The End Of His Orbit

by Cyril Wong

The second collection of poems by Cyril Wong explores the tensions of intimate relationships and the rich emptiness of urban life, with odes and elegies to parents, lovers, friends and even the poet himself, then in a final section he hands over the lyric first person to mythical personae.

Genres: Poetry, Asia

78 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Cyril Wong is a two-time Singapore Literature Prize-winning poet and the recipient of the Singapore National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award for Literature. His books include poetry collections Tilting Our Plates to Catch the Light (2007) and The Lover’s Inventory (2015), novels The Last Lesson of Mrs de Souza (2013) and This Side of Heaven (2020), and fiction collection Ten Things My Father Never Taught Me (2014). He completed his doctoral degree in English Literature at the National University of Singapore in 2012. His works have been featured in the Norton anthology, Language for a New Century, in Chinese Erotic Poems by Everyman’s Library, and in magazines and journals around the world. His writings have been translated into Turkish, German, Italian, French, Portuguese and Japanese.

Reviews

[Andrew H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a poet's early work is often problematical: the immediate tendency is to judge from later work, which is often the first read (because it is the most available). The result is a kind of out-of-sync reading where the reader looks for signs of what came later. The End of His Orbit is Cyril Wong's second book of poetry, but this re-publication (as far as I know) is the earliest volume of his poetry currently in print. The End of His Orbit is what the title suggests, a book that quests for boundaries and probes where poetry might go.

"I have learnt to love
even as father did not."

This is a book that looks at growing beyond the father, the family, the Father and Catholicism. The poems themselves turn the confessional into Confessionalism and are beautifully crafted. The really strong poems are those in which so much ground is travelled in a short space. So, in "Eve", the poem begins within Biblical myth, moves to eroticism, a post-lapsarian view of the male body, and ends in a manner that fuses myth and sexual act. The End of His Orbit is a gentle, explorative book that spins around sexual awakening.

[Yi-Sheng · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thematically repetitive, but with some remarkable use of language that betrayed his talent, only to truly blossom in his later books of poetry.

Also, the title is "The End of His Orbit". Can a moderator alter the title, please?

[Julie Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stinging with emotionally-charged imagery, this is a haunting look at family that can truly only be appreciated by readers who have understood the anguish of falling out of love with the ones who were supposed to teach you about love in the first place.

[Julie Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stinging with emotionally-charged imagery, this is a haunting look at family that can truly only be appreciated by readers who have understood the anguish of falling out of love with the ones who were supposed to teach you about love in the first place.

[Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quarantine book #8

A confessional masterpiece by @cyrilsingstheblues

Wong's artful changing of his poetic voice throughout the collection draws us readers in until we're given off to Magdalene, sea witches and madame.

This edition is a treat from before it even begins with an incredible Preface by non other than Alfian Bin Sa'at.

This edition is by @booksactually 's #MathPaperPress

More #SingLit here #onebookSingapore
#onebookAsia

#QuarantineReading

[Charissa Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it on the plane in about and hour? I liked 3-4 poems. :) only.