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Modern Myths
Figures from Greek mythology take up residence in contemporary Singapore in this collection of stories that explores the pain and dilemma of modern living. What happens when you are doomed to repeat your actions over and over? Or have to remake your decisions, knowing that times have changed? What if struggling makes the divine human, and the human divine?
- GenresFictionShort Stories
312 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2018
14 people are currently reading
109 people want to read
About the author
Clara Chow
16 books10 followersClara Chow is the author of short story collection Dream Storeys (2016). A former correspondent with The Straits Times, and contributor to the South China Morning Post, she also co-founded the literary and art journal We Are a Website.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 6, 2019
3 STARS - ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
#BUYSINGLIT was actually how I chanced upon this book by Clara Chow and albeit hesitant, I decided to take a leap of faith and fell right in.
Beginning with the good stuff – I really like the concept of this novel, and definitely wanted to like it a lot more than I did. Filled with beautifully descriptive words, it was an absolute delight to devour, and Ms Chow’s descriptions made the everyday and mundane seem like so much more. The metaphors used are definitely interesting – I haven’t read anything like some of them before! – and not only are they extremely creative, but some of them also bring about a uniquely Singaporean touch, allowing readers to reminisce and relive parts of Singaporean culture we may have forgotten along the way. Ms Chow also writes about topics with much compassion and empathy that it doesn’t take much for a reader to put themselves in the shoes of the characters and imagine what it’d be like to endure their trials, tribulations and triumphs. There is depth and developments to the characters, which make them seem larger than life in some of the stories, and the fact that they were set in sunny Singapore also meant that it’s much easier to imagine these characters living amongst us and maybe even as the people we know or do pass by daily. The ideas were absolutely stunning and I would definitely be keen on purchasing full length novels of some of these short stories if they ever do come out – I would really look forward to more than just a peek through the window and an exploration of background and characters via a full-length novel if possible.
Perhaps what really detracted from my enjoyment of the novel was that as a reader, more often than not I was grasping at straws for connections between the immortals and their characters. I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m the biggest fan of Greek mythology, but I think I have the basics covered from media exposure on screen and in prints. Some of the stories don’t explicitly state the immortals they are referring to, and unless you know the specific character traits of a multitude of Greek gods, you’ll be feeling pretty confused and left out throughout some of the stories. An example would be in the short story ‘DJ Fierce’ (great short story by the way), I knew for certain it would be in reference to a patron of the music or arts, but if I hadn’t looked at the blurb for clues as to exactly which God the story was written in relation to, it’d probably have just finished the story without really grasping the point of the story and what it was leading up to.
Another gripe that I have, (and this is something I’ve personally noticed while reading books written by Singaporean authors) is that while the words themselves are pretty, the flow of the narrative is occasionally neither here nor there, and the prose too overly complicated to illustrate the simplest ideas. Reading this at times can be a tenuous task at times since I find myself struggling to read between the thinnest of lines to understand what Ms Chow could possibly be trying to elude to. Imagine reading sentences where one understands the meaning of each individual word, but has no idea what they mean as a whole. Understandably, this is a collection of short stories, and long, lengthy sentences and descriptions would have less of a limelight here, but when reading such disorienting prose, it can be challenging and frustrating. These are just a couple of points that as a reader I feel regretful towards, since there was a chance I would have given up on the book due to these aspects.
A final comment I would have for this novel is that Ms Chow is a very cultured woman, and this comes across through her writing and the references she uses. Expect to draw parallels to Hopper’s Nighthawks, Goethe and the likes. While this is an aspect of the novel that imparts to readers insights about who the author really is as a person, it may be the case that there are many other readers who have never heard of such references, and don’t understand the nuances of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other readers who simply skimmed through some of these references, taking them at face value, or Googled what some of these descriptions were. (I definitely was one of the latter.) It adds an element to Ms Chow’s writing that while pleasant, can leave the reader feeling more confused at them. This issue is ultimately a matter of personal preference and individual reading style, but these examples and mentions may occasionally pose as barriers rather than entryways to readers.
TD;LR – beautifully creative ideas, fantastic metaphors, but be prepared to be patient, zen out and invest a chunk of time into understanding the crux of some of the stories owing to the singular writing style of the author.
#BUYSINGLIT was actually how I chanced upon this book by Clara Chow and albeit hesitant, I decided to take a leap of faith and fell right in.
Beginning with the good stuff – I really like the concept of this novel, and definitely wanted to like it a lot more than I did. Filled with beautifully descriptive words, it was an absolute delight to devour, and Ms Chow’s descriptions made the everyday and mundane seem like so much more. The metaphors used are definitely interesting – I haven’t read anything like some of them before! – and not only are they extremely creative, but some of them also bring about a uniquely Singaporean touch, allowing readers to reminisce and relive parts of Singaporean culture we may have forgotten along the way. Ms Chow also writes about topics with much compassion and empathy that it doesn’t take much for a reader to put themselves in the shoes of the characters and imagine what it’d be like to endure their trials, tribulations and triumphs. There is depth and developments to the characters, which make them seem larger than life in some of the stories, and the fact that they were set in sunny Singapore also meant that it’s much easier to imagine these characters living amongst us and maybe even as the people we know or do pass by daily. The ideas were absolutely stunning and I would definitely be keen on purchasing full length novels of some of these short stories if they ever do come out – I would really look forward to more than just a peek through the window and an exploration of background and characters via a full-length novel if possible.
Perhaps what really detracted from my enjoyment of the novel was that as a reader, more often than not I was grasping at straws for connections between the immortals and their characters. I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m the biggest fan of Greek mythology, but I think I have the basics covered from media exposure on screen and in prints. Some of the stories don’t explicitly state the immortals they are referring to, and unless you know the specific character traits of a multitude of Greek gods, you’ll be feeling pretty confused and left out throughout some of the stories. An example would be in the short story ‘DJ Fierce’ (great short story by the way), I knew for certain it would be in reference to a patron of the music or arts, but if I hadn’t looked at the blurb for clues as to exactly which God the story was written in relation to, it’d probably have just finished the story without really grasping the point of the story and what it was leading up to.
Another gripe that I have, (and this is something I’ve personally noticed while reading books written by Singaporean authors) is that while the words themselves are pretty, the flow of the narrative is occasionally neither here nor there, and the prose too overly complicated to illustrate the simplest ideas. Reading this at times can be a tenuous task at times since I find myself struggling to read between the thinnest of lines to understand what Ms Chow could possibly be trying to elude to. Imagine reading sentences where one understands the meaning of each individual word, but has no idea what they mean as a whole. Understandably, this is a collection of short stories, and long, lengthy sentences and descriptions would have less of a limelight here, but when reading such disorienting prose, it can be challenging and frustrating. These are just a couple of points that as a reader I feel regretful towards, since there was a chance I would have given up on the book due to these aspects.
A final comment I would have for this novel is that Ms Chow is a very cultured woman, and this comes across through her writing and the references she uses. Expect to draw parallels to Hopper’s Nighthawks, Goethe and the likes. While this is an aspect of the novel that imparts to readers insights about who the author really is as a person, it may be the case that there are many other readers who have never heard of such references, and don’t understand the nuances of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other readers who simply skimmed through some of these references, taking them at face value, or Googled what some of these descriptions were. (I definitely was one of the latter.) It adds an element to Ms Chow’s writing that while pleasant, can leave the reader feeling more confused at them. This issue is ultimately a matter of personal preference and individual reading style, but these examples and mentions may occasionally pose as barriers rather than entryways to readers.
TD;LR – beautifully creative ideas, fantastic metaphors, but be prepared to be patient, zen out and invest a chunk of time into understanding the crux of some of the stories owing to the singular writing style of the author.
December 1, 2018
This book is divided into two sections of short stories - one section deals with the titular mythical gods amongst men, whilst the other deals with the mortals yearning for some kind of transcendence amidst variant versions of modern Singapore.
While the first section is charming at first and quirky, the mechanism of Greek gods living in the modern world feels a little "I can do that too", despite the mostly elegant, minimalistic prose. Gaiman had a whole book to flesh out his old gods, but this writer had to make do with just a few, leading some of the characterisations to feel trite, superficial and disembodied, and the clever nods to be slightly too clever. Marred also at points by the necessity to slot in clunky references to the modern day too.
It's a pity, as the latter mortals half is so much stronger in terms of both flow and writing, and more connected to obviously fuller human desires and fallibilities. The stories are more daring and imaginative (save in comparison to perhaps Siren's section in the first half). I felt the urge to turn page to find out what happens to these living brethren of ours than the divinities. Sadly, readers might have missed out on these lovely bits of storytelling if they gave up after reading the first half about these gods that are somehow no longer that inspiring.
While the first section is charming at first and quirky, the mechanism of Greek gods living in the modern world feels a little "I can do that too", despite the mostly elegant, minimalistic prose. Gaiman had a whole book to flesh out his old gods, but this writer had to make do with just a few, leading some of the characterisations to feel trite, superficial and disembodied, and the clever nods to be slightly too clever. Marred also at points by the necessity to slot in clunky references to the modern day too.
It's a pity, as the latter mortals half is so much stronger in terms of both flow and writing, and more connected to obviously fuller human desires and fallibilities. The stories are more daring and imaginative (save in comparison to perhaps Siren's section in the first half). I felt the urge to turn page to find out what happens to these living brethren of ours than the divinities. Sadly, readers might have missed out on these lovely bits of storytelling if they gave up after reading the first half about these gods that are somehow no longer that inspiring.
July 29, 2019
"This lack of sentimentality about the old ways. The constant struggle to adapt; to survive. So, this is modern life."
Nothing is more exhausting than another "remix [of] familiar tales" in this age of deconstruction, reconstruction, modernization or whatever "-tion" of classical stories. But stamp "Clara Chow" on the cover and I'm off to spend my hard-earned money, off to revel in another world - simply because I've always loved her writing and imagination, expressed marvelously in Dream Storeys. Clara Chow is a masterful storyteller, with the ability to string contrasting words and ideas that would never be able to go well together if used by another writer. As compared to Dream Storeys, Chow's writing here is less dense and convoluted, scaled down to bare simplicity at times - something which increased my enjoyment of the stories and characters.
Another difference from her first collection of stories is the way the characters take precedence over the places and settings. Under her capable hands, the god and goddesses are imbued with a fuller characterization that doesn't render them as just 2-D character tropes ("right", "wrong", "hero/heroine", "tragic"). I've mentioned in my review of Dream Storeys that "[p]hysical bodies are often discarded, neglected or destroyed in the stories, leaving the physical building to house the soul of the characters." In Modern Myths, Chow seems to be doing the same; pinning the characters under the boulder of human struggles, imprisoning them in the modern city, in the wheel of fate. And yet, the soul is elevated beyond simplistic narratives, beyond derogatory labels, and "[t]o know the immense joy of sailing close to the sun, basking in its freedom, and living to tell the tale".
This is a theme that is more prominent in the second part of the book, "Mortals". I am not that familiar with classical Greek myths to pinpoint which story relates to which. But I get this feeling that maybe, the stories aren't taken from the myths at all; maybe Chow was making her own mythology of life in Singapore. And that is the beauty of this book - that "struggling makes the ... human divine" - and the beauty of short stories / flash fictions: focusing on the small moments, taking them out of the busyness of city living and transcending them into infinity (for lack of a better word). What happens when unofficial nostalgia is banned, and the government implants false memories in us, so that we can all have one standard collective history? What happens when we are forced to mate with someone who has the same PSLE aggregate score as you, or choose to work to death for six days of the week? We still yearn for love, companionship, understanding, and reconciliation; it is all these things that make us human and yet, eternal - especially when immortalized in Chow's writing.
"But, the moment passed, and he was bobbing again, furiously alive, determined to make it to some invisible shore."
Nothing is more exhausting than another "remix [of] familiar tales" in this age of deconstruction, reconstruction, modernization or whatever "-tion" of classical stories. But stamp "Clara Chow" on the cover and I'm off to spend my hard-earned money, off to revel in another world - simply because I've always loved her writing and imagination, expressed marvelously in Dream Storeys. Clara Chow is a masterful storyteller, with the ability to string contrasting words and ideas that would never be able to go well together if used by another writer. As compared to Dream Storeys, Chow's writing here is less dense and convoluted, scaled down to bare simplicity at times - something which increased my enjoyment of the stories and characters.
Another difference from her first collection of stories is the way the characters take precedence over the places and settings. Under her capable hands, the god and goddesses are imbued with a fuller characterization that doesn't render them as just 2-D character tropes ("right", "wrong", "hero/heroine", "tragic"). I've mentioned in my review of Dream Storeys that "[p]hysical bodies are often discarded, neglected or destroyed in the stories, leaving the physical building to house the soul of the characters." In Modern Myths, Chow seems to be doing the same; pinning the characters under the boulder of human struggles, imprisoning them in the modern city, in the wheel of fate. And yet, the soul is elevated beyond simplistic narratives, beyond derogatory labels, and "[t]o know the immense joy of sailing close to the sun, basking in its freedom, and living to tell the tale".
This is a theme that is more prominent in the second part of the book, "Mortals". I am not that familiar with classical Greek myths to pinpoint which story relates to which. But I get this feeling that maybe, the stories aren't taken from the myths at all; maybe Chow was making her own mythology of life in Singapore. And that is the beauty of this book - that "struggling makes the ... human divine" - and the beauty of short stories / flash fictions: focusing on the small moments, taking them out of the busyness of city living and transcending them into infinity (for lack of a better word). What happens when unofficial nostalgia is banned, and the government implants false memories in us, so that we can all have one standard collective history? What happens when we are forced to mate with someone who has the same PSLE aggregate score as you, or choose to work to death for six days of the week? We still yearn for love, companionship, understanding, and reconciliation; it is all these things that make us human and yet, eternal - especially when immortalized in Chow's writing.
"But, the moment passed, and he was bobbing again, furiously alive, determined to make it to some invisible shore."
March 5, 2021
I read in English but this review is in Bahasa Indonesia
Modern Myths sudah memancing perhatianku sejak akun Instagram Books Actually mengunggah foto sampulnya. Tentu saja, karena judulnya "Modern Myths." Kala itu belum terbayangkan kata "myths" yang ada di situ merujuk pada mitos atau mitologi apa.
Sinopsisnya kemudian semakin menggodaku. Clara Chow rupanya berandai-andai bagaimana jika para dewa-dewi Yunan ini hidup di masa sekarang dan menjadi warga Singapura. Sebuah premis yang baru untukku. Maklum, sejauh ini aku baru membaca buku-buku berlatar belakang Mitologi Yunani yang ditulis oleh penulis barat (AS/Inggris). Maka tidak heran jika Modern Myths langsung mendapatkan atensiku.
Semula aku menduga bahwa Modern Myths berupa novel. Dengan tokoh yang itu-itu saja dan plot cerita tentang problematika menjadi dewa-dewi Yunani masa kini. Ternyata dugaanku salah. Modern Myths adalah kumpulan cerita pendek yang secara garis besar terbagi menjadi dua bagian: Gods dan Mortals. Dewa-Dewi dan Manusia.
Seperti bagiannya, cerita-cerita itu merujuk pada tokoh-tokoh dalam Mitologi Yunan. Namun, tidak semua tokohnya menggunakan nama-nama yang familiar. Beberapa nama dibuat modern dan membuat kita menebak-nebak. Seperti misalnya Maddy dan Danny (coba tebak, mereka siapa jika merujuk pada kisah Mitologi Yunani). Tetapi itulah uniknya. Clara Chow membuat seakan memang para tokoh hidup berdampingan dengan kita. Tidak jauh berbeda penampilannya dengan kita. Plus, menghadapi permasalahan hidup yang sama dengan kita.
Cerita di dalamnya dibalut dengan beragam format. Ada yang formatnya seperti cerita pendek pada umumnya, ada yang disampaikan dalam bentuk bullet points. Ada pula yang seperti kisah yang dituturkan kepada orang lain. Keragaman ini membuat Modern Myths menjadi sebuah kumpulan cerita yang kaya.
Hanya saja, semakin ke belakang, pace ceritanya bagiku menjadi monoton. Aku sempat merasa bosan pada beberapa cerita karena tone ceritanya agak berulang dengan judul di depannya.
But anyway, membaca Modern Myths tidak diragukan lagi menjadi sebuah pengalaman baru buatku.
Terima kasih kepada Books Actually dan Math Paper Press atas kesempatan berkolaborasinya! Senang bisa berkontribusi dalam melakukan review terhadap salah satu buku yang sudah lama aku incar ini.
Modern Myths sudah memancing perhatianku sejak akun Instagram Books Actually mengunggah foto sampulnya. Tentu saja, karena judulnya "Modern Myths." Kala itu belum terbayangkan kata "myths" yang ada di situ merujuk pada mitos atau mitologi apa.
Sinopsisnya kemudian semakin menggodaku. Clara Chow rupanya berandai-andai bagaimana jika para dewa-dewi Yunan ini hidup di masa sekarang dan menjadi warga Singapura. Sebuah premis yang baru untukku. Maklum, sejauh ini aku baru membaca buku-buku berlatar belakang Mitologi Yunani yang ditulis oleh penulis barat (AS/Inggris). Maka tidak heran jika Modern Myths langsung mendapatkan atensiku.
Semula aku menduga bahwa Modern Myths berupa novel. Dengan tokoh yang itu-itu saja dan plot cerita tentang problematika menjadi dewa-dewi Yunani masa kini. Ternyata dugaanku salah. Modern Myths adalah kumpulan cerita pendek yang secara garis besar terbagi menjadi dua bagian: Gods dan Mortals. Dewa-Dewi dan Manusia.
Seperti bagiannya, cerita-cerita itu merujuk pada tokoh-tokoh dalam Mitologi Yunan. Namun, tidak semua tokohnya menggunakan nama-nama yang familiar. Beberapa nama dibuat modern dan membuat kita menebak-nebak. Seperti misalnya Maddy dan Danny (coba tebak, mereka siapa jika merujuk pada kisah Mitologi Yunani). Tetapi itulah uniknya. Clara Chow membuat seakan memang para tokoh hidup berdampingan dengan kita. Tidak jauh berbeda penampilannya dengan kita. Plus, menghadapi permasalahan hidup yang sama dengan kita.
Cerita di dalamnya dibalut dengan beragam format. Ada yang formatnya seperti cerita pendek pada umumnya, ada yang disampaikan dalam bentuk bullet points. Ada pula yang seperti kisah yang dituturkan kepada orang lain. Keragaman ini membuat Modern Myths menjadi sebuah kumpulan cerita yang kaya.
Hanya saja, semakin ke belakang, pace ceritanya bagiku menjadi monoton. Aku sempat merasa bosan pada beberapa cerita karena tone ceritanya agak berulang dengan judul di depannya.
But anyway, membaca Modern Myths tidak diragukan lagi menjadi sebuah pengalaman baru buatku.
Terima kasih kepada Books Actually dan Math Paper Press atas kesempatan berkolaborasinya! Senang bisa berkontribusi dalam melakukan review terhadap salah satu buku yang sudah lama aku incar ini.
November 26, 2022
I got this for free with the free SingLit initiative with Aesop and was quite excited to start on it. The title and the cover made it look very intriguing. Plus, I love myths! And the word "modern". As I began reading, though, it didn't feel easy to engage with the stories, especially with the earlier half. While the world-building was decent with each short story, it did feel a bit too condensed. Especially because most, if not all, of the stories felt like they were open endings. I'm fine with them, usually, but when there are too many I'm just too tired to decide which I want it to be. Some I just didn't get for sure, like the ending of "I Am Gong Li's Pink IC".
Mostly, the writing was sort of pretty but I felt that it didn't really work for me. So I sorta found myself zoning out and reading without processing, which was very frustrating as I had to go back and read the past few pages again. Funnily enough, this hadn't happen for me in My Year of Rest and Relaxation even though the writing was also dense.
The one story that I actually really liked and hooked me right from the start was "Vanilla", but others I enjoyed more include ""Welcome, 265 Aggregate Scorers!"", "Homer's Tunnel", and "Haze". I sort of know most of my Greek mythology (I hope), but some of these were still a bit too obscure for me to appreciate fully, I felt. Like "Ulamog, or the Ceaseless Hunger" and "Wine Ghost and Club Foot", among others.
The biggest peeve I had was how the top row of each page printed the author's name and book name instead of something like author's name and short story name. It made finding the short story by simple flipping extremely hard if not impossible! Sometimes I had already forgotten the short story name when I'm reading the story in more than one sitting and I had to flip the pages one by one to find the story title. Very, very frustrating.
Mostly, the writing was sort of pretty but I felt that it didn't really work for me. So I sorta found myself zoning out and reading without processing, which was very frustrating as I had to go back and read the past few pages again. Funnily enough, this hadn't happen for me in My Year of Rest and Relaxation even though the writing was also dense.
The one story that I actually really liked and hooked me right from the start was "Vanilla", but others I enjoyed more include ""Welcome, 265 Aggregate Scorers!"", "Homer's Tunnel", and "Haze". I sort of know most of my Greek mythology (I hope), but some of these were still a bit too obscure for me to appreciate fully, I felt. Like "Ulamog, or the Ceaseless Hunger" and "Wine Ghost and Club Foot", among others.
The biggest peeve I had was how the top row of each page printed the author's name and book name instead of something like author's name and short story name. It made finding the short story by simple flipping extremely hard if not impossible! Sometimes I had already forgotten the short story name when I'm reading the story in more than one sitting and I had to flip the pages one by one to find the story title. Very, very frustrating.
March 16, 2019
I enjoyed the book. I found the second half of the book which deals with mortal beings far deeper and more enjoyable than the first half though i liked the quirkiness of taking greek god myths into singapore. It got my attention to buy the book. More books need to be written using singapore as a background that doesn’t just have boy/ girl relationship stories with characters that are very superficial as a lot have been so far. This made a change , showed various life styles and attitudes of how some view living in S’pore or being S’porean. An enjoyable read.
June 22, 2019
Didn't really understand how the Mortals section tied in with Greek Mythology, but thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. I never would've thought I'd find mythology stuff in SingLit.
I guess I don't really understand some of the Mortal stories but other than that it was great.
I was going to list my favourites but I realised that was almost the whole book.
(I haven't written reviews in a while so I don't really know what to say anymore)
I guess I don't really understand some of the Mortal stories but other than that it was great.
I was going to list my favourites but I realised that was almost the whole book.
(I haven't written reviews in a while so I don't really know what to say anymore)
December 2, 2019
Love the way the book is divided into immortals and mortals volume whereby the immortals were about gods and goddesses leading 'normal' lives albeit their gifts or powers. very imaginative but realistic as well where gods are just like human beings.
it is not a parody or a remake of myths and legends, and at times kinda have to guess which god or goddess is the character inspired from, but that's the thrill of it.
it is not a parody or a remake of myths and legends, and at times kinda have to guess which god or goddess is the character inspired from, but that's the thrill of it.
February 13, 2021
What if the gods land upon Singapore and lead a mortal lives? Do the struggle and pain of human lives make the mortals divine? These are the threads which bound all of the stories in Modern Myths. Weirdly unconventional, but insightful nonetheless. I think I have found another affinity, Singaporean writers.
.
.
𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦: 𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠
✰᪥𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬♪✩
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𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦: 𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑢𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠
✰᪥𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬♪✩
October 21, 2022
I really really took my time with this one but I’m so glad I did. Not all the stories resonated with me but taken as a whole, its a work of talent! Having lived in Singapore all my life, it definitely feels nostalgic with its depictions of everyday life that Ms Chow displays in her writing. It was interesting to see the combination of greek mythology with local scenes in the chapters, glad I picked this up at the Aesop Women’s library recently.
January 4, 2020
I had been trying to love this book but I can’t. I feel so uncultured for few minutes when I decided I didn’t want to finish. Screw with peer pressure from avid readers and the snob reader. I don’t like this one. I’m not gonna finish it.
August 24, 2022
I liked the second half of this book (“Mortals”) much better than the Gods half.
Favourite stories
- Siren (Redux)
- I am Gong Li’s Pink IC
- “Welcome, 265 Aggregate Scorers”
- Britta
- Girls’ House
Favourite stories
- Siren (Redux)
- I am Gong Li’s Pink IC
- “Welcome, 265 Aggregate Scorers”
- Britta
- Girls’ House
Read
July 6, 2022I really wanted to like this book but couldn’t get into it. :( Maybe I’m just in the wrong frame of mind to read it now. I’d love to give it another try someday but I’ll DNF it for now…
July 31, 2021
The collection is a little uneven in the first arc - you can tell Ms Chow is experimenting with a blend of contemporary issues and Greek mythology, but the latter's sensibilities tend to be obscured or even illegible in a few of the stories. The second arc, however, is packed with witty, lyrical gems of speculative fiction that deserve another read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews