Official Review: Times of Malaya by Adnan Ariffin

[OliviaLouise]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Times of Malaya" by Adnan Ariffin.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

“It was the worst of times; it was the onset of terror, carnage and destruction. It was the best of times; it was the beginning of political awareness and the struggle for independence” reads the beginning of chapter one of Times of Malaya by Adnan Ariffin. Categorized as historical fiction, this book endeavors to immerse the reader in the events of the Malayan Emergency of the mid-twentieth century. Each of this book’s 26 chapters explore different components of Malayan culture and history from this era. Times of Malaya is centered on a young, male protagonist growing up in the era of The Malayan Emergency. This character's name is “Zahrin,” and he is the adopted son of police inspector Ariff and Bee (sister to Zahrin’s biological mother). The book begins as Zahrin is born in the time leading up to The Emergency, growing up in Port Dickson, not far from Kuala Lampur. Rather than telling the story of The Malayan Emergency from Zahrin’s perspective, the book merely follows the violence that Zahrin witnessed during the era as the country pursued its independence.

First and foremost, it is very challenging to summarize this book because the narrative is extremely disjointed. The vast majority of the book consists of lengthy, detailed descriptions of different aspects of 1950’s Malayan culture and history with brief and random spurts of narrative and only the occasional line of dialogue interspersed. In fact, it remains uncertain that this book qualifies as historical fiction at all; this book is very heavy on historical detail, and deeply lacking in discernible storyline. I would argue that this book would fit better into the history genre.

In addition to the lack of discernible storyline, the language of the book was often inconsistent and confusing. For example, I had to reread the first three chapters once or twice in order to determine who the protagonist was and distinguish him from the narrator. This story is mostly told in the third person, referring to Zahrin by name; however, there are instances where the narrator switches to the first person. One example of this is at loc 1380: “Zahrin couldn’t recall how they got to Ipoh; it must have been either by car or train. He did remember the great nasi goring (his first) that we had at the rest house there, before getting into a Land Rover for the climb up the hill to the Cameron Highlands.” There are additional instances where the pronoun “I” is used in the narrative. There is no explanation for this but that the narrator is someone close to Zahrin, although the book never quite reveals who that is.

In addition to the fluid identity of the narrator, the lack of definition for foreign terms lends to the confusing nature of this book. Towards the beginning of the book, a significant number of foreign terms requiring research appeared in the text. A simple footnote would suffice in clarifying these terms; however, I found myself taken out of the text by having to research the term and make sure I was able to understand the correct sense in which the term was being used. Examples of this include “hartal” (loc 140), “kampong” (loc 183), and “brylcreemed” (loc 201). Later on in the book, the author does incorporate definitions. In the chapter entitled “Cinemas in the 50’s,” the narrator describes his local cinema and mentions that “kuachi (sunflower seeds)” are a customary snack to take to the movies (loc 2845). This parenthetical statement neatly resolves the issue of the reader being able to comprehend terms.

Times of Malaya receives 2 out of 4 stars from me. There were a lot of editing errors in this book that added to the confusion described above; however, despite the lack of storyline and confusing language, I believe that this book serves as a comprehensive and impressive history of a very important time and place in history. To the potential reader of this book, I would recommend reading it as a history rather than as historical fiction. If you are an avid reader of history, interested in Asian culture, or are just looking to learn about something new, this book is for you. If you are anticipating a work of historical fiction on this fascinating topic, I do not recommend this book as it is very dense at times.

******
Times of Malaya
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[kandscreeley]

It definitely sounds like this one could use a bit of editing. Even if it was well-written, historical fiction isn't really something I enjoy; it has to be a really special story line. I'll pass. Thanks.

[rumik]

Wow, doesn't seem like I'll enjoy this one. Seems like more of a history textbook than a historical fiction book. I do enjoy both historical fiction and also history as a subject, but this looks like something wedged in between that I doubt I'd enjoy. Thanks for the review!

[LinaMueller]

Times of Malaya doesn't seem impressive at all. Your review is great, anyway. Well done, OliviaLouise