The beginning of wisdom
This is an interesting collection of works by Asian writers writing in English.
ANTHOLOGIES are a dime a dozen. Why should you pick up t his one?
There’ s only one Malaysian contributor here, so you maybe better acquainted with the publisher, Silver fish Books, who specialis es in Malaysian literature.
Or t he edit or, Mohammad A. Quayum, perhaps. This is Quayum’s second anthology of short stories. His first is called A Rainbow Feast and it was published in 2010. He is t he edit or-in-chief of Asiatic,
International Islamic University Malaysia’ s (IIUM) journal of English language and literature. Quay um is also professor of English at IIUM. He has published 29 books about American, Bengali and post colonial literature.
But if you don’t study literature, know t hat Quayum is a generous edit or. The introduction to this anthology gives insight into the selection process he used to choose the stories. Not all editors like to be this transparent because it opens them up to criticism.
And it would be token is tic to complain that there are not more Malaysian writers in this anthology. A Rainbow Feast contained stories from Malaysian s Lloyd Fernando, K.S. Maniam, and Shirley GeokLin Lima swell as from writers from 14 other countries. Twenty-Two New Asian Short Stories contains stories from eight countries.
Quay um doesn’t appear interested in taking Malaysian writing to a global audience. Rather, he wants to look at English in a new global cont ext , an English t hat is evolving away from Western centres of power. At a time when countries are re treating back into themselves, this is an admirable feat .
Aside from that, one wonders what readers will get out of this anthology, especially Malaysian ones.
For one, well-written stories. Stories like Razia Sultana Khan’s “The Mollah’s
Revenge ,” OT hi am Chin’s “The Girl And The Snake” and Srimat i Mukherjee’s “Light Is Something Which Is Golden In Colour” are worth the price of admission alone. If a reader is unfamiliar with these writers, then this anthology can be a cut-price introduction.
But there is unevenness to the selection. Other stories are not as gripping. For example, in Priscilla S. Macansant os’s “Unnecessary Fictions ”, we are treated to the years-long back story to an awkward encounter.
I like the idea that such an encounter demands that much context to understand, but t he ending loses force as a result . It needs more. Perhaps t he writ er was less interested in telling a story than in giving the reader a sense of place. Or the sense of a person.
Many stories focus on long-suffering wives or husbands.
Uma Jay ar a man’ s“Hilltop” is narrated by the wife of a wealthy businessman. Barnali Saha’s “Hidden Riches” focuses on a penniless aristocratic husband. And in Jessica Tan’s “Dragon Girl”, a husband re connects with his mistress 15 years after the end of the affair.
It maybe more fair to say that the stories in here are character studies. Sometimes, the main character isn’t particularly like able, as in“The Sisters” and “Dragon Girl ”. Sometimes, it is unclear where a writer’ s sympathies lie.
In the anthology’ s Malaysian story, Angela Jessie Michael’s “The Walking Women ”, we are introduced to three women passing through the house of a wealthy lady.
We get inside their heads but( without giving too much away) the ending zooms out, almost comically. Each woman’ s story line is brought to an unceremonious end. What are we to make of that?
A couple of stories contain formal quirks.
Lav anya Shanbhogue-Arv ind’s “The Idiot ’s Guide To The Indian Arranged Marriage” is written in the second person. The narrator in Migs Brav o-Dutt’ s“Must Love Dog” is a dog. And R.K. Biswas’s “Mail For Dadubhai” is told through a series of e-mails. Not all of these stories succeed (how does a dog know a word like “oscillat - ing ”?) but“our efforts must be vain because they must be ambitious ”, as the poet James Fent on said.
And if you agree with the sci-fi writer Samuel Del any, who said that“the oppression of women is the model for all other oppressions in the world ”, then you will find the few stories in here that deal with gender violence–stories like Nandini C. Se n’s“B on ti” and“The Mollah’s Revenge ”– to be harrowing. Perhaps even satisfying.
I praised the editing earlier, but the proofreading leaves something to be desired. In “Hidden Riches”, Varanasi, Ben are sand Banaras are used interchangeably, for no discernible reason. In Damon Chua’s “Mango”, Swet t enham is misspelled. In“Hill top ”, auntyS hi el a’ s name is sometimes spelled Sheila. And one wonders if Mahendra Waghela’s “The Sisters” was proofread at all. Construction s like“jumping up to those pinkish brown ankle( sic )” interfere with the reader’ s enjoyment of the story.
Whenever other languages are used, the reader is helpfully provided an English translation. Some writers are able to integrate these translations into the flow the story. I especially liked the way Stephanie Han weaved the snippets of Korean into “My Friend Faith ,1977”.
And not knowing the English translation may not always de tract from the reader’ s enjoyment . For some readers, it may ev en do the opposite. It may spur them to try new things, visit new places.
Beginning writers are advised to write what they know. Reading this anthology, it is clear to this reader that there is still much to know. According to Confucius, this is t he beginning of wisdom.