Love and Vertigo

by Hsu-Ming Teo | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1865082783 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Soongsis2 on 7/18/2004
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9 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Soongsis2 on Sunday, July 18, 2004
The story looked promising, but I find the writing a wee bit histrionic, but I suppose it does provide a perspective on life in Singapore/Malaysia both during the colonial period and modern day...

Synopsis from book:
On the eve of her mother's wake, Grace Tay flies to Singapore to join her father and brother and her mother's family. Here she explores her family history, looking for answers to her mother's death. This beautiful and moving novel steps between Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, evoking the life, the traditions, and the tastes of a forceful Chinese family as well as the hardships, the cruelty and pain. Written in a fresh, contemporary voice tinged with biting humour, this is a story about resilience, a story about migration, but in many ways it is a story about parents' expectations for their children.

Hsu-Ming Teo was born in Malaysia in 1970 and immigrated with her family to Australia in 1977. She is a research fellow at the Department of Modern History, Macquarie University, and has taught courses on the history of travel and the history of love at Sydney University's Centre for Continuing Education. Her current project is a history of women's romance writing in the twentieth century.

Winner of The Australia/VOGEL Literary Award

Journal Entry 2 by Soongsis2 on Wednesday, August 4, 2004
Started a bookray. Details as follows:

1. goatgrrl - Canada read
2. Megi53 - US read
3. FutureCat - NZ read
--new--
4. jaenelle - US read
5. Hawkette - England read
--new--
6. Hellie - UK skipped: no response to PMs for address
7. duza-kaluza - Poland read
8. booklemur - US skipped: no response to PMs for address
--new--
9. Neuilly - US <-- it's here 22/08/05
release into the wild

Journal Entry 3 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Wednesday, September 1, 2004
This book was waiting for me when I got home from a business trip last night -- I'm really looking forward to reading it! I will have it read and forwarded to the next person on the list within 1 - 2 weeks. Thanks very much, Soongsis2 -- best wishes from British Columbia, Canada! (At left: me with Canadian suffragist Louise McKinney in Ottawa, August 2004.)

Journal Entry 4 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Monday, September 6, 2004
Love and Vertigo, published in 2000, is Australian writer Hsu-Ming Teo’s first novel. The book tells the story of Grace Tay, her brother Sonny, and her parents, Pandora and Jonah – born during the Japanese occupation of Malaysia in WWII. The novel spans the first decades of Sonny and Grace’s lives, from their births in Singapore, through their immigration to Sydney, Australia, until the death of Grace’s mother – when Grace is 26 -- brings the family back to Singapore for her wake.

This novel reminded me a lot of Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club in its depiction of Chinese patriarchal society from the point of view of a contemporary woman, viewing recent history through the experiences of her mother, aunts and grandmother. Teo brings to life the late 20th century experience of an Asian-Australian family in much the same way Tan has done in her stories of Asian-Americans. However I found the characters in Love and Vertigo annoyingly two-dimensional, and never felt I got to know them beyond the surface assessments of Grace’s somewhat judgmental, self-involved 20-something year old character. (This was particularly the case for Pandora and Jonah, whose extreme neuroses and serious unhappiness is never entirely explored, nor accounted for.) I have the sense that a significant amount of the detail in this book is autobiographical, which may account for the inability of the author – who is still in her early 30s -- to find a broader perspective on this family’s history.

On a more positive note, I liked the way Love and Vertigo was seeded with references to actual historical events (e.g. the jihad of Malay Muslims in May 1969 incited by the United Malay National Organization). And I loved the descriptions of food and eating (all those meals of noodles and barbecued duck, and the durian!). Those scenes helped bring the story alive.

Thanks very much, Soongsis2, for sharing this book – I doubt I would ever have encountered it if it weren’t for meeting you through BookCrossing, and I am very glad to have had the chance to read it.

Journal Entry 5 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Monday, September 6, 2004
I'll be sending Love and Vertigo off to Megi53 just as soon as I receive her address. Thanks!

Journal Entry 6 by Megi53 from Danville, Virginia USA on Sunday, September 12, 2004
Received in the mail yesterday. It looks like it will be a fast and enjoyable read. I plan to start reading it after I finish *The Tree of Man*, probably Tuesday or Wednesday.
(Sept. 14 or 15)

Journal Entry 7 by Megi53 from Danville, Virginia USA on Monday, October 4, 2004
Warning: possible spoilers.

The sadness in this story was almost unrelenting. It was well-written and gave the desired window onto another culture. But the few happy events, such as Pandora and her minister lover enjoying champagne at the beginning of their affair, were so short!

The accounts of all the sordid, wretched and violent events were so long. I really hate reading about child abuse and marital abuse in such detail and with such hopelesslness.

I felt so sorry for all the characters in the book, especially for Jonah Tay, who started his education with such promise and who ended up following his second-choice career and emigrating only to please a wife who did not love him. I felt awful for the way his children treated his mother when she visited Australia!

There were some scenes of total hilarity, such as the death of the Cod God and the "Scoobydoobydoooooo" scene at church!

The author gave an honest portrayal of Grace's choices when she embarked on her affair with the musician, took jobs cleaning houses (which she was still doing at age 26!) and moved in with her elderly father. I expected a pat happy ending, but *Love and Vertigo* was quite open-ended. It has stayed on my mind since I finished reading it.

Mailed to FutureCat on Saturday, October 2.

Journal Entry 8 by futurecat from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Thursday, October 7, 2004
Arrived safely in New Zealand today. Looking forward to reading it!

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Journal Entry 9 by futurecat from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Saturday, October 16, 2004
I enjoyed this book for the most part, despite it having so many unsympathetic characters (even the ones you were supposed to like seemed to have nasty streaks). I had a bit of trouble at first with the way it jumped back and forth through the generations, and I kept getting confused about who was who, but once I got into it, it was a really engrossing read. A really interesting trans-cultural exploration of family, love, and loyalty.

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Journal Entry 10 by Soongsis2 on Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Hi FutureCat, realised your PM option was "off" so can't send any PM to you. Wanted to alert you that we have new additions to this bookray after you:

1. jaenelle - US
2. Hawkette - OZ

Thanks!

ps: glad to hear that it was good reading for everyone.

Journal Entry 11 by futurecat from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Sunday, October 24, 2004
On its way to jaenelle.

Journal Entry 12 by jaenelle from Orlando, Florida USA on Monday, November 15, 2004
I forgot to journal this when I caught it several days ago; I started reading it yesterday and am about 100 pages in. It's very interesting so far and I'm looking forward to seeing how things go in the book!

Journal Entry 13 by Hawkette from Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Has arrived at my Australian address (I had thought it would make it before I left...), and is now in transit to me in the UK. Will be added to my TBR now though, so will be in the queue ready and waiting for me to get it in my possession (aren't mum's great!).
Looking forward to this one...

Journal Entry 14 by Hawkette from Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, May 12, 2005
A look at a Chinese family over several generations, and the cultural expectations passed down to each level. On top of that, the migration to Australia, and the treatment of children from different backgrounds - the cruetly....

A lot of the references to school age Australia takes me back to my primary school days - the lunch orders, Hey Hey It's Saturday...there were so many little memories in this book for me.

Sadly, I also remember that children who were different were treated poorly. The aftermath of the White Australia policy was all too apparent, and the adults' fear that Australia would be taken over by Asians was very much reflected in the way society in general treated people from ashore. A shameful time for us indeed. Although I am not naive enough to think it doesn't happen anymore, I just trust that it is much less that it was when I was growing up.

The dreadful treatment of women was also another powerful theme in this book.

I will be sending this one on as soon as I have an address. Thank you for sharing it around.

Journal Entry 15 by duza-kaluza from Santiago, Región Metropolitana Chile on Friday, June 10, 2005
Just got it. Looks interesting.

Journal Entry 16 by wingAnonymousFinderwing on Sunday, June 12, 2005
I can totally relate to this novel and finished it in one sitting. Written in such straight-forward manner that makes the story easily to grasp and understand. As a Singaporean myself, it makes me wonder about my parents' upbringing during the post-war period. Also it caused me to think of my own background and culture. I would strongly recommend this novel to women like me who sometimes feel trapped between the western and eastern worlds and cultural influences.

CAUGHT IN ZORY UPPER SILESIA POLAND

Journal Entry 17 by duza-kaluza from Santiago, Región Metropolitana Chile on Sunday, July 17, 2005
As I was finishing a bookring ahead of this one I lent Love and Vertigo to my friend who is just about to return to Singapore after many years living abroad. She's the one who wrote the anonymous journal entry.
Personally, I found this story to be quite depressing. Half way through I found the characters to be sad and pathetic people.
Practically every book I pick up these days is about immigration, I guess I need to take a break for awhile.
I've been trying to contact booklemur for a couple weeks now.

Journal Entry 18 by Neuilly from Brooklyn, New York USA on Monday, August 22, 2005
I just got this book in the mail today! (I'm sorry if it took a while - it seems my post office has been having some issues lately). I actually have some bookrings already here but I will get to this as soon as possible!

EDIT: My life has become a bit hectic lately with some personal stuff and the start of school so I will get to this when I get a chance but since I'm the end of the line I figure nobody will be upset if I don't get to it very quickly.

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