Book Review: Ripples and other stories

Apart form Robert Raymer, Ripples and other stories by Shih-Li Kow is probably the only Malaysian book, that is published in Malaysia, that I read.

Get your own copy from www.silverfishbooks.com

It's a refreshing read from the usual novels I read. Can't say I love it, can't say I hate it too. Refreshing is the word.

Yup. Refreshing.

The content is so Malaysian. I mean, there are things in there that only a Malaysian would know and understand. There are also things in there that shows the reader how Malaysia really is from the inside. Superstitions, lottery-buying, foreign help in households and competition in the food business are some of the topics discussed in the book.

Another thing I like about it is Shih-Li's (the stories give a sense of familiarity, so much that I subconsciously call her by her given name now even when I tell other people about the book) choice (or maybe her editor's) to let the characters intertwine in most of her stories.

A secondary character plays a main character in the following story and a secondary character from that story goes on to play a main character in the next story. This gives a surreal feeling to the stories told in the book. It's as if the characters are real and she is writing about their lives.

That's the power she has in her stories.

She is also a master in delivering so much with so little. You can say, she defines compact writing.

In fact she is such a fine storyteller that this current book was shortlisted (I kid you not) for the 2009 Frank O'Connor Short Story Award which boasts some one of the most lucrative prizes in the book publishing world: the winner gets 35,000 euros.

For those of you who can't count, that translates to roughly RM175,600. Imagine the number of nasi lemak, tose and and yao char kwai you can buy with that.

Strangely enough, however, that was not how I came to know about her. I was browsing fiction books at the Borders bookstore in MidValley and just picked up the book. My daughter's constant whining prevented me from sampling the book but perhaps it was the cover or the fact that I saw that it was shortlisted for an international award, I went back and bought a copy on the next visit to the store.

The book could use a little bit more publicity.

Anyways, I have three favourite stories in there: Dividing Walls for fine storytelling, A Gift of Flowers for the storyline and Waiting for Gurjit, for such an interesting and powerful concept. Some stories did not rub me the right way, or I just didn't get the story, yet could still be favourites of other readers. To each its own, right?

Halfway through the book, however, my enthusiasm to finish the book in one go fizzled out. Not so much because of the writing (which was addictive), but more so because of how the stories were laid out; the structure of the whole book, so to speak.

The stories also lacked sentiment. The writings thrived on observations of the idiosyncrasies of Malaysians, regardless of race, beliefs or religious upbringing but they evoke none of the feelings that should come with (something Yasmin Ahmad can do so effortlessly). If it did, it might have won her the award. I'm just saying.

I've never written a book in my life but then again, not everyone has, but everyone has read a book, even if it just the single one. And everyone passes judgement, even if it is never said out loud.

But I would recommend the book for light reading, not because the writer is Malaysian, but because she is really good.