This End of the Rainbow

This is the first English novel by the notorious Adibah Amin.

The story basically was about a group of student at University of Malaya in Singapore in 1950's. The protagonist in this book took the name of Ayu, a gentle Malay girl who drop medicine study to be a writer.

I was lost a bit when I read the first few pages but then it started to flow. It started out when she was ragged at the university by Han, the Cynic. Already it touched on the sensitive subjects of racism.

And yep, you was right. The main theme that link all these different circumstances in this book is race relations, reflecting the general state of the Malayan at that period in time.

The tension that growing between the races concerns Ayu. This makes her explore variety of situatioins involving her characters that will brought you flashback after flashbacks; remembering conversation among childhood friends, the loss of her father and her friends when Japanese invaded Malaya, her mother's fight for independence, her hatred towards the British, etc, including Han's family history. Adibah Amin brought you to and fro to the future seamlessly which is a great thing otherwise it could be rather confusing.

The situations and questions being posed is recognizable and all too familiar in today Malaysian societies. The only difference is the issues are not presented as frankly and as unbiased as it did back then.

All the characters (and they are many of them) are very believable. This probably because many are based on real people known to Adibah. For example Ayu's mother is obviously inspired by the authur's own mother, the Umno freedom-fighter, Ibu Zain.

Han in my opinion is the most memorable character in this book. Han's family were murdered by the Malays during communist terror. It was because of misunderstanding between these two races. The Malays saw Chinese as one of the communist while the Chinese saw the Malays as 'pak turut' communist. It took sometimes for him to realize the pain truth. He who was expelled for the ragging incident form a multi-racial political society to ease racial tension. He tried to coaxed Ayu to joined the group but Ayu refused for her own reasons.

There was also Rizal, who Ayu claimed remains as good friend. I can surely sense the romance between these two.

The most touching part on this book for me when Adibah narrated the fight that Dato' Onn and the other independence figure fought for Independence. Almost brought tears to my eyes.

It is the same fresh, simple and direct style as her writing through her column As I Was Passing in the NST. This book is an easy read, and it is also eye-opening, especially if you are not familiar with Malaysia’s pre-independence days and the social unrest of the 1950s. I am not ashamed to admit that I was pretty shocked myself to learn what had happened during that period. This is the kind of ignorance that Adibah wants to educate in this book of hers.

Bleak House

Another of Charles Dickens masterpiece. It is long, tightly plotted and wonderfully descriptive, typical of Dicken's work. It starts a little slow for me but as I turns the pages, I get hooked.

It takes a look at the legal system in London which destroys the innocents, deprive them from their talents and consumes their minds. It also portrays the different conditions and social status of the Londoners. Most of the story came from a narrative written by the Esther Summersons, the protagonist in this contemporary novel by Dickens.

All the characters in this book are affected by the Jarndyce & Jarndyce legal suit in which there will be no winner and bring much desperations and heartache. The impeccable character that connected them together was Esther, the virtuous girl who was taken as a ward by Mr. John Jarndyce, and is beloved by everyone.

I must admit though that I was reluctant at the beginning to see Esther as the all around good girl as narrated by Dickens but the novel is so well-written that I came to believe her as she had been described.

Mr. John Jarndyce is a beneficial older gentleman who is also a guardian to his young cousins, Ada and Richard who fell in love with each other and eventually get married. All four of them, including Esther, reside at Bleak House. Richard soon fall victim of the Jarndyce & Jarndyve lawsuit and rejected any kindness or help from his guardian in his ignorance hope that a settlement from the lawsuit will award him with a fortune.

The attorneys are portray as bloodsucking evil leeches who only care about the money they can squeezed from their clients. One of the most devil-like lawyers, Mr. Tulkinghorn, was murdered and I actually rejoiced the death of that particular character not knowing the misery he brought upon the mysterious Lady Deadlock and the and tragedy that leaves the Deadlock household in ruins.

It is not all bleak though. There are also romantics plots that evolve around Esther and how she comes to be the mistress of Bleak House.

There are over sixty colorful and varied characters so you cannot anticipate who may you encounter at the next page. The best thing is, the story brings everything to full circle and not a character goes to waste. The most memorable characters in the book for me would be Esther the protagonist, Mr. Bucket the detective, George the trooper, Mr. Woodcourt the kind-hearted doctor, Richard and Ada the love birds, Jo the homeless kid and of course Mr. John Jarndyce of Bleak House.

Bleak House is a very entertaining book who have all the qualities of a great classic story. It is poignant, suspenseful, unforgettable and appearances to the contrary, is not bleak at all.

Definitely one not to be missed.