Dream Stuff

by Chuah Guat Eng

Dream Stuff is a collection of 12 stories written between 1992 and 2014. A few have appeared in various local publications and anthologies; most are being published for the first time. The stories are diverse. They range from the “short short” to the “nearly-novella”, and they take you from pre-Independence Malaya/Malaysia to “a new galactic universe 200 mega centiniums” in the future – or is it the past? In these stories you hear the voices of a variety of narrators and characters, among them an eight-year old child confused by the way adults use – or fail to use – language; a reclusive old woman hiding a dark secret; an ageless, deathless Aranean harpist, “the last and the best” on the planet Tarron. They invite you to enter their worlds and share their dreams – daydreams, night dreams, haunting dreams, dreams verging on nightmares, nightmares that become their lives, and lives that become nightmares. Dreamstuff.

151 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

Reviews

[Ismim Putera · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very unique short story collection. i enjoyed "The stuff of Dreams", "Forbidden Fruits" and "The School Building Fund". The stories are mostly on social issues, remembering the past, appreciate one's presence, friendships, filial piety and various forms of relationship. "The Memoirs of Aranian Harpist" is particularly intriguing--a story set in a dystopian planet, but its memoir/documentary-like narration makes it hard to read. At the end, the characters and the plots were buried amongst the words. Shorter stories present their themes and characters better compared to their longer counterpart.

[Joni Chng · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I love most about Guat's stories is the fuzzy feeling of nostalgia they evoke. Most of them in this collection calls back to simpler times, and even if you are not old enough to remember them, you can just let your imagination transport you back in time, aided by the author's beautifully crafty, descriptive prose.

The best stories are the shorter ones; there are a couple of them that are almost novella length and they are unfortunately the weaker ones that drag on in parts.

Notable favorites:

- Tell Me Something About Yourself
- The School Building Fund
- Of Snakes and Flower Cars

[Suzainur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honour of sitting in a book discussion with the author on this anthology. It truly cemented my belief that authors don't put as much thought into the writing as we had believed in literature class, lol.

If you are looking for a work that gives you a good taste of Malaysiana life with its multiethnic, multireligious flavours, this compact anthology is a wonderful place to start.

[Susan Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's my full review:
http://www.sholee.net/2019/10/mpov-dr...

[Alicia Cheah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the stories to be very varied with very different themes. Each story was thought provoking with varying degrees of difficulty to comprehend. Some I found to be heart wrenching and easy to read. Some it took me a few reads to go through them.