misspalah's review
4.0
“I stood outside Periathai’s and Naina’s preoccupations. Their imagination couldnt grasp the real complexity that surrounded us. I had watching Periathai’s failure to earn a home in this land, decided to acquire a skill that would allow me a comfortable, unthreatened existence. One’s world was after all private. A mild anger filled me as i saw Periathai die homeless. But i considered hers an irrational attitude. No one would compel me into sharing another immature ambition. Only my studies mattered. I was at them constantly aware that i could go to England if i won a teaching bursary. Naina’s interest and my family’s struggle become unimportant. The dignity of individual was the only thing that engaged me”
- The return by KS Maniam
.
.
I was shooketh. The ending literally tore my heart into million pieces. I did not expect that the second half of the book will proceed that way, suffice to say, an intense and emotional roller coaster ride. The story started with Ravi’s narration of her grandmother’s life. Ravi remembered her as resourceful and hardworker. She left India and placed herself in a foreign land. She worked as a tinker, healer and eventually find a land to farm and eventually settling down. Then, Ravi’s narration shifted to Kannan, his own father. He saw him as an authority figure, someone that he should obey and listen to without any objection. Ravi also saw his mother helplessness when his own father has taken Karupi as a second wife. This is the moment of trouble appeared as Karupi is hell bent on denying Ravi’s chance to study whenever she got the opportunity. Again, Ravi’s mother stood silently and will not dare to fight for him. Karupi is that typical embodiment of Step Mother in major TV show. Ravi’s father, Kannan is unpredicatable, in a way, he is almost bipolar - when he is kind, he will treat Ravi nicely. When he is in foul mood, Ravi will get beaten and slapped as if It is Ravi’s fault that he was in such mood. Reading the word ‘Rotan’ in this book , right away i can imagine the Asian Parenting back then. It was widely used to discipline the kids. Ravi is no exception to it. I have to be honest that i find myself dislike Ms Nancy. It is almost uncomfortable reading how Ravi looked up to her , in a way he almost infatuated by her. But still, Ms Nancy played a big role in Ravi’s life as his aspiration to study, learn and speak english came from her. English, for Ravi is a way to go upward of social mobility, to elevate the status and to validate that he is successful compared to others. Mr Menon or known as ‘Ayah’ is another irritating character in this book. He cannot stand seeing those who he deemed beneath him risen upwards. When he got to know that Ravi wanted to go for a secondary school, he tried to discourage him. He persuaded Kannan to stop Ravi from going for it. He also disliked that Ravi speaks better English than his son and also doing much better than his son in school. He felt that these poor people should just stay poor and just do the work that suits him. Overall, this is poignant writing, almost had a sense of melancholia in it. Some said that it is KS Maniam autobiography given the place and location of the story revolved around his hometown. There’s so much going on in this novel but it did not disrupt the flow of writing - i felt like i witnessed everything while reading it. The theme of the novel ranging from colonialism impact, hierarchy order, gererational trauma, multilingual environment and class struggle. This is what i got so far once i finished reading this book. I have nothing more to add except i would highly recommended this book. If you never read any KS Maniam Book, this book should be the first book to start. I would have given this 5 stars if KS Maniam did add one more chapter on how the family proceed with their life and ‘dhobi’ business once Ravi left Malaysia to pursue his study. I felt it left the gap in the story and i was left with many questions on that part.
- The return by KS Maniam
.
.
I was shooketh. The ending literally tore my heart into million pieces. I did not expect that the second half of the book will proceed that way, suffice to say, an intense and emotional roller coaster ride. The story started with Ravi’s narration of her grandmother’s life. Ravi remembered her as resourceful and hardworker. She left India and placed herself in a foreign land. She worked as a tinker, healer and eventually find a land to farm and eventually settling down. Then, Ravi’s narration shifted to Kannan, his own father. He saw him as an authority figure, someone that he should obey and listen to without any objection. Ravi also saw his mother helplessness when his own father has taken Karupi as a second wife. This is the moment of trouble appeared as Karupi is hell bent on denying Ravi’s chance to study whenever she got the opportunity. Again, Ravi’s mother stood silently and will not dare to fight for him. Karupi is that typical embodiment of Step Mother in major TV show. Ravi’s father, Kannan is unpredicatable, in a way, he is almost bipolar - when he is kind, he will treat Ravi nicely. When he is in foul mood, Ravi will get beaten and slapped as if It is Ravi’s fault that he was in such mood. Reading the word ‘Rotan’ in this book , right away i can imagine the Asian Parenting back then. It was widely used to discipline the kids. Ravi is no exception to it. I have to be honest that i find myself dislike Ms Nancy. It is almost uncomfortable reading how Ravi looked up to her , in a way he almost infatuated by her. But still, Ms Nancy played a big role in Ravi’s life as his aspiration to study, learn and speak english came from her. English, for Ravi is a way to go upward of social mobility, to elevate the status and to validate that he is successful compared to others. Mr Menon or known as ‘Ayah’ is another irritating character in this book. He cannot stand seeing those who he deemed beneath him risen upwards. When he got to know that Ravi wanted to go for a secondary school, he tried to discourage him. He persuaded Kannan to stop Ravi from going for it. He also disliked that Ravi speaks better English than his son and also doing much better than his son in school. He felt that these poor people should just stay poor and just do the work that suits him. Overall, this is poignant writing, almost had a sense of melancholia in it. Some said that it is KS Maniam autobiography given the place and location of the story revolved around his hometown. There’s so much going on in this novel but it did not disrupt the flow of writing - i felt like i witnessed everything while reading it. The theme of the novel ranging from colonialism impact, hierarchy order, gererational trauma, multilingual environment and class struggle. This is what i got so far once i finished reading this book. I have nothing more to add except i would highly recommended this book. If you never read any KS Maniam Book, this book should be the first book to start. I would have given this 5 stars if KS Maniam did add one more chapter on how the family proceed with their life and ‘dhobi’ business once Ravi left Malaysia to pursue his study. I felt it left the gap in the story and i was left with many questions on that part.
jjamy55's review
3.0
I read this for class, I think Malaysian authors are really good, even though this book is not my cup of tea. The culture, history, traditions, so unique and yet so fascinating! The writing style is excellent, I appreciate the text but I can't say I enjoyed it either, so 3 stars!
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