Welcome to Litsy!

We, the Survivors is my first selection from the #ShelterBoxBookClub .

This book moves slowly, almost limping along in some parts, echoing the stilted walk of the main character. Immediately in the story we learn that Ah Hock has killed someone. Why and how?

I‘ve learned a lot about life in Malaysia and about migrant workers and refugees. Who are the real survivors in this book?

Even though its pace is slow I really enjoyed this book.

The tagged book is my first selection from the #ShelterBoxBookClub. This bookmark spells out the aims of the club. Fantastic!

I love that I‘ll be helping people in need through ShelterBox, as well as encountering books and ideas that are new to me.

I know that @mackelie is a fellow member. Anyone else?

Here is the club‘s website in case you‘re interested:
www.Shelterbox.org/book-club

Catching a moment‘s peace yesterday afternoon with We, the Survivors. 😻

I didn‘t know much about this book as I have received it through the Shelterbox Book Club but I‘m glad that I have read it.

I have enjoyed the way the story was told. Learning more and more about the main character as well as what led to that infamous night.

Delighted to find the Muswell Hill Bookshop open again. Not a proper haul, really - I am still trying to get match-fit after lockdown - but at least it‘s a start. #tashaw #wethesurvivors #thefamiliars #staceyhalls #muswellhillbookshop #n10 #muswellhill fiction #book #books #bookshop #muswellhillbillies #bookish #independentbookshop #buyinglocal #bookphotography #booksbooksbooks #bookcommunity #catsandbooks #booksandcats

Gripping fictitious memoir. Tash Aw us the voice of the fast changing Southeast Asia that leaves many behind and shows us that many issues are global.

This is primarily a book about racism/immigration, the MC is Chinese-Malaysian, and how his community views Bangladeshi/Myanmar immigrants. It also touches on how climate change is affecting this part of the world. The plot revolves around how the MC came to kill a man, told through interviews to a reporter who takes interest in his life. A lot to chew on here, in particular I was taken away by the first chapter alone, a great start to a book.

Lots of thought-provoking discussion at the International Showcase event hosted by Aislinn Hunter. Chigozie Obioma called writing “a mysterious formation.” Joanne Ramos spoke of immigrant workers with children in another country feeling like they are “straddling worlds.” Tash Aw said, “The Asian Dream is the American Dream on steroids.” (Materialism, neoliberalism, the belief that if you are poor, you deserve it.) #VWF2019

I‘m flying to Vancouver tomorrow with a fistful of tickets for the Writers Festival. Tash Aw is one of many authors I‘m looking forward to seeing. 🤓
Will any other Littens be attending?

Social injustice, class & racial stratification, discriminatory treatment of undocumented migrant labourers in Malaysia: these are the weighty topics of this compelling, humane novel. Told in a circular, conversational style, a privileged lesbian journalist interviews an ex-convict about his life. How much choice do the underdogs of society have, when all they want is to live a good life? Devastating & insightful #audiobook read by Jamie Zubairi.

Sometimes your brain doesn‘t recognise danger or risk until much later — days, weeks, years — and it‘s only then that the event feels scary, because the passing of time has made it seem that you had a choice.
(Internet photo)

First line...
October 2nd
You want me to talk about life, but all I‘ve talked about is failure, as if they‘re the same thing, or at least so closely entwined that I can‘t separate the two – like the trees you see growing in the half-ruined buildings in the Old Town.