A young estate worker's baptism of fire
Aidila RazakPublished: Jan 2, 2013 3:13 AM | Updated: Jan 2, 2013 3:29 AM
BOOK REVIEW Meet Desa, unionist, rebel rouser, freedom fighter, lover.
As the first pages of Dave Anthony's historical fiction Love and Struggle: Beyond the rubber estates unfolds, Desa is rallying his ‘troops’.
BOOK REVIEW Meet Desa, unionist, rebel rouser, freedom fighter, lover.
As the first pages of Dave Anthony's historical fiction Love and Struggle: Beyond the rubber estates unfolds, Desa is rallying his ‘troops’.
In pre-independence Malaya, Desa is the leader of a group of young estate workers. He has convinced them to picket for higher pay. Little did he expect that it will all end in bloodshed.
This is the young man’s baptism of fire - and will be the incident that will tie them to this land.
Spanning a decade from 1937 to 1948, Love and Struggle would see Desa and friends change from migrant workers who left India for the promise of greener pastures to militants fighting for a land which may or may not even call them her own.
Meticulously researched, Anthony provides the minutest details - two pages are dedicated to listing down the price of necessities like rice and cooking oil at the time - and amateur historians and curious readers would be equally enthralled.
Through Desa’s wife Janaki - whose separation from the protagonist and subsequent search would drive the story - readers also get a taste of the conflicts of loyalty which must have plagued the migrant workers then.
Not knowing where her husband is, Desa’s wife Janaki joins the Indian National Army, but only to serve what is later revealed as a puppet regiment in cahoots with the Japanese troops. She believes she is on the right side of the war, but does not know that not so far away, her husband is enslaved by her allies to build the death railway.
The novel is jam-packed with historical details, tracing the struggles of the estate workers and the pre-independence leftist movement - a part of Malaysian history very rarely dealt with in fiction. This is where the novel’s ultimate value lies.
But those looking for a great narrative may be left disappointed.
Where he is scrupulous in research, the author - a magazine editor and founder of a production house - lets down in sloppy writing, or perhaps editing.
The book is split into bite-sized chapter which make it easier to follow the story. Sadly, however, as the reader progresses in the book it becomes more and more apparent that the chapters were written in absolute isolation from the other.
The same stories or anecdotes already used in a chapter is repeared almost verbatim in a few chapters after, for example.
Bogged down with historical details
The writing also falls short of the grand title. We are told that Janaki and Desa are longing for each other, but we do not feel it because we are bogged down with so many other historical details.
And in between historical descriptions, which at times feel like they would fit nicely in a textook, the reader is surprised with a fervently emotive scene. Sandwiched between stiff dialogue, the effect is jarring.
Non-committed readers may find themselves quitting midway - a shame, as the story of the Indian community in pre-Independent Malaya is one so rarely told.
As the first pages of Dave Anthony's historical fiction Love and Struggle: Beyond the rubber estates unfolds, Desa is rallying his ‘troops’.
In pre-independence Malaya, Desa is the leader of a group of young estate workers. He has convinced them to picket for higher pay. Little did he expect that it will all end in bloodshed.This is the young man’s baptism of fire - and will be the incident that will tie them to this land.
Spanning a decade from 1937 to 1948, Love and Struggle would see Desa and friends change from migrant workers who left India for the promise of greener pastures to militants fighting for a land which may or may not even call them her own.
Meticulously researched, Anthony provides the minutest details - two pages are dedicated to listing down the price of necessities like rice and cooking oil at the time - and amateur historians and curious readers would be equally enthralled.
Through Desa’s wife Janaki - whose separation from the protagonist and subsequent search would drive the story - readers also get a taste of the conflicts of loyalty which must have plagued the migrant workers then.
Not knowing where her husband is, Desa’s wife Janaki joins the Indian National Army, but only to serve what is later revealed as a puppet regiment in cahoots with the Japanese troops. She believes she is on the right side of the war, but does not know that not so far away, her husband is enslaved by her allies to build the death railway.
The novel is jam-packed with historical details, tracing the struggles of the estate workers and the pre-independence leftist movement - a part of Malaysian history very rarely dealt with in fiction. This is where the novel’s ultimate value lies.
But those looking for a great narrative may be left disappointed.
Where he is scrupulous in research, the author - a magazine editor and founder of a production house - lets down in sloppy writing, or perhaps editing.
The book is split into bite-sized chapter which make it easier to follow the story. Sadly, however, as the reader progresses in the book it becomes more and more apparent that the chapters were written in absolute isolation from the other.
The same stories or anecdotes already used in a chapter is repeared almost verbatim in a few chapters after, for example.
Bogged down with historical details
The writing also falls short of the grand title. We are told that Janaki and Desa are longing for each other, but we do not feel it because we are bogged down with so many other historical details.
And in between historical descriptions, which at times feel like they would fit nicely in a textook, the reader is surprised with a fervently emotive scene. Sandwiched between stiff dialogue, the effect is jarring.
Non-committed readers may find themselves quitting midway - a shame, as the story of the Indian community in pre-Independent Malaya is one so rarely told.
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