Book Reviews

Short Stories Collected

Pamela Mordecai (Author)
Pink Icing. Insomniac Press
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Sharon English (Author)
Zero Gravity. Porcupine's Quill
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Kwai-Yun Li (Author)
The Palm Leaf Fan and other stories. TSAR Publications
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Reviewed by Alexis Kienlen

Pamela Mordecai’s collection of stories, Pink Icing, transports the reader to a Jamaica populated by a wide array of characters. One of the main strengths of this collection is Mordecai’s mastery of the English language and her ability to transmit the rhythms and characters of the island. Mordecai is an expert at describing subtle or overt nuances of island life.

This is a collection that should probably be read out loud, so the cadence of the language is allowed to shine through. This is apparent in this selection from the story “Corinthians Thirteen Thirteen,” in which a young girl and the women of a temple are affected by a homeless man who keeps drinking from their water pipe.

Is on a Saturday that she first see the man drinking at the standpipe—the dirtiest man she ever see in her whole entire life!

He stand up side of the pipe, rocking back as though he is slightly drunk. When he see her, he immediately start struggling to take off his hat. It take him some time for he don’t seem able to use his hands properly. Once he manage to fiddle the hat off, the straight hair flop out and lie like a string of small dead lizards down his back, for it is all twisted up and greasy. No question though, that it is straight hair, so she know she is looking at a dirty white man.

People of various ethnicities and ages interact, sometimes in ways which result in friction and conflict. It’s as if the reader is taking a walk down a street, and is given the chance to learn the stories of its inhabitants. Mordecai’s lush descriptions add to the visual tableau in the reader’s mind, and help create a portrait of Jamaican life and culture.

Kwai-Yun Li’s The Palm Leaf and Other Stories¬ explores the lives of Hakka Chinese living in Calcutta during the 1950s and 60s. This collection of linked stories reveals the intricacies of a minority culture living overseas. To my knowledge, no one has written about this particular group before, and the result is a fascinating collection, which explores what the Chinese have done to fit into a larger Hindu society. The feelings associated with multiculturalism and life in a cultural diaspora are explored.

These stories have a great deal of heart; they explore family relationships and how the Chinese have adapted their lives in Calcutta. Traditions and beliefs from China make an impact in the Indian milieu. In return, the characters inhabit Chinatown, but are thoroughly affected by the Indian environment and customs, and the cultures blend into each other. The voice in these stories is mainly a child’s, and the reader learns with the child, through her experiences. The heart, wonder, and descriptive nature of these narratives make this collection both entertaining and informative. In one particular story, the narrator watches as her classmate, who doesn’t care to do well in school, pins her hopes on getting married. In another, the characters celebrate Chinese New Year with the dragon dance. The cultural flavour and nuances are what make this collection so compelling. A small history lesson at the end of the book helps put the stories into context.

Sharon English’s collection, Zero Gravity, brings us back to the more familiar Canadian landscape. Many of the stories take place in a Vancouver recognizable by its geography. However, English’s stories deal more with the inner workings of marginalized people. In one particular story, a man begins to disappear as his sexual appetite and aggressive nature take over his being. In “Devotion,” Emily struggles to cope with her dog’s death, as she slips further and further away from her relationship with her partner. Some of these stories deal with the fantastic; others embrace small, realistic scenes of what seem to be everyday life. In “This Side of Thirty,” a character falls in love with an old family friend, and then struggles as she must reveal her feelings to him. The tension is so expertly managed that it seems like a true story being shared by a friend.

The stories in this collection work because of their careful attention to the strange details that make us different, that make us human. The tales deal mainly with internal struggles and landscapes, and reactions to other characters as they appear. They are rich with finely woven imagery, which makes this collection a true delight: both engaging and arresting.

This review originally appeared in Canadian Literature #194 (Autumn 2007), Visual/Textual Intersections. (pg. 151 - 152)

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