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wylsonated's review against another edition
3.0
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.
yapxinyi's review against another edition
3.0
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 [b:My Year of Rest and Relaxation|44279110|My Year of Rest and Relaxation|Ottessa Moshfegh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597676656l/44279110._SY75_.jpg|55508660] 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 [b:My Year of Rest and Relaxation|44279110|My Year of Rest and Relaxation|Ottessa Moshfegh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597676656l/44279110._SY75_.jpg|55508660] 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.
rnmcfarlane's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
rowan86's review against another edition
4.0
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)
hehehe_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I feel like so much more could have been done if the stories were longer
delight's review
5.0
"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."
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