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Peculiar Chris
Now funny, now poignant, but always honest and thought-provoking. Peculiar Chris is a simple story about complex feelings. About coming-of-age. About love. About life and death.
With subtlety, lucidness and quiet courage, Johann S. Lee weaves an intricate fabric of thoughts and emotions, and portrays a human experience hithero unexplored in Singapore fiction.
With subtlety, lucidness and quiet courage, Johann S. Lee weaves an intricate fabric of thoughts and emotions, and portrays a human experience hithero unexplored in Singapore fiction.
267 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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87 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 17, 2013
It's more significant as a cultural landmark than as a work of literature. The author's young age when writing it certainly shows, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Through the melodramatic developments, his sincerity still comes through.
January 22, 2016
I closed the last chapter of this book with a heavy heart. I started out disliking this book. I found the storyline ridiculously corny and perhaps, far too expected. And I didn't like Chris at all. In fact, I hated him. I found him idealistic, and perhaps too full of himself. Chris was the complete opposite of who I was and am. I found his character unsettling. As I got more involved with the story and the characters, I began to fall in love with them. I fell first in love with Samuel and then Nicholas; the love I felt for both of these characters were natural and remained the same throughout the chapters. But Chris... the love I had for him, was engineered and developed as I devoured each page, one after the other. I grew to feel sad for Chris - to watch the person he loves and with whom he's shared a big part of his life with, grow distant, perhaps even unrecognizable, as the illness manifested itself. I thought about Chris's selflessness in choosing to stay by his side when he could walk away - and I wondered the same of myself. I'd like to think that I'll, but I'm honestly unsure. Does that then... make me selfish? I don't know. At the start, I mentioned that I found the storyline to be 'ridiculously corny'. And it is. But given the fact that 'Peculiar Chris' was the first of its kind, I can see why it was indeed groundbreaking. It provided me the same comfort I'm sure it did for those who read this book the first time it came out. And for that, I'm eternally grateful to J.S. Lee, for providing some familiarity and comfort to his readers.
August 9, 2016
Reading this 1992 book in 2016, one can't help but feel a great disconnect with this fiction world. The troubles in 1992 and the troubles now are so different. Nonetheless, we can learn a bit more about our shared history here.
Fresh off the AIDS trauma in the 80s, this book offers a healing touch to the gay community. The writer stripped all the gay characters of any promiscuous leanings and attempted to idealise them at every juncture. The best part of the book is its portrayal of friendship and support. Every character has a friend to turn to. They even write long emotional letters to each other (very 90s haha). The economy of care depicted in this book is truly enviable.
Important for all gay Singaporean readers because this is the FIRST gay novel in +65.
Fresh off the AIDS trauma in the 80s, this book offers a healing touch to the gay community. The writer stripped all the gay characters of any promiscuous leanings and attempted to idealise them at every juncture. The best part of the book is its portrayal of friendship and support. Every character has a friend to turn to. They even write long emotional letters to each other (very 90s haha). The economy of care depicted in this book is truly enviable.
Important for all gay Singaporean readers because this is the FIRST gay novel in +65.
June 22, 2022
Peculiar Chris is a brilliant novel that perfectly portrays growing up in Singapore as a gay man. Chris's struggles during his time in national service as a gay man was extremely relatable and is an experience which I have never seen be discussed in literature before. Therefore making this a one of a kind novel that I'm sure many gay Singaporean males will relate to.
The author's writing style paints a vivid picture of what Chris is experiencing and allows the reader to fully empathize with Chris and his struggles. Throughout the book, there are many emotional scenes that the author has managed to portray so vividly it feels as though he might have experienced these things himself. Even without dialogue, the author is able to tug on the reader's heartstrings through imagery such as clumps of hair all over pillowcases and two razors labeled with names.
Though this book has a unique story and a writing style, there are times when it has felt a bit haphazard.
Throughout the book, the author uses multiple tools to help portray the protagonist's thoughts and feelings. These include the diary entry in the foreword, the poems in the first half of the book, and the letters Chris writes to Jack in the later half of the book. I felt that it would have been better if the author chose just one of these tools for the sake of continuity.
The storyline was also a bit haphazard. The storyline of Chris and Ken and the storyline of Chris and Samuel felt like two different stories. Furthermore, I wish the author had delved further into the issue of promiscuity and the obsession with youth and attractiveness in the gay community that the character Ken had briefly discussed with Chris.
Some subplots felt random and contributed nothing to the main plot or just felt really out of place. For example, the scene where Sergeant Samuel rapes Chris resulting in his trip to Australia and meeting Jack. I felt that that subplot added nothing to the main plot. The main story would have been the same if that subplot was never written in the first place.
One jarring problem with this book is the prevalence of typos strewn throughout its pages. The publishing company should have done a better job in editing this book as it was quite annoying to stop reading halfway just to try and decipher what the author had meant to write.
In conclusion, this book had a lot of potential. It discussed topics that are uniquely Singaporean and cannot be found in other works of literature. Furthermore, the author's writing style is highly effective in allowing the reader to empathize with the protagonist. However, more effort should have been put into creating a more cohesive story and minimizing typos.
The author's writing style paints a vivid picture of what Chris is experiencing and allows the reader to fully empathize with Chris and his struggles. Throughout the book, there are many emotional scenes that the author has managed to portray so vividly it feels as though he might have experienced these things himself. Even without dialogue, the author is able to tug on the reader's heartstrings through imagery such as clumps of hair all over pillowcases and two razors labeled with names.
Though this book has a unique story and a writing style, there are times when it has felt a bit haphazard.
Throughout the book, the author uses multiple tools to help portray the protagonist's thoughts and feelings. These include the diary entry in the foreword, the poems in the first half of the book, and the letters Chris writes to Jack in the later half of the book. I felt that it would have been better if the author chose just one of these tools for the sake of continuity.
The storyline was also a bit haphazard. The storyline of Chris and Ken and the storyline of Chris and Samuel felt like two different stories. Furthermore, I wish the author had delved further into the issue of promiscuity and the obsession with youth and attractiveness in the gay community that the character Ken had briefly discussed with Chris.
Some subplots felt random and contributed nothing to the main plot or just felt really out of place. For example, the scene where Sergeant Samuel rapes Chris resulting in his trip to Australia and meeting Jack. I felt that that subplot added nothing to the main plot. The main story would have been the same if that subplot was never written in the first place.
One jarring problem with this book is the prevalence of typos strewn throughout its pages. The publishing company should have done a better job in editing this book as it was quite annoying to stop reading halfway just to try and decipher what the author had meant to write.
In conclusion, this book had a lot of potential. It discussed topics that are uniquely Singaporean and cannot be found in other works of literature. Furthermore, the author's writing style is highly effective in allowing the reader to empathize with the protagonist. However, more effort should have been put into creating a more cohesive story and minimizing typos.
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June 22, 2024i can’t believe the first gay novel in singapore was written by a 20 year old boy because what excuse do i have now??
it is kind of laughable how much this story still connects with my experience over 30 years later—raffles feels like raffles, a clerk job in the army feels exactly like that, albeit with less gay tension everywhere (although: there really is still so much gay tension). middle-class chinese elite school gay boys who went on to study law just dominated arts & cultural production (and in many ways, still do).
there’s so much you could read into, the way this book constructs a fantasy of the straight-passing, respectable, monogamous and educated chinese gay man, versus the working class dirty, overly sexual “other samuel”, the cruising clubgoing nightlife culture, the scores of repressed pedophiles who somehow figure into three character backstories. in trying to write his way out of gay shame, chris maybe inordinately gives into it, complete with a really puzzling AIDS-but-it-wasn’t-gay-sex plotline.
but, despite it all, i felt warmed by this book, its desire to try and grapple with a sense of queer unlivability and death, to insist upon a constant, renewed sense of living, and how it grants compassion to its various characters, as thinly as they often are written. i am glad for this, and how odd it feels to think of a history that begins in the 1990s, that still feels current and present today, a history that is about a life without a sense of beginning or end, just continual rewriting—a history of unsettledness, a peculiar and yet familiar history.
it is kind of laughable how much this story still connects with my experience over 30 years later—raffles feels like raffles, a clerk job in the army feels exactly like that, albeit with less gay tension everywhere (although: there really is still so much gay tension). middle-class chinese elite school gay boys who went on to study law just dominated arts & cultural production (and in many ways, still do).
there’s so much you could read into, the way this book constructs a fantasy of the straight-passing, respectable, monogamous and educated chinese gay man, versus the working class dirty, overly sexual “other samuel”, the cruising clubgoing nightlife culture, the scores of repressed pedophiles who somehow figure into three character backstories. in trying to write his way out of gay shame, chris maybe inordinately gives into it, complete with a really puzzling AIDS-but-it-wasn’t-gay-sex plotline.
but, despite it all, i felt warmed by this book, its desire to try and grapple with a sense of queer unlivability and death, to insist upon a constant, renewed sense of living, and how it grants compassion to its various characters, as thinly as they often are written. i am glad for this, and how odd it feels to think of a history that begins in the 1990s, that still feels current and present today, a history that is about a life without a sense of beginning or end, just continual rewriting—a history of unsettledness, a peculiar and yet familiar history.
October 7, 2019
3.5/5
Peculiar Chris is an unpretentious novel that mostly achieves what it sets out to do - tell a story of one slice of life in Singapore. Of course, this isn't a perfect novel. I found the novel's ending abrupt and uneven and the writer's attempt at lyricism to be at time ambitious. But there's much to like about this novel, and it is one I'd recommend to friends. In particular, Chris is a convincing narrator, and his youthful idealism is almost moving and endearing at times. The novel also has a sprightly pace and is far from being as self absorbed as many similar novels sharing the same subject matter have been.
Peculiar Chris is an unpretentious novel that mostly achieves what it sets out to do - tell a story of one slice of life in Singapore. Of course, this isn't a perfect novel. I found the novel's ending abrupt and uneven and the writer's attempt at lyricism to be at time ambitious. But there's much to like about this novel, and it is one I'd recommend to friends. In particular, Chris is a convincing narrator, and his youthful idealism is almost moving and endearing at times. The novel also has a sprightly pace and is far from being as self absorbed as many similar novels sharing the same subject matter have been.
November 2, 2022
Death can strike anyone at anytime, you may say. But isn’t a false sense of security better than no sense of security at all?
A simple slice of life story of gay man’s experience in Singapore set in the 90s. I loved how the book was written and it was seamless. The local aspect really helped me to relate to this book more, especially with the National Service part. There aren’t really many local books that touch on LGBTQ+ topics and I was pleasantly surprised to find this one. Got me feeling emotional towards the end though I did find the epilogue to be rather rushed.
A simple slice of life story of gay man’s experience in Singapore set in the 90s. I loved how the book was written and it was seamless. The local aspect really helped me to relate to this book more, especially with the National Service part. There aren’t really many local books that touch on LGBTQ+ topics and I was pleasantly surprised to find this one. Got me feeling emotional towards the end though I did find the epilogue to be rather rushed.
June 19, 2019
A short and earnest tale of a young Singaporean gay man who possesses a rare sureness of his identity and sexuality and struggles instead with the way he is perceived in life by his new friends, different partners and the conservative and restrictive society that he is bounded by. Straightforward and poignant in its simplicity, elegant in its language, it is a joy to have discovered this local queer book.
September 29, 2020
I’m glad I finally read this book - I’ve been meaning to for so long. I loved it, but some writing was clunky, and some plot points cliche (though I doubt they were that way in the 90s!). Over all though, very affirming to be reminded that I’m not alone in my home :)
August 28, 2022
Ending seemed rushed but the story is deeply moving. It confronts the reader with a flood of emotions much like how Chris endures in the story.
April 12, 2015
Well written and depicted a surreal narrative of growing up as teenager in the 90s for Gen X and Gen Y
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews