A review by misspalah
Corridor: 12 Short Stories by Alfian Sa'at

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Jakarta is a big city, the traffic is bad, people are just honking everywhere, dashing across roads. The hotel I stayed at sent us newspapers every morning which I tried to read, but I realised that the Malay and Indonesian languages have some words in common and many words not in common, so I gave up after a while and watched TV. It was strange to see the programmes we got at home which were usually snowy suddenly look so clear. At home we could get some Indonesian channels, but they always looked like there was a swarm of ants on the inside of the screen, crawling all over but not disturbing the studio host, the newscaster with the big earrings, or the soap opera star with the giant hair bun.
  • Corridor : 12 short stories by Alfian Saat
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Majority of stories ended abruptly just when you started to make sense of it. I guess that is the risk of reading an anthology - you never know how it ends or how much it will revealed. I felt somewhat connected, called out even over how much i can understand the loneliness and desolation of some of the main characters in the story ; The one that was hustled but never got compensated for it, the one that was abused but never got over their trauma, the one that trying to escape their own misery but never did and the one that endlessly chasing the dream only to realise it’s not what it seems. The stories captured what its like to be a middle class Singaporeans at least that’s what i have gotten while reading it. Majority of the stories possessed this unsettling vibe and i do believe it is the intention of the author. Overall, i would say this is a decent collection of short stories. The one that stood out to me is ‘Corridor’, ‘Project’, ‘Pillow’ and ‘Video’. The rest not so much as it has its moments but it’s forgettable for the most part.