Catch This Place Called Absence Author Lydia Kwa Presented As File

is a difficult book for me to review because of the personal context in which I first read it.
Years ago, I escaped a broken friendship by running to Singapore, But it wasnt the only reason I left I wanted a chance to study literature from the region, and I knew I wasnt going to get that abroad.


I read This Place Called Absence by Lydia Kwa in class, The main protagonist is Wu Lan, a psychologist who left Singapore for Canada two decades ago, She has come out to her family but they dont talk about it, Then her father dies by suicide and she is tormented by guilt, because he called her mere days before and she ignored him.
Her mother, Mahmee, claims to see his ghost, Wu Lan becomes obsessed with a nonfiction book about ah ku prostitutes in Singapore at the turn of theth century, and we learn about Lee Ah Choi and Chow Chat Mui, ah ku who survive their brutal circumstances by loving each other.


So much of this novel resonated with me: Wu Lans depression brought on by loss and disconnection queer identity Chinese migration from southern China to Nanyang to

Canada.
The book was what I needed at the time, as I grappled with diaspora anger and the loss of her.


Reading it again at such a different point in my life, I can see some flaws.
Told through four perspectives, with very little action, its easy to get confused about who is speaking about what, if something is happening in the physical world or in a dream.
Its very selfconscious about being Chinese, Im also not sure how Wu Lan is learning Ah Choi and Chat Muis story there are references to “journals,” but the ah ku were illiterate and died anonymous.
You learn their reallife connection at the very end, but for the most part the link between past and present seems tenuous.
Mahmee feels like an unnecessary addition to the narrative, there only for some Singlish flavor,

Despite these issues, what I first loved about the book is still there, The melancholy and hopelessness, the reimagined queer history in Singapore,.Kwa deftly weaves together the voices of four women dealing with grief and longing, In present day Vancouver, Wu Lan is coping with a breakup and her fathers recent suicide while her mother in Singapore is haunted by his ghost.
Moving backwards in time to the turn of theth century, we meet a pair of opiumaddicted brothel prostitutes who have fallen in love.
These women, who may or may not be figments of Wu Lans imagination, represent a kind of absence, the shadowy existence of lesbians in Singapore, and the personal histories of sex workers whose lives are considered disposable.
This is a stylish, atmospheric novel about the power of language and story to liberate, Probablemente sea uno de los libros que mejor escrito me ha parecido que está de los que he leído este año.
Prácticamente he tomado notas del libro entero,

Wu Lan, una psicóloga de Singapur que lleva años viviendo en Cánada, recibirá la noticia de que su padre se ha suicidado.
Esto la sumirá en una terrible depresión, que la llevará a buscar información y conocimientos sobre los orígenes de su país y de su familia.
Además, Wu Lan arrastra una profunda decepción amorosa, que se complica al ser lesbiana, ya que no termina de acostumbrarse a ese choque tan evidente entre como se vive su homosexualidad en Canadá y como se lleva en Singapur.


Además de esta trama principal, Wu Lan, va a ir aprendiendo cosas de su país gracias a tres grandes mujeres: su madre, Mahmee, y dos ah ku, prostitutas de origen chino en Singapur a principios del siglo XX, Ah Choi y Chat Mui.


Creo que es ese tipo de libro que te enseña y del que se aprende mucho.
Tanto en términos de cultura con relación a estos países y su forma de vida, como en términos de sentimientos.
Como podría vivir una misma persona vidas muy diferentes si naciera o viviera en diferentes sitios, Me ha gustado mucho ver la problemática de ser lesbiana en un país donde no se está tan avanzado en términos de igualdad, y sobre todo verlo trasladado al siglo pasado.


Y además, como ya he dicho, todo está llevado con una escritura maravillosa, Muchísimas reflexiones interesantes que me hacían parar para indagar en lo que me evocaban, Increíble esta autora. My abiding impression is of a novel whose characters are adequately worked although Singaporean friends find the rendition of Singlish very disappointing a caricature, but whose individuality can sometimes bleed away a little.
I was unfortunate enough to have read Kingston's The Woman Warrior first, which will always leave "This Place Called Absence" in its shadow however unfair that may be this book started off slow but as you continue to read you go into the lives ofasian women at different times in history.
they speak on love, death, and there experiences, theses experience are put together in a way to make a unique story of love, loss, and friendship.
There are lots of mediocre books with lesbian characters, This one is actually good and gave me a lot to think about regarding depression, family, and oppression.
It's also a fascinating perspective on Singapore and Vancouver, Read it! I love the writing, It is so viseral and emotional, An interesting discussion on depression, The basic premise was OK, but I couldn't connect with the main character, Also, I want to know howilliterate women wrote the journals inthat the main character was reading as research.
Weaves the stories ofwomen living indifferent times: Wu Lan, a modernday lesbian living in Canada, who is studying the lives of Chinese prostitutes her mother, a recent widow andprostitutes living in Singapore at the turn of theth century.
.