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Telltale: 11 Stories
ELEVEN STORIES BY SIX WRITERS, NONE OLDER THAN THEIR CITY-STATE OF SINGAPORE.
This anthology of short fiction presents six distinct electrifying voices from Singapore: Alfian bin Sa’at, Wena Poon, Jeffrey Lim, Tan Mei Ching, Claire Tham, and Dave Chua. The modern tales they tell are graphic, gritty, striking, and evocative. They describe experiences marked by short happiness and haunting memories, from the death of a loved one to the menacing forces of nature.
The eleven stories showcased here examine the lives of an array of complex characters. These individuals are tormented by dilemmas that nonetheless go on to shape and direct them. Telltale is an artfully sequenced collection that also includes explanatory notes and a study guide. It stands out as an informative and enriching edition that will speak to a broad range of readers today.
Telltale: 11 Stories is also a targeted literature text for secondary schools in Singapore.
This anthology of short fiction presents six distinct electrifying voices from Singapore: Alfian bin Sa’at, Wena Poon, Jeffrey Lim, Tan Mei Ching, Claire Tham, and Dave Chua. The modern tales they tell are graphic, gritty, striking, and evocative. They describe experiences marked by short happiness and haunting memories, from the death of a loved one to the menacing forces of nature.
The eleven stories showcased here examine the lives of an array of complex characters. These individuals are tormented by dilemmas that nonetheless go on to shape and direct them. Telltale is an artfully sequenced collection that also includes explanatory notes and a study guide. It stands out as an informative and enriching edition that will speak to a broad range of readers today.
Telltale: 11 Stories is also a targeted literature text for secondary schools in Singapore.
- GenresShort Stories
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
7 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Gwee Li Sui
42 books37 followersGWEE LI SUI is a bestselling poet, artist, critic, and translator from Singapore.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 28, 2020
May may pyor tae Singapore ko kyaw mal so dar sar pay gan da (in prose, at least) mhar dot phyint aung myin pee thar loz mhat yuu lite par, may may. No thanks to you.
October 12, 2015
A fine selection of short stories by literary critic, poet, and graphic novelist Gwee Li Sui. I appreciate the emphasis in his introduction on the humanistic dimensions of these stories, instead of their representations of Singapore. Powerful stories by Alfian Sa'at, two from his collection Corridor, and one new story about a man waiting on death row. Dave Chua is represented by his moving story "The Drowning" about the impact of the Asian tsunami on a family. My biggest discovery is Tan Mei Ching, whose story "In the Quiet" rings absolutely true about how a precocious teenage girl learns about death. Jeffrey Lim's stories "Haze Day" and "Understudies" are clever constructions but somewhat thin in characterization. Still, they display an experimental daring not usually found in the Singapore short story. They push against the social realist tradition of fiction-making that the other stories in this anthology exemplify.
July 6, 2022
The short stories featured in this book explore a wide range of emotions. They go through the drama of troubled relations in Birthday, Homecoming and Video, the social criticism in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Hanging and Understudies, down to the humor in Haze Day and Kenny's Big Break. But despite the differences, they all share the common setting in Singapore. To an "angmoh" that recently moved in like me, this is the collection's greatest strength.
Even if only in quick remarks, key elements of the city are frequently mentioned in the stories. Mentions of the MRTs, the cenotaph, Lucky Plaza, the Padang and other sites make me build a connection with both the plot and with the city. Haze Day gives a funny twist to the smokey days traditionally witnessed in Singapore whenever there are forest fires in Indonesia, and I won't ever think of them the same way. And it goes beyond these concrete, physical elements.
The stories also explore the inner world of Singaporeans and the experience of being born and bound to the city-state. This comes in many different ways. For example, the feeling of repression motivates the boys in Kenny's Big Break to move overseas for their studies, and this idea is taken to an extreme in Understudies (which is a localized version of 1984). In other stories, the characters show hints of disdain for their own culture and traditions when compared to the West (aka Europe and US). Coming from a formerly colonized country myself, I empathize with this clash. In The Man Who was Afraid of ATMs, the social structure is flipped upside down in the eyes of a Chinese uncle that immigrates to the United States and is treated the same way he used to treat Indians and Filipinos in Singapore.
In summary, the stories feel fresh and honest. Some might not be as enticing or don't deliver the theme very well. But overall this book was an important read for me.
Even if only in quick remarks, key elements of the city are frequently mentioned in the stories. Mentions of the MRTs, the cenotaph, Lucky Plaza, the Padang and other sites make me build a connection with both the plot and with the city. Haze Day gives a funny twist to the smokey days traditionally witnessed in Singapore whenever there are forest fires in Indonesia, and I won't ever think of them the same way. And it goes beyond these concrete, physical elements.
The stories also explore the inner world of Singaporeans and the experience of being born and bound to the city-state. This comes in many different ways. For example, the feeling of repression motivates the boys in Kenny's Big Break to move overseas for their studies, and this idea is taken to an extreme in Understudies (which is a localized version of 1984). In other stories, the characters show hints of disdain for their own culture and traditions when compared to the West (aka Europe and US). Coming from a formerly colonized country myself, I empathize with this clash. In The Man Who was Afraid of ATMs, the social structure is flipped upside down in the eyes of a Chinese uncle that immigrates to the United States and is treated the same way he used to treat Indians and Filipinos in Singapore.
In summary, the stories feel fresh and honest. Some might not be as enticing or don't deliver the theme very well. But overall this book was an important read for me.
January 21, 2023
(After reading another review, I realise that the print version is different from the ebook version of this book. I read the ebook version, which has David Leo instead of Wena Poon.)
Rather ambivalent about this as a whole. Some hits, some misses.
Some thoughts:
As charming as it sometimes is, David Leo's writing feels a little rough; he could stand to polish it a little more. Understudies felt corny af. My fave was In the Quiet by Tan Mei Ching, which firmly activated the nostalgia centres of my brain. (I have realised that I am a complete sucker for school-going characters close-ish to my age.)
So, a 3-3.5/5.
PS. For some reason, the majority of the contributors added their secondary schools and JCs to their bios. Why the fuck do we need to know that you came from RJC. HCJC, VJC etc.? Yalah we know you come from elite school, damn zai, damn zai leh, you think you very good isit? If these additions were were related to their writing career, I'd understand, but it just feels like a needless flex.
-1 star for that gratuitous display of humblebragging. Yes, I am petty, but it pisses me off quite a bit.
Rather ambivalent about this as a whole. Some hits, some misses.
Some thoughts:
As charming as it sometimes is, David Leo's writing feels a little rough; he could stand to polish it a little more. Understudies felt corny af. My fave was In the Quiet by Tan Mei Ching, which firmly activated the nostalgia centres of my brain. (I have realised that I am a complete sucker for school-going characters close-ish to my age.)
So, a 3-3.5/5.
PS. For some reason, the majority of the contributors added their secondary schools and JCs to their bios. Why the fuck do we need to know that you came from RJC. HCJC, VJC etc.? Yalah we know you come from elite school, damn zai, damn zai leh, you think you very good isit? If these additions were were related to their writing career, I'd understand, but it just feels like a needless flex.
-1 star for that gratuitous display of humblebragging. Yes, I am petty, but it pisses me off quite a bit.
July 11, 2018
Spændende udvalg på i alt elleve velskrevne noveller af seks moderne forfattere fra Singapore.
Læs hele boganmeldelsen på K's bognoter: http://bognoter.dk/2018/07/11/gwee-li...
Læs hele boganmeldelsen på K's bognoter: http://bognoter.dk/2018/07/11/gwee-li...
February 28, 2020
2.5 star
December 31, 2015
So, the ebook edition of this book is, bewilderingly, not the same as the print edition - I ended up having to take the print edition out of the library after buying the ebook edition because the latter did not have the Wena Poon stories I was looking for (it has three stories by David Leo instead - this makes the print edition noticeably better than the ebook edition). Annoying, especially since I cannot find an explanation of this anywhere.
The Wena Poon stories are the most successful at following textbook MFA style, which probably makes them the best stories in the book (the David Leo stories, on the other hand, are structured in a way that makes no sense to me, on a paragraph to paragraph level). I also admit that there is something entertaining about reading such contemporary stories, that I like the references to Harry Potter and YouTube even if the stories themselves are not vastly interesting. "Understudies," on the other hand, probably has the most entertaining premise in the book but is rather poorly written. I still think Alfian Sa'at is a fairly decent poet, but his prose isn't quite as good - also rather MFA style on the whole but less contemporary than Wena Poon and therefore less fresh. I remember my favorite the first time I read this being "Haze Day"; it is still funny on a reread but for whatever reason was not as successful this time around.
The Wena Poon stories are the most successful at following textbook MFA style, which probably makes them the best stories in the book (the David Leo stories, on the other hand, are structured in a way that makes no sense to me, on a paragraph to paragraph level). I also admit that there is something entertaining about reading such contemporary stories, that I like the references to Harry Potter and YouTube even if the stories themselves are not vastly interesting. "Understudies," on the other hand, probably has the most entertaining premise in the book but is rather poorly written. I still think Alfian Sa'at is a fairly decent poet, but his prose isn't quite as good - also rather MFA style on the whole but less contemporary than Wena Poon and therefore less fresh. I remember my favorite the first time I read this being "Haze Day"; it is still funny on a reread but for whatever reason was not as successful this time around.
February 15, 2014
The anthology as a whole is very controlled, yet feeding us with a diverse range of styles. I'm split on the stories though, because some offers us great themes while others offer us great plot, but I do not think that there is a sufficient-enough presence of both elements. But overall a truly deserving text and it was worth it :)
April 26, 2016
Nothing not to like about this collection. It let's you read Wena Poon twice. There's a story about the haze. There's a story about a Chinese speaking dad, who reminds me of my own forebear.
This is a priceless collection.
This is a priceless collection.
March 27, 2013
It was rather drab... Probably just me
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2013
I picked up this anthology as an introduction to the contemporary literature of my new home city-state, Singapore. I can't wait to read more, especially Jeffery Lim and Wena Poon.
September 12, 2016
A taste of some of the brightest talents in Singapore literary scene.
July 6, 2014
Alfian Sa'at's Birthday was so powerful. Why did Ros throw the sandwich maker down? Did she commit suicide?
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews