Art Studio

by Yeng Pway Ngon, Goh Beng Choo (Translator), Guan Liang Loh (Translator)

Singapore, 1980s. Amid the tumult of political promise and upheaval, Yan Pei and his students struggle to pursue art in a rented studio. Yan Pei, a penniless artist, sacrifices more than his marriage to perfect his craft. His student Si Xian makes an irrevocable decision after Ning Fang, the subject of his unrequited love, leaves him for India. Jian Xiong gives up art – and his humanity – when communist politics force him to flee into the Malayan jungle. A story of disparate paths crossing continents over the span of forty years after Singapore’s independence, Art Studio is a stirring meditation on art, politics and memory.

584 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Yeng Pway Ngon 英培安—Chinese language poet, novelist, playwright and critic—is one of Singapore's most prolific authors, having published over 25 volumes of poetry, essays, fiction, plays and literary criticism. His work is noted for its examination of the modern human condition, and has been translated into English, Malay and Dutch. Yeng received the National Book Development Council of Singapore's Book Award in 1988, and the Singapore Literature Prize in 2004, 2008 and 2012. He was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 2003 for his contributions to literature in Singapore, and the SEA Write Award in 2013.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important novel, shame about the shabby English translation and publication.

[Sarag22 · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'Atelier racconta la storia di una serie di personaggi, raccolti intorno alla figura di un maestro di pittura, Yan Pei, che all'arte ha sacrificato l'intera vita, ma che, avvicinandosi al termine, sente di avere appena sfiorato la pienezza della sua ricerca artistica.
Si tratta di un romanzo realmente corale, che crea una sorta di affresco di Singapore, permettendoci poi di seguire con una sorta di lente di ingrandimento alcuni personaggi e alcune trame. Li seguiamo per il mondo, in Malesia, a Parigi, a Tawian, e nel tempo, a vent'anni e da anziani, e il loro cambiamento si muove in parallelo con quello della città in cui sono nati e di cui loro stessi conservano ricordi non più attuali.
Tutti i personaggi si trovano alle prese con riflessioni e dubbi sulle scelta più importanti della propria vita, che vediamo raccontate da più punti di vista, in un'alternanza che aiuta a coglierne le sfumature inespresse.
Ci vengono dati soltanto alcuni cenni della storia del paese e della sua variegata composizione etnica, ma sufficienti a creare nel lettore una consapevolezza del retroterra storico e culturale.
Ciò che ho più apprezzato è senza dubbio la padronanza con cui le storie di così tanti personaggi vengono condotte dall'autore; uno stile di scrittura molto semplice, immediato, si accompagna bene a una struttura articolata, ma anch'essa semplice da cogliere nel suo insieme.
Una lettura, perciò, ampiamente da consigliare.

[Losergeek87 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The translation needs improvement

[Les Dangerfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book by Singapore-based writer Yeng Pway Ngon, translated from Chinese. He won the Singapore cultural medallion in 2003 and hence has standing in the Singapore literature scene. It follows the lives of a small group of Singaporean Chinese who at the beginning of the book were doing an adult art class together at a time which isn't entirely clear - probably the 1970s - and follows their largely separate life stories up to about 2010. A strong theme of the book is separation and (sometimes miraculous) reunification of lovers. It is I think a commentary on the passing of life, on the chance happenings which can affect life so profoundly, on love and the inevitability of death. It is largely well written, though I thought the long introductory section was less so - perhaps this was the translation. He experiments with form in terms of chapter organisation and also in other ways - for instance the book is 98% written in the third person but there a couple of short parts about one of the characters (Ji Zong) where it switches into first person narrative. I thought it would become clear why he had done this at the end of the book, but there was no apparent reason for this.
To try to draw thoughts together, it is a motivating read - i.e. one is motivated to read on and find out what happened to the main characters - but it is in some ways confusing - chronology in particular but also why he needed so many different narratives about different people to make his point(s). I would like to have seen more description both of places and people to develop the context and characters. I was keen to read this Singapore novel, but in the end was left with something of a 'so what?' feeling.

[Natalina Pereira · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps I would have enjoyed the book more if I had read it in Mandarin as my main issue is with the (use of the English) language. It was not very “read-able” as it seems to have been directly translated instead of using a literal translation method. There were also many errors that resulted from a lack of thorough editing: repeated sentences or sentences ending mid-way. All in all, the translation was pretty detrimental to an otherwise average book.

[Leggere A Colori · Rating 5 out of 5]

"L’Atelier" è un romanzo bellissimo, ricco di riferimenti artistici, letterari, poetici, sia d’Oriente che Occidente, intriso di passione e spesso di una malinconica, quasi onirica nostalgia, accentuata dall’alternarsi delle diverse storie, dal passaggio tra terza e prima persona.

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