Title | : | Best New Singaporean Short Stories: Volume Two |
Author | : | |
Rating | : | |
ISBN | : | 9814615927 |
ISBN-10 | : | 9789814615921 |
Language | : | English |
Format Type | : | Paperback |
Number of Pages | : | 368 |
Publication | : | First published October 1, 2015 |
Contents:
Introduction | Jason Erik Lundberg
A Day in the Death | Evan Adam Ang
The Cat That Disappeared | O Thiam Chin
Patterns of a Murmuration, In Billions of Data Points | JY Yang
Toronto | Jeremy Tiang
Certainty | Tania De Rozario
White Noise | Samantha Toh
Visiting | Yu-Mei Balasingamchow
A Red Meteor in the Margins | Cheryl Julia Lee
Why Do Chinese People Have Slanted Eyes? | Amanda Lee Koe
Mama at Owen Road | Gemma Pereira
Anaesthesia | Andrew Cheah
Foreign and Domestic | Kirstin Chen
I m d 1 in 10 | Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
A Short History of the Sun | Wong Shu Yun
The Crocodile Prince | Ng Yi-Sheng
Tenali Raman Redux | Jennani Durai
Off Duty | Jinny Koh
A Dream in Pyongchon | Daryl Qilin Yam
Meat Bone Tea | Stephanie Ye
The Moral Support of Presence | Karen Kwek
Coast | Sharlene Teo
Reel | Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
The Man Who Turned Into a Photocopier | Joshua Ip
The Judge | Claire Tham
Best New Singaporean Short Stories: Volume Two Reviews
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Anthologies aren't really the first thing I would pick off a shelf. But Wena Poon's writing impressed me. Just to correct not all of the stories are set in Singapore. A bit of confusion there. The start of this collection was not good. Many of the stories were hard to relate, pointless and abrupt.
The stories that I could connected with were Foreign and Domestic by Kirstin Chen, it gave a new perspective to domestic workers. Next was The Crocodile Prince by Ng Yi-Sheng which I really enjoyed. Other than the unrealistic part about 2 men having a child, it was bittersweet. I was surprised that this collection has themes of LGBTQ inside. I do not mind but seeing as how Singaporeans can be quite conservative, it seemed interesting. Tenali Raman Redux by Jennani Durai was another story I liked because of the sheer hilarious smarts Raman exhibited. I liked Off Duty by Jinny Koh which sheds light on a group of people we typically overlook - cleaners. It was sad when Ah Luan had to return the bracelet and the rich lady callously says "I would not have come back if I wasn't around the area". I felt a sense of injustice. The Judge by Claire Tham was not too bad too. It again gave an unusual perspective. The conflicting emotions that goes through a judge's head.
I struggled through I m d 1 in 10 by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo. The whole story was in abbrevations. It was tough for me to read because I had to decipher the short forms which is ironic seeing as how I am part of the internet generation. I could see how the author was trying to play up that as technology becomes so part of our lives, what is to stop us from shortening everything?
Generally the good stories were towards the back. I felt I related better to the stories with characters closer to my age. Many of the stories featured main characters who are probably mental. There were 3 MCs who killed people without remorse! It is not to say that if I did not mention the story means it was terrible. Generally an okay anthology. -
this is a hard book to review just because it’s such an eclectic mix of stories, but i guess it’s meant to be. it did expose me to a lot of new singaporean authors though. i realised i have never read a piece of joshua ip’s writing. also it really shows the trends in singlit like foreigners/immigrants and class divide and So so so much sex i think we are a very sexually repressed people.
favourites: I m d 1 in 10 (Victor Fernando R. Ocampo), Tenali Raman Redux (Jennani Durai), Mama at Owen Road (Gemma Pereira), Meat Bone Tea (Stephanie Ye), The Man Who Turned Into a Photocopier (Joshua Ip), Anaesthesia (Andrew Cheah) -
I'll admit, I had pretty low expectations going into this. Shamefully, I've never really read a book from Singaporean writers before so I didn't know what to expect.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find the high quality of short stories in store! My two favourites were Meat Bone Tea by Stephanie Ye and The Judge by Claire Tham.
Definitely gonna actively search for more SingLit books now :)