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Canadian Education Fair 2012Tis the season for education fairs and check out the Canadian offerings.
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Payless Warehouse SaleGrab books at all time low prices, starting from RM1.
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Financial Times Guides Technical..Dr Jacinta Chan will be speaking on how to identify trends in the market.
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Times Bookstores The Asia Villa Guide..Purchase a copy and you’ll be in the running to win a night’s stay at one of the villas..
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Of Bees and Mist
By Emma Chong
Title : Of Bees and Mist
Author: Erick Setiawan
TOKL Rating: 21/2 / 5
Headline Review, RM37.90
I’m all for modern fairytales, which when done well can be refreshing and provocative. Setiawan’s ‘Of Bees and Mist’ falls into this camp, with enough merit to make it praiseworthy and enough failings to prevent it being everyone’s cup of tea.
The premise is excellent and original; we watch Meridia, our heroine, grow from an awkward child to a plucky and beautiful (but of course) woman who takes fate by the horns and carves out her own destiny. She’s thrown like bait from one set of predatory problems to another. Her childhood home is haunted by mists, a caustic father and abstracted mother which she escapes – to find her marital home plagued by bees, a spineless husband and a malevolent and manipulative mother-in-law. Meridia must ply her wits against this she-fiend, while also dealing with the twin supernatural forces of bees and mist, her father’s chronic infidelity, sulky sisters-in-law, the deformed house help, and an imaginary lesbian lover. No, really.
All of which is excellent material for an entertaining novel, but Setiawan just doesn’t know when to stop. Meridia gets momentary respites and victories over ma-in-law only to be hit with another wave of trouble. Relentless is the only word for it, and it gets immensely tiring for the reader. While this in itself is likely to be an intentional plot device, and not an indicator of poor authorly control, the result is that ‘Of Bees and Mist’ will appeal to only a very specific group of readers – those who enjoy reading about others’ mishaps. There is some masterful crafting of language and breathtaking imagery, but it’s still a demanding read if you prefer your unfortunate events in singles not series.
