'Carry Me Down' by M.J. Hyland

Afterthoughts

Speaking from the first person's point of view, i.e. the adolescent protagonist - John, the novel serves as mirror into the protagonist's mind, a mind so sensitive, observant and meticulous. The language is plain and the text is like a report, which allows us to piece things up to read a child's mind and see the truthfulness or lies of adults. Does this world seek to live on the grey n sweep things under the carpet for the 'peace' and 'happiness' of the others?

Questions flood my mind:

- Can we take the truth?
- Would we rather be deluded?
- Is ignorance really a bliss?
- Do we live a double life?
- Do lies exist to reduce the hurt of the truth?
- Does one lie lead to another, creating a vicious cycle?
- Are we cowards?
- Are we trained to be good liars cos our parents are?
- Do white and black lies bear the same consequences?
- Is telling half-truths as good as lying?

My rating: ****
Award Mention: The Man Booker Prize for Fiction Shortlist 2006.

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My Favourite Quotes
MJ Hyland, Carry Me Down, Canongate, Edinburgh, 2006.

'...It's the kind of lie many people would call a white lie. But it's still a lie and it's told to benefit one and deceive another. Perhaps white lie don't work in the same way because the person telling them doesn't feel as anxious or troubled. And yet a white lie could have consequences just as awful as a black lie.' - p.55

'...This is not a soap opera where people blurt things out whenever they feel the urge.' - p.276

'Look at you. An eleven-year-old in the body of a grown man who insists on the ridiculous truth and who has got into a bad habit of lying.' - p.281

'Well, John, many people who claim to have this ability to detect lies have exremely irritable mothers, or alcoholic fathers, or some other force or presence in their early life that is, or was, unhealthy, unnatural, unpleasant, or extremely upsetting in some way...' - p.297

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Resources

http://www.themanbookerprize.com/2006prize/shortlist

Available in NLB libraries, SP library, and major bookstores

'The Secret River' by Kate Grenville

My Afterthoughts

A book that opens up the world I once stayed in - NSW, Australia. I enjoyed the book so much that I had to complete it in less than a week (record-breaking for me)! ;)

Taking the stand of a settler, William Thornhill, the story unveils the thoughts n dilemma a Brit convict was caught in - between life and death, between conscience and greed(survival?), between lordship and civilisation, between family and self, between order and dominance, between right and wrong. Do we justify our gains at the expense of others and/or out of our fear?

The first few pages remind me of Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'. I certainly enjoy that familiar tone and style of a nice, classical novel.

I like the novel as it speaks from various angles through the eyes of the protagonist, Thornhill, an anti-hero.

My rating: ****
Award Mention: The Man Booker Prize for Fiction Shortlist 2006, Commonwealth Writer's Prize 2006.

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Unforgettable Quotes
Kate Grenville, The Secret River, Canongate Books, Edinburgh, 2006.

'How could he say, I am sorry that what I want more than anything is your prison?' p.156

'See, them yams grow where you putting in the corn, he said. You dig them up, means they go hungry.' p.174

'He had thought then that it was all part of the price a boy paid for getting by in the world. It seemed that a man had to go on paying.' p.180

'How had his life funnelled down to this corner, in which he had so little choice? His life had funnelled down once before, in Newgate, into the dead-end of the condemned cell. But the thing that lay ahead of him there had been out of his hands. There was a kind of innocence in waiting for Mr Executioner.

The difference with this was that he was choosing it, of his own free will.

The noose would have ended his life, but what he was about to do would end it too. Whichever choice he made, his life would not go on as it had before...' p.314

'But there was an emptiness as he watched Jack's hand caressing the dirt. This was something he did not have: a place that was part of his flesh and spirit. There was no part of the world he would keep coming back to, the way Jack did, just to feel it under him.' p.344

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Resources

Award mention:

Commonwealth Writer's Prize 2006
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/culturediversity/writersprize/

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction Shortlist 2006
http://www.themanbookerprize.com/pressoffice/release.php?r=27#titletop

Available in NLB libraries, SP library, and major bookstores

'SQ21-Singapore Queer of the 21st Century' by Ng Yi-Sheng

My Afterthoughts

No, it's not another 'gay book' or some sob, sob story. And it's not there to change your lifestyle. But it's there to change your point of view on people in this community, a marginalized minority group. SQ21 is a collection of 15 stories - a celebration of life and love. Love of the forms you and I know - between parents and children, among siblings, between good friends, and of course, between 2 people of the same gender. Written in different styles but in the familiar Singapore English [not Singlish], it opens our eyes, hearts and minds to know people. I love the collection - some stories are heart-wrenching, most, heartwarming. We can all share and identify with the struggles told. After all, emotions are universal. And so is love.

My rating: ****
Mention: Non-Fiction Bestseller in major bookstores

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Resources

sq21.blogspot.com

Available in major bookstores and libraries.