. I didn't know Malaysian women can talk about their sex life (or lack thereof) so openly. I'm not talking about the authors, but the main characters in the stories.

Karl Hutchingson's "Harding" is one of those quiet stories ends up tearing your heart open. A beautiful literary piece about parents who still mourn over their firstborn, a toddler who had been killed during WWI. I love this one.

Kam Raslan read his story "Betrayal" the same day I read my story, but it was an excerpt. Luckily the story is included in this anthology. The narrator's voice is rich, and I can easily imagine him with his tailored clothing and ruler-straight back, and a slight British accent (he's Malay). His exchange with a couple of perfume promoters is hilarious, but like most comical stories, it ends with a tragedy.

If I'm not mistaken, Jordan MacVay's "The Six Maidens" is part of something longer. It's about a young man, lost at sea after a tsunami wrecked his home, who encounters six naked women stranded on a tree-top. Instead of getting excited and aroused, he is only curious, and cannot help the women as he and his friend are equally helpless. He turns to God for strength. The story, although well-written, doesn't quite work for me. One, it feels incomplete--but I'll overlook this because this story is a small piece of a whole. Two, I'm not so sure about the narrative voice. The story is told in first-person point of view, but there is no indication about his education level. He's pious, that much is clear. The narrative voice is that of someone well-educated and well-read. It's a bit out of place, given the context of the story. Not among the stronger pieces in this book.

Brian Gomez's "a/p" is one of the strongest ones, though. The story is about twin girls, separated when they were still infants. Both parents are Indians, but the father married a Malay woman and converted to Islam. He wanted both his daughters and he wanted them converted as well, but the girls' mother struggles for her own right. It's a story about acceptance (or the lack of it, rather), and the story also shows how mean the community (even children) can be. Rich voice, memorable prose, and subtle but poignant messages. A definite asset in this volume.

"The Third Man" by Bernice Chauly and "Weather or Not" by Muslin Abdul Hamid are...weird. And disturbing. Definitely disturbing. That's all I can say. Sharon Bakar's "Homunculus" is entertaining, in a morbid way. The narrator's mother has this obsession for articles and pictures of cancerous growth, and when she develops terminal cancer, she becomes a subject for a cancer-related article, without her knowledge. The story's too short for me to empathize with any of the characters, but it's entertaining.

"Eh, Saya Orang Islam! Tak Boleh!" (roughly translated: "Eh, I'm a Muslim! Cannot!") by Reza Rosli is about and eighteen-year-old boy who's eager to be independent and to explore the wonders of city life, but ends up getting pinned against an alley wall by a passive-aggressive man. The man wanted the boy to give him a blow job, but when the boy refuses and explains how wrong homosexual acts are in Islam, the man just gets confused and offers to blow the boy instead. I really don't see where this story leads. I've read excellent GLBT stories; this just isn't one of them.

Another story that I don't see where it leads is "Chicken or the Egg?" by Shanthini Vanugopal. A group of university students in Toronto, and one of them finds a cluster of eggs at the front door arranged in a semi-circle, and cooks them. When the friends find out (after taking a bite), they get all kampung and superstitious and act like village idiots, seeking a priest's blessing. But the mystery of the eggs is never solved. The narrator even asks the readers for theories. WTF?!

I am thankful that there is a beautiful story named "Strolling Between Two Latitudes" by Chiew-Siah Tei to save the day. It is a simple one; a woman who grew up in Tampin spends her adulthood in Glasgow and compares the two places, both worlds apart. At first she notices how Glasgow is not quite like home, but later on it's the other way around, and then the differences blur and no longer matters. A simple story, but with a deep connotation. A solid piece.

I don't normally like politics-laced fiction, but I like Rafil Elyas's "Progress Report". It's a satirical piece about the racial divide in Malaysia between its independence in 1957 and the year 2007. But it's written as a progress report by the demon Mephistopheles to the lord of the underworld. The demon's also not subtle about his desire to climb up the administration ladder. Wonderfully depicted, complete with graphs and charts. Funny as hell (pun intended).

There are two stories in Malay, "Pada Hari Fatimah Comot Bawa Sayap Pari-Pari ke Sekolah" ("The Day Fatimah Comot/Grubby Fatimah Brought Fairy Wings to School") by Sufian Abas, and "Cat" (I still can't figure out it's "Cat" or "Paint"--both elements are featured in the story) by Uthaya Sankar SB. Both of them are from children's perspective, but while the first story is a solid piece about how mean and jealous children can be, the second reads like something a ten-year old would write for his essay exam. It's a thinly-veiled satirical piece about the administrative office, but stylistically it's awkward and immature. Then again, the story is told in first-person point of view, and maybe the author had intended to pull the story off this way. Whatever it is, the story feels weird.

Peter G. Brown's "Blackmail" borders preachy, which isn't always a good thing. Wait. Preachy is never a good thing. A man commits adultery, but eventually learns the err of his ways and wants to do commit his mistress toward the right path--only she rejects that path. And he gets blackmailed, so he's seeking God's mercy and grace. The plot is common enough, but the presentation is preachy.

I think Ellen Whyte's "Why Malaysian Cats Have Kinky Tails" is an anecdotal non-fiction. I don't see that many factual citations to back this piece, but it's good to know that Malaysian cats' twisted tailbones don't come with a genetic defect like with other cats. Thank God. My cat Keeno has a stumpy, twisted tail.

"Airport" by Janet Tay uses second-person and third-person points-of-views. I'm holding the book in my hands, but I'm still glossing over the story. Very eh.

My favorite story, hands down, is "The Girl With Ruby Red Shoes" by Jade-Yi Lo. It's about a father's love that transcends death, about a daughter discovering her father whom she never really knew, and about a mother whose quiet strength, though underplayed, is not left unnoticed. It's a story about hope and a family's love toward each other. God, why can't there be more stories like this? Why won't Malaysians write stories that showcase the beauty of a relationship between loved ones? Why can't there be hope for a better tomorrow, a better place? This is one beautiful story. Read it.

 

As for poetry, I on occasion read it, and sometimes write it. But since I haven't learned the craft, I cannot truly appreciate the lines behind the curves. So I won't comment much on the poems in this book. A quick glance, sure. I love Alina Rastam's first piece, "Pantun", but I find the other two ("My Lover's Hands" and "Brickfields: One Saturday") a tad pretentious and overreaching. Although Jerome Kugan's poems ("Jellyfish", "Salt" and "Joy") are blatantly sexual--well, maybe "Jellyfish" isn't blatant--they are tastefully written, as opposed to Azwan Ismail's "Misteri Zakar", which is plain crass. There's art, and there's vulgarity. This particular piece is the latter.

Sharanya Manivannan has two beautiful pieces in this anthology, "Frida to Sharanya" and "A Minute Thing", but to me, these pieces are meant to be read aloud to be fully appreciated. Same goes for Liyana Dizzy's "Grand Parents".

As for the rest? They don't leave an impression on me, and I'm not trained enough to be discerning. Rather than saying bad out of ignorance, I find it wiser to not say anything.

 

There are typos scattered across the volume, but not that glaring to be annoying--unlike a certain anthology that I refuse to finish reading in view of the abysmal editorial effort. This book proves that brilliant writers exist here in Malaysia, writers who evoke emotions, who make me laugh, who make me reach for the characters. Just like the reading sessions at Seksan's, this book provides a platform for Malaysian-English writers to showcase their talent, to be noticed, to be appreciated.

I hope you'll buy this book. Or you can borrow mine (just remember to return it. I'm absent-minded). I also hope there will be more anthologies such as this, that include voices both old and new.

Bernice and Sharon, if you ever read this, be proud of what you have achieved.

Book Review: Without Anchovies

I found this anthology by Chua Kok Yee beside Clutch, Brake, Sellerator and Other Stories the other day at Kinokuniya. Truthfully, I am partial to book covers. Contrary to what the saying goes, I believe that book covers play an important role in presenting a first impression. The cover has to be interesting enough for people to pick the book up. I found this book's cover drab and uninspiring with a dull background of dried flowers, and a cheap title font. I don't care if the author himself designed the cover; there are certain things a publisher needs to look out for (like potential book sales, for one). The only reason I paid the RM30 price tag is because I collect Malaysian-English anthologies.

 

Book Review: Clutch, Brake, Sellerator and other stories

I finally made it to Kinokuniya yesterday (I rarely go to KLCC now that I'm working at H. Selayang), and found a collection of Malaysian-English books displayed near the main entrance. Much to my delight, I found Clutch, Brake, Sellerator and Other Stories there (was dreading I would only find it at MPH).

 

So, what's so special about this book? MPH and Alliance Bank collaborated in a national English short story competition held between October 2008 and April 2009 (or something like that; I can't remember the exact dates). I submitted two stories, but I don't think they even made the longlist. So, when the winners were announced in July 2009, I wanted so bad to read the winning entries -- there were 2 grand prize winners, and 4 shortlisted stories.