a brutal read.
things I liked:
Teo gets the setting really well, I particularly liked the infamous race riot depiction in Malaysian, it felt really real,
yeah and that's it, reading this was DEPRESSING. there was no kindness spared,
but it's a really good book it reads like a series of interwoven short stories, and well crafted,
cant imagine myself rereading this any time soon though How shocking the family were to each other, the way they talked and treated each other but so true from what I can gather in the culture environment.
This way of illustrating love and contempt within the extended family made me feel uncomfortable while reading so overall was a good read, more than good because I still shudder when I recall how they treated each other.
Love, how complex. Love amp Vertigo HsuMings first novel surely did not disappoint,
After reading Behind the Moon first and falling hook, line and sinker for HsuMings writing, I went out and found myself Love amp Vertigo,
Brilliance, sheer brilliance, What a fantastic read.
The Lim's and Tay's so fractured in their endeavours to adhere to centuries old tradition,
Set in my beloved Singapore and Malaysia, followed by Sydney it was a revelation particularly's Singapore amp Malaysia,
A book of broken people barely holding on, the damage done to them for honour, for cultural traditions its heartbreaking and so very real,
Love amp Vertigo will hold a piece of my heart, for many and varied reasons, I thoroughly enjoyed every page, It wasn't a happy tale, neither in the individual lives of the characters and I can't help but think that so much of that misery was so unncessary and also the accepted treatment of women.
Both by society, and encouraged by the women themselves, It was like a vicious circle, And all boiling down to that girls aren't loved, and girls aren't worthy of chosing their life, doing anything for themselves, They are to be wives and mothers, It's a cycle. See Pandora's mother, who didn't want to be married, scurrying about the bedroom like a wild animal as she doesn't want her husband near her, She doesn't want to be pregnant, doesn't want the babies, and when Pandora is born, she wants nothing to do with the little baby girl, For the first few years Pandora is brought up by her Aunt, before being sent back to her mother's house where she runs about doing chores, desperate to get love that she never recieves.
Then she grows up, marries a man who adores her, doesn't know her as a person and wants her to idolise him and do everything for him.
She marries whilst still in uni, has to drop out as she falls pregnant and that's the end of her, She's a frustrated housewife, trapped in a loveless from her side marriage, suffering from severe depression, a worsening eye condition that leaves her virtually blind at the end.
But every woman is brought up being told they're worthless, every woman torments her daughter in law, every women neglects to love her daughter the same thing happens again with Pandora's daughter, Grace.
I just found this attitude and treatment of little girls utterly depressing, Even though I already knew they were undervalued, This book starts off pre second world war, so Pandora's mother even suffered foot binding, Just ugh.
It is interesting though, in working through these family sagas and seeing the cultures and history, It starts off in Singapore, and works through the second world war and the Japanese occupation, Pandora marries Jonah Tay, ChineseMalaysian, and ends up going back to Malaysia with him, before in the end, with young children they emmigrate to Australia, So there's also a bit about immigrants trying to fit into their new country, the children being more Australian than the parents would want, but then when the parents go back to the homeland, finding everything's moved on without them and they don't really belong there either.
These are the curses of living abroad, You'll belong nowhere. And of course, there is the biggie the death of the parent, Grace's mother, ie Pandora commits suicide on a visit back to Singapore, and it's at the funeral that the book starts, and this look back over her life that takes us through the family history.
And do we ever really know or understand our parents Just depressing : I enjoyed this story following the lives of three generations of Chinese women, set in Singapore and Sydney, but find it unsettling how cruel parents in some cultures can be.
“As a family, we were doomed to the humiliation of begging pathetically for love and attention from the one member who refused it to us.
Mum wanted Sonnys, Sonny wanted the patriarchs, the patriarch wanted his wifes, and I wanted my mothers, All my life we rode that merrygoround, chasing love in front of us and never catching up, never looking behind to see who might be offering it until it was too late.
” Lycia.è una storia di donne, soprattutto
"L'amore è la risposta, ma è la mia domanda a essere sbagliata, Se mi amavi davvero, perchè non mi sono mai sentita amata"
donne cinesi, trapiantate in Malesia e poi ancora in Australia, per sfuggire a un destino, a una suocera invadente, a un dolore antico.
. .
Pandora è una donna rifiutata, maledetta alla nascita e morta suicida, le donne della sua famiglia sono inutili, lei più di tutte, suo marito la ama di un amore debole e egoista, un amore condizionato alla sua obbedienza di donna inutile.
. . emigrare può essere un modo di staccarsi dal passato, ma spesso questo torna sotto forma di spirito affamato e finisce per fagocitare il presente e distruggere la possibilità di un futuro.
. .
"Ci sono ancora domande senza risposta non sarà mai possibile riconciliarsi con chi abbiamo perduto, Ma forse è questo tutto ciò che posso fare, forse è questo tutto ciò che potremo mai fare: assolvere con i vivi i debiti che abbiamo con i morti" If I wasnt so stubborn I would have given up on this books.
I can see what its trying to do but really you end up with a series of too short snapshots thrown together in a way that just doesnt work.
""In Pandora's neediness, love, like vertigo, pulled at her and she was at once terrified and tempted by the void below, " pp."
Pandora Lim terlahir sebagai anak yang tidak diinginkan oleh Mei Ling, sang ibu, Mei Ling sangat kecewa ketika ia kembali melahirkan anak perempuan untuk kesekian kali, Pandora pun dihibahkan kepada adik perempuan Mei Ling, Gadis cilik itu hidup bahagia dan mamur hingga ibu angkatnya melahirkan seorang anak perempuan, Ketika itu terjadi Pandora harus kembali ke rumah asalnya, kepada ibu aslinya, Sejak saat itu Pandora mengerti bahwa tidak ada yang menginginkan dirinya, tidak siapapun,
Akhirnya ia tumbuh besar dengan rasa kecewa yang memenuhi benaknya, Sebagian besar memori yang ia punya hanyalah hukumanhukuman dan kerja keras yang harus ia lakukan demi mendapatkan perhatian semua orang yang ada di rumah, terutama ayah dan ibunya.
Ia berpikir ia akan berubah nasib dan menjadi lebih bahagia ketika berkeluarga, Ternyata salah. Ia memiliki ibu mertua yang selalu berlaku sinis dan kejam terhadapnya, mengingat suaminya adalah anak pertama, Seolaholah ada kompetisi tak terlihat antara ibu mertua dan dirinya,
Rasa kecewa dalam diri Pandora berkembang semakin besar hingga ia tidak mengenal siapa dirinya sendiri, Ia sudah tidak tahu mana sebenarnya cinta dan seperti apa cinta, Baginya cinta dan vertigo tidak lagi ada bedanya,
Membaca novel ini saya seperti membaca buku novel romantis yang berbumbu sejarah, Karena Teo tidak hanya bercerita mengenai pelik kehidupan cinta Pandora, namun juga situasi politik, sosial, ekonomi dan budaya yang terjadi kala itu, Yang menjadi setting novel ini adalah Singapura dan Malaysia pada tahundanan, kemudian Australia pada tahunanan, Penggambaran budaya Cina cukup jelas disini, karena
novel ini memang tentang perempuan Cina dan pengarangnya pun berasal dari kultur yang sama,
Lain itu, topik asimilasi dan imitasi dan khususnya tentang gender memang terasa sangat kental, Sesekali pembaca juga disuguhkan tentang sejarah yang berkait dengan SARA, yang tentunya berasal dari sudut pandang si penulis, Jadi, bisa jadi akan ada pendapatpendapat yang mungkin negatif dari para pembaca dari golongan agama tertentu,
Lewat novel ini kita dapat mengetahui bahwa kaum Cina zaman dulu menganggap anak perempuan sangatlah tidak berguna dan tidak mampu berbuat apapun, Maka mereka lebih menyenangi anak lakilaki sebagai penerus keluarga, Saya rasa pendapat ini tidak hanya pemikiran kuno yang dimiliki oleh bangsa Cina kuno saja, namun juga bangsa lainnya di zaman dahulu kala,
Lewat novel ini juga kita mengetahui soal mengenai asimilasi khususnya yang terjadi pada para imigran, Seperti yang terjadi pada Grace dan Sonny, dua anak Pandora, yang merasa tidak diterima ketika mereka tinggal di Australia dan merasa bukan menjadi bagian dari bangsa Cina khususnya ketika mereka berada di Singapura.
Sehingga mereka malah berada pada posisi tengahtengah, bukan bagian dari barat ataupun dari timur, Menyadari hal ini, mereka malah ingin sepenuhnya menjadi seorang barat dan lebih ekstrim lagi membenci dilahirkan sebagai Cina,
Akhir kata, novel ini merupakan salah satu karya yang sangat menarik, Tidak heran jika diganjar dengan penghargaan Australian / Vogel Literary Award, .