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athirah_idrus's review
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I didn’t know the existence of this book until I perused the shelves curated by Aesop in line with their effort to promote local female authors with the Aesop Women’s Library initiative that was held last month. I read this book for tbnt’s June prompt to read a short story collection or personal essays.
Lake Malibu is a collection of stories depicting the experiences of Malaysians centering in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh. I am a fan of the writing – the words used painted such a lovely and personal portrait of Malaysia and its inhabitants. Perhaps as a Malaysian myself, I felt drawn to the simple illustrations of the delicate moments set in Malaysia. I felt like the author gave a voice to the quieter moments – scenes of kampung and the interactions between the multiracial people. This familiar setting made me feel at home.
However, the stories were too short, and the loosely-related stories felt somewhat disengaging. Some of the details shared were too vague, I felt like I was not privy to some hidden information. I felt disconnected with the characters and hence, not too invested to know what would become of them at the end. While this did not put me off the story altogether, I was left to question the relevance of the connection between the stories even as I reached the last page. Perhaps I was expecting the stories to tie up nicely and when they didn’t, I felt deprived of the satisfaction of what I usually feel when something ties up beautifully and forms a coherent whole.
Lake Malibu is a collection of stories depicting the experiences of Malaysians centering in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh. I am a fan of the writing – the words used painted such a lovely and personal portrait of Malaysia and its inhabitants. Perhaps as a Malaysian myself, I felt drawn to the simple illustrations of the delicate moments set in Malaysia. I felt like the author gave a voice to the quieter moments – scenes of kampung and the interactions between the multiracial people. This familiar setting made me feel at home.
However, the stories were too short, and the loosely-related stories felt somewhat disengaging. Some of the details shared were too vague, I felt like I was not privy to some hidden information. I felt disconnected with the characters and hence, not too invested to know what would become of them at the end. While this did not put me off the story altogether, I was left to question the relevance of the connection between the stories even as I reached the last page. Perhaps I was expecting the stories to tie up nicely and when they didn’t, I felt deprived of the satisfaction of what I usually feel when something ties up beautifully and forms a coherent whole.
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