Seventeen

by Colin Cheong

Running away from his family and second-language problems, Richard Young With-No-Chinese-Name finds refuge in his college darkroom and his friends. Like shutterbug ZZ. Like the seemingly unattainable Samantha. Like gung-ho Janice and laidback Jacqueline. And seventeen looks like a great age to be forever. Until a mysterious Chinese flute player suddenly enters their lives, and slowly – and tragically – Richard’s life begins to unravel.

This title is being reissued under the new Marshall Cavendish Classics: Literary Fiction series, which seeks to introduce some of the best works of Singapore literature to a new generation of readers. Some have been evergreen titles over the years, others have been unjustly neglected.

Authors in the series include: Catherine Lim, Claire Tham, Colin Cheong, Michael Chiang, Minfong Ho, Ovidia Yu and Philip Jeyaretnam.

133 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[kelly!! · Rating 3 out of 5]

content warning: this is a book set in HWA CHONG JUNIOR COLLEGE. trigger warning: this book deals w some heavy themes in a questionable ? matter.

the setting of me reading this: in a hwa chong uni for the first time since a's ended, standing in a times bookstore stranded by rain. here i read 2/3rds of this short 130 pg book, which i really did enjoy. the relationships between the characters felt authentic and well developed, the dialogue was good.... was ready to give a 4star, docked one because there were a few too many. trying to be poetic metaphors...

the rain stopped n my next bus was in 20mins. so i dropped $15 to read the last third, betting that it would be worth the $$$$.

then i read the rest of it n. all i can say is i felt like i was reading a fanwritten AU ending LOL it was so overly melodramatic and felt incredibly rushed. it's as if the author extrapolated from his own life for the first 2/3rds, got feedback that it was too boring, then watched a mediacorp drama to inspire the last 1/3. ???????

i'm sorry, colin cheong, if the last third was genuinely inspired by real life events. im also sorry for tanking ur goodreads rating and also being the first reviewer on here to write extensively about it. to be fair i did like the first part very much. anyway if you want to read it (hc people, for all the references...) it's still worth a read. i will mail you my copy.

also theres a MISPRINT on one of the pages which is kidna funny

[Apollos Michio · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I guess the greatest things a teenaged boy can have is somewhere to run to and a friend to run there with.” 🏃🏻

In Seventeen, first published in 1996, local writer Colin Cheong encapsulates how it feels like to be young and in love; to have friends in school; to experience the turgid period of adolescence that’ll leave one nostalgic for in their later years. He does this in a story that combines both romantic and supernatural elements. ❤️

It has been a while since I’ve read a story set in a place that I’m quite familiar with: the protagonist here, Richard, attends the same junior college that I went to when I was seventeen. Even the buildings and places mentioned align closely to what I remember of the school, so much so that it feels surreal to be reading about Richard’s experiences! 🏫

Seventeen is the awkward age when we’re still in the throes of physical and mental development. Yet, somehow, or precisely because of that, our experiences and emotions feel so heightened, so enveloping, that our worldviews get shaped by what we experience then. Even now, there are times when I think back to myself at that age, and I cringe at my gauche inchoateness. But then, I’m thankful my time there wasn’t as tragic as Richard’s—his tragedy of which I shall not spoil here! 😬

Anyway, I enjoyed this book, and am glad that it made me feel things! There’s suspense, romance, nostalgia, religious and cultural questionings, feelings of sweetness and sadness, all within its mere 126 pages. Perhaps it’s this amalgamation that represents a memorable adolescence! ❤️‍🩹

P.S. The narrative voice of Richard reminds me a little of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, who is funny and endearing at the same time, though of course the story differs.

[yamiyoghurt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant description of JC life. Love the setting and the details which made this book so uniquely Singaporean.

[leya kuan · Rating 3 out of 5]

to be honest, i need to know what’s wrong with colin cheong because what the hell was this book?? i can agree with the premise of being a banana, but richard was a little too whitewashed, to the point where he questioned everything about taoist faith/superstitious beliefs in general. it’s probably my own experiences speaking, but it all seemed pretty ignorant to me. the different between me and richard young is that i am - or once was - good at mandarin, and that was because i tried instead of…moaning and crying about how hard and boring it is yet never getting anywhere? richard young is a massive complainer, and it’s really annoying but character flaws make them seem real, i guess. really fucking annoying at that. not to mention - the character never made any proper internal development ??? trauma =/= development.

maybe that’s the sjkc propaganda getting to the mini banana in me!

anyway, to have ZZ get possessed/go nuts + jacqueline die all within the span of a few pages…was colin cheong starved for ideas? because this is page ten out of my amah’s taiwanese dramas.

overall, it was a great start, but the wrap up was messy — it was a tragedy - which i normally like - but the end was poorly written.

i should’ve gotten a pdf of this instead of wasting forty ringgit on this book. could’ve gotten myself several packets of nasi lemak + telur rebus.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. execution could be better, ideas are solid