Silverfish - New Book Blurbs

Malaysia Human Rights Report 2007: Civil and Political Rights by SUARAM (RM 22.00)

SUARAM publishes its Human Rights Report on Malaysia every year without fail. This report is now widely recognised as the most objective, comprehensive and dependable source of information on the state of human rights in Malaysia.

In this 2007 report, we note that on this 50th year of Malaysia's independence, the state institutions intended to safeguard human rights failed to deliver...

The SUARAM Human Rights Report on Civil and Political Rights 2007 documents these human rights violations and the unrelenting struggles of human rights defenders to promote democracy and human rights in Malaysia.

Labels: Society

The Kuala Lumpur Complete Residents' Guide (RM 75.50)

The foreword to The Kuala Lumpur Complete Residents' Guide says:
Whether you are only just starting to think about moving to Kuala Lumpur, or reading this on the plane, or you're an old-time expat who's lived there for years, well done for picking up the right book. It's not really meant for tourists who are looking for the best Twin Tower photo op -- it's written for you, the intrepid resident who knows the value of year-round sunshine.

The Kuala Lumpur Complete Residents' Guide has been meticulously researched and written by a team of seven city experts – some locals, some expats – who not only know the city inside out, but love it too... This talented bunch have scoured all areas to bring you the lowdown on all the things that are most important to a resident of Kuala Lumpur...

Although the book is aimed at expatriate residents, having glanced through the volume, we find that there are lots of information in there (not in the eleast of it, telephone numbers) suitable for locals as well. Let's face it, there are many parts of KL even people who have lived here for 50 years don't know about.

Labels: Reference

Princess Shawl by Shirley Lim (Maya Press, RM 18.90)

MeiLi inherits a shawl from a grand-aunt she doesn't know, which whisksher to historical times and places. Before she turns ten in two weeks,she must rescue the Chinese princess, Li Po, from the barren islandwhere the wicked bomoh hasexiled her. Mei Li meets women in Singapore, Cameron Highlands andMalacca who teaches her about courage, nurturing, trust and skills suchas cooking, nursing, and climbing mountains. With the help of a magichairpin, of special rogue and of water that can bring you home, she succeeds in uniting the Princess with the brave Sultan Mansur.

"A powerful book. Mei Li, nine years old almost ten, lives in Singapore with parents from Malaysia and China. Her daily life is magical enough, but then a shawl for a princess arrives in the mail...

Like a magic carpet, the shawl flies her away to far lands and times. She must help the wounded and the lost during a war among Portugal, Holland and Melaka. Among the many powers she learns is the ability to heal others. An enchanting and realistic book."

Maxine Hong Kingston
author of The Woman Warrior and Chinamen.

"In this enchanting story of resourceful bravery and love between family members by blood and
choice, between a sultan and a princess, between young and old, Shirley Lim with the utmost economy weaves a brilliant overview of history and culture. A delicious tour de force."

Anca Vlasopolos author of The New Bedford Samurai

Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan (Estimated Retail Price: RM 59.90) (The price is an estimate only based on books of similar nature. At the time of writing the distributor has not brought the books in yet.)

Set in Malaysia, this spellbinding and already internationally acclaimed debut introduces us to the prosperous Rajasekharan family as its closely guarded secrets are slowly peeled away.

When Chellam, the family's rubber-plantation-bred servant girl, is dismissed for unnamed crimes, her banishment is the latest of a series of recent, precipitous losses that have shaken six-year-old Aasha's life. A few short weeks before, Aasha's grandmother Paati passed away under mysterious circumstances and her older sister, Uma, departed for the Columbia University -- leaving Aasha alone to cope with her mostly absent father, her bitter mother, and her impertubable older brother.

Beginning with Aasha's granfather's ascension from Indian coolie to illustrious resident of the Big House on Kingfisher Lane, and going on to tell the story of how Appa, the family's Oxford-educated patriarch, courted Amma, the humble girl next door, Evening is the Whole Day moves gracefully backward and forward in time to answer the many questions that haunt the family: What was Chellam's unforgivable crime? Why was Uma so intent on leaving? How and why did Paati die? What did Aasha see? And underscoring all these mysteries: What ultimately became of Appa's once grand dreams for his family and his country?

Sweeping in scope, sumptuously lyrical, and masterfully constructed, Evening is the Whole Day offers an unflinching look at relationships between parents and children, brothers and sisters, the wealthy and the poor, a country and its citizens -- and the ways in which each sometimes fails the other. Illuminating in heartbreaking detail one Indian immigrant family's secrets and lies while exposing the complex underbelly of Malaysia itself, Preeta Samarasan's debut is a mesmerizing and vital achievement sure to earn her place alongside Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai and Zadie Smith.

Labels: Fiction

The Freedom of Choice by Saradha Narayanan (RM 65.00)(HB)

On a wet, gloomy Monday morning in March 2004, Rachel Thomas receives a letter from a private investigator that throws her comfortable middle-class lifestyle into chaos. She is confronted with a deeply guarded secret from her past. Traumatic events that she has kept buried for fourteen years, come back to haunt her and she must now find the courage to make a choice that may disrupt and destroy her marriage. Will she make the right choice?

Set against the backdrop of modern day Kuala Lumpur, the novel moves seamlessly between the past and the present. The story is told in parallel through the eyes of Rachel Thomas, the young mother, and Rohan Mahendran, the private investigator, assigned to find her. It describes how the different races interact with one another and underscores how racial and religious differences influence the choices people make in life.

In addition, the novel seeks to address two very important social issues – adoption and organ
transplantation in the Malaysian setting. David, a thirteen-year-old boy, was given up for adoption as a newborn baby. Now, he has end-stage renal failure and needs urgent kidney transplant. Will his parents be able to find a donor in time? Ultimately, the novel is about one woman's quest to exercise her Freedom of Choice.

Aweks Kl by various writers (Stormkitchen, RM 15.00)

A collection of new writing in Malay, done mostly by Malay women in Malaysia (because we simply didn't get enough submissions to make it an all-female book). The short stories and poems permit us the slightest of peeks into the mind of the modern Malay woman which, like the forbidden glimpse of a thigh, has been hitherto consigned to the backrooms of society as it is with children, to be only seen and not heard.

Included as a bonus are three previously unpublished stories by literary superstar Dina Zaman. Also featuring the talented Tifani Teh in her literay debut, the heavenly working class prose of Bimme S, the earthy music of Australia's Marlyn King, and the sad, bad, and dangerous lament of the Iranian, Fatemeh Zargar.

The books is available at Silverfish Books. Now!

Labels: Fiction

Iban Ritual Textile by Traude Gavin (RM 75.00)

Iban ritual textile draws on years of fieldwork and the author's documentation of the hundrds of Iban cloths. Topics include the ritual functions of Iban ikat-patterned fabric; the technical aspects of producing such cloths, as well as the dynamics of the complex of weaving (the power and efficacy of cloth patterns, dreams and charms) that can be subject to human interpretation and regulation. The main focus however is on the cloth patterns themselves and on the names assigned to them. Here the author challenges some long held misconceptions, in particular the notion of designs as a 'primitive form of language'. From this novel perspective, the role of weavers as technicians is set off against the power of patterns as an index for a weaver's relative rank. The study moves on to examine the
association of female prestige and weaving with the parallel structure of male status and headhunting. Findings further are discussed in the context of former and more recent intellectual frameworks.

Iban ritual textile is the first in-depth study of the ikat-patterned cloth based on extensive field research and should be of interest to anthropologists, art historians and scholars with an interest in the textile tradition of Southeast Asia.

Dr Traude Gavin is a freelance researcher and lecturer and lives in Great Britain.

Labels: Art, Society