A painful month of reading Singapore fiction in June

 

I'm in the process of trying to read fiction for two months a year, so I've chosen the June holidays to read my fiction backlog, and I could not have chosen a worse read. The writing is dense, and the author goes into long prose that describes the thought processes of the characters in the novel. I endured all the way to the end only to encounter a very unsatisfying ending where the nasty characters seem to get away with it and the earnest heroes get rewarded with years of internment. 

That being said, The Singapore Grip may be one of the best historical fiction novels ever written with Singapore as a backdrop. Readers are treated to references to the companies and geographical locations in WWII, which is why my copy has an old stamp that says Singapore Tourism Board on it. It makes an excellent reading text for secondary school social studies, covering history, English Literature, and some geography. 

I'm done punishing myself long enough. I've moved on to something more contemporary. 

This is a much better read and a more intimate book about living in Singapore, right down to details about cheap, discounted shops that always claim to be closing down.

Within the first few chapters, the protagonist's mum decided to bring her to McDonald's to give her a treat. The emotions are so raw, I got hungry and brought my son to buy 9 pieces of Chicken McNuggets for both of us just now.  

Will we see international audiences warming up to Singapore Literature?

I like The Original Daughter so far, but we need to warm up to our own writings first.