Enter a dream world
Lyrical prose outshines weaknesses in this collection of stories, and the surreal and haunting theme keeps you turning the pages.
the Library Of Sighs
author & Publisher: Wong Ming Yook, fiction
I CAME across Wong Ming Yook’s first book, The Courtyard Of The Sun ( 2014), at a local bookstore, and was immediately struck by her beautiful prose. Till then, I had not heard of this author and wondered why little had been written about her.
Smooth language aside, though, the collective point of view used in many stories and the lack of the sense of place left me unsatisfied.
Wong seemed to have addressed these two issues slightly in her second collection, The Library Of Sighs. Here, Wong presents a series of intriguing tales in which her protagonists seem to lead contented lives – except for a gap of some sort, a longing that they might or might not try to fill.
Her lyrical prose is strong enough to outshine the weaknesses in her stories. Her surreal and haunting theme and steady pacing kept me reading these stories in sequence.
I had one conflict, though. Wong’s tales are timeless and ungrounded. On the one hand, I love the vivid and yet dreamlike worlds that she has created and I would like to spend more time lingering in each one: idyllic villages, thick forests, deep seas, breezy padi fields, and distinct sandcastles. On the other hand, I could not place them on a map, as these tales of love and relationships could have unfolded anywhere, in Malaysia or Asia or even elsewhere. I found this uncertainty distracting, and it prevented me from fully enjoying her stories.
Her deft style reminded me of classic short fiction writers from various continents, which perhaps reflects the fact that she is obviously very well read. It was a shame, then, that unlike the craft of the masters, Wong’s stories felt lost in their generic Western or Oriental landscapes.
This was evident from the very first and title story, “The Library Of Sighs”, in which the Chinese and Indian main characters seem to occupy a Western setting. It did serve as a fascinating opening piece, as it was skilfully written and unpredictable.
“The Beautiful Lady And The Fish” shows a child’s longing for her estranged mother. This disturbing Chinese fairytale is one of my favourites.
I was also touched by the melancholic “The Angel In The Forest”, which was narrated from the united point of view of a family of farmers. I love the setting, where the essence of the forest is well captured.
In “The Seamstress’ Quilt”, the lonely life of a tailor in a small town is recounted collectively by her customers, which also worked to a certain extent.
“Maria da Silva Takes A Husband” showcases a middle- aged woman’s silent content for her loud and larger- than- life childhood friend and neighbour. The charming, old- fashioned characters in this story sounded foreign and I could only guess their Portuguese ethnicity after I read the story’s sequel, “Mimi Gomes Dances The Waltz”, in which the characters gathered in Malacca.
“The Edge Of The Dark Sea” is a highly introspective piece on a boy’s love for the ocean. This slow and quiet tale built up to a rousing ending.
In “Sandcastles”, a boy is dazzled by a sandcastle master who leaves him a gift. I felt that the main character was not well- developed, though, and I could not understand the source of his suppressed anger.
The protagonist impulsively decides to drop everything and return to his/ her hometown in “I Was Seized By Wild Dreams” ( I couldn’t figure out the character’s gender till the end.) I found the combination of reality and dreamworlds uplifting in this. The only clue that the tale takes place in Kuala Lumpur is the mention of the LRT.
“Seeing The Red Field” relays a strange occurrence witnessed by a child as she struggles with the challenge of caring for her cancer- stricken mother. Unfortunately, I did not feel the characters’ pain, though. The mother seemed detached, and the duo’s plight too easy.
I wish these disconcerting characters had stayed with me long after I was done, as these stories had a certain level of quality indicating that they had been carefully polished over a long period of time. Sadly, they felt narrated by an outsider rather than someone who had lived within the culture and the community.
The author should look deep within and ask herself what stories she really would like to tell, and strive to reach the standard she seemed to have aimed for but has not quite achieved: universal, timeless tales of the classic masters.
More importantly, Wong should seek professional guidance before putting out her next work – because, with her exceptional prose and fine style, she has the potential to be published internationally.