Wynnie - Singapore, Singapore (62 books)

Wynnie gave

to:

A Daughter Remembers
by Li Lien-Fung

My rating:

I am usually not a big fan of biographies or autobiographies. But there is one very special book from the biographical genre that deserves to be mentioned.

Her memories of her parent's complex relationship and her childhood experiences anchors A Dau...moreI am usually not a big fan of biographies or autobiographies. But there is one very special book from the biographical genre that deserves to be mentioned.

Her memories of her parent's complex relationship and her childhood experiences anchors A Daughter Remembers by Li Lien-Fung. Like numerous tales of separation, loss and love rekindled in the tumultuous war years, Li Lien-Fung's childhood experience and in fact also the direction that her future was to take were influenced by the war that left an indelible mark in Asia.

I was specially intrigued by the fact that Li Lien-Fung is the mother of Minfong Ho - one of my favourite authors who writes with sensitivity and clarity. So expecting to hear from both Li Lien-Fung and Minfong Ho in person about their careers as writers at the Singapore Writers Festival 2011, I began reading the A Daughter Remembers in time for their panel discussion.

Li Lien-Fung's own story is amazing. As a young Asian woman, she graduated from Mills College and continued post-graduate education in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1940s. While at MIT, she realised that although she did not struggle with the course material, her passion was in Literature. So she made the switch from studying Chemistry at MIT to pursuing a Masters in Literature at Cornell.

Although Li Lien-Fung does refer to her romantic interest and subsequent life partner, A Daughter Remembers expounds more about the very layered and even sometimes exasperating relationship between her parents. Her father left China for America to work and sent money home twice to send for her mother. Each time however, it was vetoed that the money should be used to send her uncles to America and not her mother. By then, some irrevocable decisions were made that would forever alter their destinies.

I was in for a shock when I found this printed at the end of the page:

[Publisher's note: Li Lien-Fung passed away just before the book went to press.]

How then, would the launch of this book continue at the Singapore Writers Festival? Apparently it did go on and was presented by the children of Li Lien-Fung including Minfong Ho. Unlike all other literary panels at the Singapore Writers Festival, this event was attended by an overwhelming number of friends and family of Li Lien-Fung. She was after all married to a Singaporean and was very active in the arts and literary scene in Singapore.

Because Li Lien-Fung passed away just a few months before the Singapore Writers Festival, her absence was still very dearly felt among her family. Minfong Ho surmised at the start of the panel, "mother, where the heck are you?"

Her sons, Ho Kwon Cjan and Ho Kwon Ping and wife, Claire Chang, their children, Minfong Ho and her daughter tearily read from a passage each from A Daughter Remembers in remembrance of her. They also spoke of Li Lien-Fung's love for literature, her tenacity and her own struggles in expressing in the book something so private and still painful to her. It was hard to maintain composure.

Given the circumstances, I believe that Li Lien-Fung's family did not have to go through with her book launch, but they did anyway, and chose to share this very vulnerably raw moment with us.(less)

Wynnie gave

to:

First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
by Loung Ung

My rating:

The first hand account is the closest point of view of the harrowing turn of events that can ever be offered. Told unflinchingly by a survivor, the account is truthful and yet does not glamourise the horrors of the killing fields. Historical accounts...more

Wynnie gave

to:

Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro

read in October, 2011

My rating:

It has been a while since I've come across a horrendously written book. In praise of it, The Times says in its preface that "This is a fine novel, fiction as moving and horrific as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or John Wyndham's The Chrysalid...more

Wynnie is now following Neil's reviews

Wynnie gave

to:

A Long Way Gone
by Ishmael Beah

read in July, 2011

My rating:

A Long Way Gone is a sincere and honest recount of Ishmael's unfortunate encounter with war and recruitment as a child soldier.

It does not glamorise the atrocities of war nor does it wax lyrical with maudlinness. His perspective describes how the ...more

Wynnie gave

to:

Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe

read in May, 2011

My rating:

I managed to read this text over one weekend in preparation of a course I took recently. It is a very readable book that uses a very personable and authentic tone as well as choice of imagery that makes the 3rd person narrative closely identifiable w...more

Wynnie gave

to:

Ten Poems to Set You Free
by Roger Housden (Goodreads Author)

read in February, 2011

My rating:

Each of the ten poems are accompanied by the editor's reflections with the purpose of explaining how the poems espouse agency.

Out of the ten poems, what I liked most are Lake and Maple (by Jane Hirshfield), Throw Yourself Like Seed (by Miguel de Una...more

Wynnie gave

to:

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by Ana Sampson

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud: ...And Other Poems You Half-Remember from School
by Ana Sampson

My rating:

The organisation of this collection of chronological. This book introduces the Who's Who of the canonical poets in the Western World with a brief and very candidly written introduction to each poet. For example, of William Blake, it is noted that he ...more

Wynnie gave

to:

19th & 20th Century Women Poets
by Elizabeth Gurr

My rating:

This is a gem of a book that I picked up at a Literature Conference. The featured women poets are Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Jennings, Carol Ann Duffy and Eavan Boland. The distinctive feature of this collection are the a...more

Wynnie gave

to:

Hand in Hand
by Carol Ann Duffy

My rating:

Love poems they might be, they are not saturnine sweet nor about red red roses. This anthology constitutes the works by 36 poets, half of which are men and the other are women and a poem of their choice written by another poet of the opposite gender....more

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Wynnie gave to: A Daughter Remembers by Li Lien-Fung	My rating:
I am usually not a big fan of biographies or autobiographies. But there is one very special book from the biographical genre that deserves to be mentioned. Her memories of her parent's complex relationship and her childhood experiences anchors A Dau...more
Jan 28, 2012 04:09am · see review
Wynnie gave to: First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung	My rating:
The first hand account is the closest point of view of the harrowing turn of events that can ever be offered. Told unflinchingly by a survivor, the account is truthful and yet does not glamourise the horrors of the killing fields. Historical accounts...more
Jan 28, 2012 03:42am · see review
Wynnie gave to: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro read in October, 2011	My rating:
It has been a while since I've come across a horrendously written book. In praise of it, The Times says in its preface that "This is a fine novel, fiction as moving and horrific as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or John Wyndham's The Chrysalid...more
Oct 27, 2011 06:48am · see review
Wynnie is now following Neil's reviews
Sep 29, 2011 05:40pm
Wynnie gave to: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah read in July, 2011	My rating:
A Long Way Gone is a sincere and honest recount of Ishmael's unfortunate encounter with war and recruitment as a child soldier. It does not glamorise the atrocities of war nor does it wax lyrical with maudlinness. His perspective describes how the ...more
Jul 30, 2011 07:47pm · see review
Wynnie gave to: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe read in May, 2011	My rating:
I managed to read this text over one weekend in preparation of a course I took recently. It is a very readable book that uses a very personable and authentic tone as well as choice of imagery that makes the 3rd person narrative closely identifiable w...more
Jun 01, 2011 06:35pm · see review
Wynnie gave to: Ten Poems to Set You Free by Roger Housden (Goodreads Author) read in February, 2011	My rating:
Each of the ten poems are accompanied by the editor's reflections with the purpose of explaining how the poems espouse agency. Out of the ten poems, what I liked most are Lake and Maple (by Jane Hirshfield), Throw Yourself Like Seed (by Miguel de Una...more
Feb 05, 2011 06:39pm · see review
Wynnie gave to: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud: ...And Other Poems You Half-Remember from School by Ana Sampson	My rating:
The organisation of this collection of chronological. This book introduces the Who's Who of the canonical poets in the Western World with a brief and very candidly written introduction to each poet. For example, of William Blake, it is noted that he ...more
Dec 20, 2010 12:11am · see review
Wynnie gave to: 19th & 20th Century Women Poets by Elizabeth Gurr	My rating:
This is a gem of a book that I picked up at a Literature Conference. The featured women poets are Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Jennings, Carol Ann Duffy and Eavan Boland. The distinctive feature of this collection are the a...more
Dec 19, 2010 11:46pm · see review
Wynnie gave to: Hand in Hand by Carol Ann Duffy	My rating:
Love poems they might be, they are not saturnine sweet nor about red red roses. This anthology constitutes the works by 36 poets, half of which are men and the other are women and a poem of their choice written by another poet of the opposite gender....more
Dec 19, 2010 11:36pm · see review

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