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lucymt92's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
moh's review against another edition
4.0
My attention span tends not to mesh well with short stories, but this collection of tales about Malaysian ghosts and other dead things interacting with modern day humans in creepy, funny, and often unexpectedly moving ways really hit the spot. There's also a dragon, lots of spirits, a demon, and some queer folks. Good stuff.
lilcoppertop's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
sweetstar229's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
I'm starting this review off by saying that I loved this enough that I might get a physical edition.
At first, I picked up Spirits Abroad to learn more about local Malaysian folklore. My family, while still traditional in certain aspects, is very modern so I grew up largely on Disney and Barbie. And I did end up learning some stuff like the orang bunian, orang minyak and nüguo, which I'd never heard of prior to reading this.
Overall, I found the stories at their core to be pretty relatable and there were several times when I finally got to be like, "Ha! I understood that reference." The Manglish-written narrative felt familiar and comfortable to me, though I imagine someone who isn't familiar with our infamous Bahasa Rojak might struggle to get through the broken English without having to pull up Google Translate every now and then. The stories themselves were unique and each was fun to read. Not a single dud. I really liked how Zen Cho incorporated Malaysian culture and common beliefs into her stories, how she describes the Malaysian landscape and people. It's a wonderfully fantastical introduction to Malaysia.
The stories are predominantly Malaysian Chinese, which makes sense since the author is herself. But it also tracks because in my experience, they are typically more spiritually-inclined so it makes sense that the spirits are more inclined to hang around them too. I would know. Even so, I would have liked to see more of other cultures' folklore, maybe including some more indigenous stories (though I understand why Cho didn't — you shouldn't write about cultures that you don't have a firm grasp of understanding in).
Sidebar for the foreigners: Certain words like 'lor' and 'lah' don't have definitive meanings. They're just added sounds to accentuate the sentence and convey emotion.
Despite being centred around folklore and the supernatural, this book was quintessentially Malaysian, and it's all the better for it.
At first, I picked up Spirits Abroad to learn more about local Malaysian folklore. My family, while still traditional in certain aspects, is very modern so I grew up largely on Disney and Barbie. And I did end up learning some stuff like the orang bunian, orang minyak and nüguo, which I'd never heard of prior to reading this.
Overall, I found the stories at their core to be pretty relatable and there were several times when I finally got to be like, "Ha! I understood that reference." The Manglish-written narrative felt familiar and comfortable to me, though I imagine someone who isn't familiar with our infamous Bahasa Rojak might struggle to get through the broken English without having to pull up Google Translate every now and then. The stories themselves were unique and each was fun to read. Not a single dud. I really liked how Zen Cho incorporated Malaysian culture and common beliefs into her stories, how she describes the Malaysian landscape and people. It's a wonderfully fantastical introduction to Malaysia.
The stories are predominantly Malaysian Chinese, which makes sense since the author is herself. But it also tracks because in my experience, they are typically more spiritually-inclined so it makes sense that the spirits are more inclined to hang around them too. I would know. Even so, I would have liked to see more of other cultures' folklore, maybe including some more indigenous stories (though I understand why Cho didn't — you shouldn't write about cultures that you don't have a firm grasp of understanding in).
Sidebar for the foreigners: Certain words like 'lor' and 'lah' don't have definitive meanings. They're just added sounds to accentuate the sentence and convey emotion.
Despite being centred around folklore and the supernatural, this book was quintessentially Malaysian, and it's all the better for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Sexism
aldora's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
An enjoyable collection overall. As expected some stories I liked a lot, and others I thought were only okay.
My favourite overall were:
1- 'If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again'
2- 'The Fish Bowl'
3- 'Liyana'
Had a few favourite quotes, mostly from the second and third stories:
- "But there was nothing to be proud of in being different. There was nothing special about being lonely."
- "Finally her mind was giving way. It was not as frightening as she'd thought it would be."
- "It was funny. She could remember the fact of being happy. She knew intellectually that life had once been easy, that she had once known she could do things. But she longer knew how that felt. Now she lived on the edge of a volcano. Everything seemed fine aboveground, but panic slumbered underneath. At any time things could go horribly wrong."
(Should I be worried that all my favourite parts were when it got kind of sad...?)
My favourite overall were:
1- 'If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again'
2- 'The Fish Bowl'
3- 'Liyana'
Had a few favourite quotes, mostly from the second and third stories:
- "But there was nothing to be proud of in being different. There was nothing special about being lonely."
- "Finally her mind was giving way. It was not as frightening as she'd thought it would be."
- "It was funny. She could remember the fact of being happy. She knew intellectually that life had once been easy, that she had once known she could do things. But she longer knew how that felt. Now she lived on the edge of a volcano. Everything seemed fine aboveground, but panic slumbered underneath. At any time things could go horribly wrong."
(Should I be worried that all my favourite parts were when it got kind of sad...?)