Tan Twan Eng was born in Penang, but lived in various places in Malaysia as a child. He studied law through the University of London, and later worked as an advocate and solicitor in one of Kuala Lumpur's most reputable law firms. He also has a first-dan ranking in akido and is a strong proponent for the conservation of heritage buildings. His first novel, The Gift of Rain, was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize and has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Czech and Serbian. The Garden of Evening Mists is his second novel. He has spent the last year travelling around South Africa, and lives in Cape Town where he is working on his second book,The Garden of Evening Mists.
First Book
THE
GIFT OF RAIN (Weinstein Books; May 6, 2008)
The Star, 25 February 2007 Review by SHARON
BAKARThis epic novel, told in evocative retrospect, begins when the now elderly Philip Hutton gets a surprise visit from Michiko Murakami, a Japanese woman who was once romantically linked to Hayato Endo, Philip's former mentor and sensei. Her arrival sparks complicated memories for Philip—some warm, some bitter—but he agrees to share his harrowing tale with her.The year is 1939. Philip is the youngest son of the owner of one of the dominant British trading companies in Penang, which dates back to the glory days of Victoria's empire.Unlike his brothers and sister, Philip is half-Chinese, the product of his father's second marriage. Since his mother's death, Philip has been a loner, merely tolerated by the British community and not fully accepted by his Chinese compatriots. He derives his greatest pleasure from furtive visits to the uninhabited island just off shore from his family's palatial home, and he is incensed when he learns that his father has rented the beloved retreat to a Japanese diplomat.
Hayato Endo is a Japanese consular officer who, like
Philip, craves the isolation that the island provides. When he meets the
sixteen-year-old, Endo takes an instant liking to the boy, inviting him to
visit the island whenever he wishes. He also begins to train Philip in the
martial art of aikido. Soon sensei and student become inseparable, with Philip
serving as Endo-san's personal guide to Penang and Kuala Lumpur. Others warn
young Philip that he should keep his distance from this Japanese man with a
mysterious past, reminding the boy of the atrocities that Endo-san's countrymen
have reportedly unleashed upon China. But totally enthralled with his new
friend and teacher, Philip brushes off their objections as racial prejudice.Visiting
a fortune teller with Endo-san, Philip is told, "You were born with the
gift of rain. Your life will be abundant with wealth and success. But life will
test you greatly. Remember—the rain also brings the flood." The woman's
prescience proves accurate when war begins and Philip comes to realize that his
friend, now the enemy of his country, has irreparably betrayed him. Endo-san is
indeed a spy, and Philip's innocence has made him complicit in the Japanese
invasion of his homeland. As Malaya's once idyllic way of life is crushed
beneath the oppression of war, so too is Philip's life forever changed.A native
of Penang, Tan deftly captures the singularity of the landscape and its people.
As someone passionately involved in the conservation of
heritage buildings, and THE GIFT OF RAIN serves as a paean to parts of Penang
that are fast disappearing or have already been lost forever: the historical
buildings, the colonial architecture, and the narrow streets of Georgetown.As
an expert practitioner of aikido, Tan also offers readers a deep understanding
of the discipline and nobility of the ancient art. He says: 'There were many
philosophical issues of the East I wanted to convey and discuss in THE GIFT OF
RAIN, but I did not want to impede the flow of the narrative. I used the
Japanese martial art of aikido as a vehicle to carry these philosophical
elements, because it embodies so many of these principles and viewpoints. At
the highest level of skill aikido becomes a mental and lifestyle discipline
rather than a martial art. By using brief scenes describing the practical
movements of aikido between the characters, I could let the reader see with
greater clarity what I wanted to express.'Throughout his lush narrative, Tan
weaves the details of overlapping histories—the last days of Imperial China,
the opening of Japan to the West, the colonial legacy of the British—imbuing
THE GIFT OF RAIN with a profound weight that anchors its highly personal story
in the mythic splendor of an elusive time and place. In the tradition of war-time
storytellers Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene, THE GIFT OF RAIN exhibits both
classic storytelling and an exciting new voice in fiction.
SECOND BOOK
The Garden of Evening Mists
On a mountain above the clouds, in the central highlands of
Malaya lived the man who had been the gardener of the Emperor of Japan.”
Teoh Yun Ling was seventeen years old when she first heard
about him, but a war would come, and a decade would pass before she travels up
to the Garden of Evening Mists to see him, in 1951. A survivor of a brutal
Japanese camp, she has spent the last few years helping to prosecute Japanese
war criminals. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, she asks the gardener,
Nakamura Aritomo, to create a memorial garden for her sister who died in the
camp. He refuses, but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice ‘until the
monsoon’ so she can design a garden herself.
Staying at the home of Magnus Pretorius, the owner of Majuba
Tea Estate and a veteran of the Boer War, Yun Ling begins working in the Garden
of Evening Mists. But outside in the surrounding jungles another war is raging.
The Malayan Emergency is entering its darkest days, the communist-terrorists
murdering planters and miners and their families, seeking to take over the
country by any means, while the Malayan nationalists are fighting for
independence from centuries of British colonial rule.
No comments:
Post a Comment