ISBN: 9789674603984
Year Published: 2016
Price: RM 25.00 / 30.00 (Sabah & Sarawak)
Category: Sastera, Sastera Kebangsaan (Bahasa Asing)
Song of September showcases twenty short stories encompassing varied subjects and characters. Whether malim portrays the common man, the marginal and the ostracised - the sailor, cobbler, the mentally deranged right up to the minister, king or a religious teacher, the inclination towards universal humanism is evident. Malim collages the pieces from the entire crevices of man’s livelihood whether they are professors or the district officer, the hobos and the lgbt community, the espouse the experiences as a reminder to the present generation, especially on issues that the hues in the corridor of history. Although several short stories in this collection are experimental in nature like “o” and “room x”, they are experiment in substance rather than structure. Malim is never an armchair writer. He romps the field to observe what he is looking for - stories that depict the cross section of life - the farmer, the vagabond, and the inexplicable love and relationship. As a result, malim travelled the corners of the world, and thus short stories like “I’m Here, Love”, “When It Rains In Bogor”, “At Suryadi’s Kantoor”, “Nyet” and “Song Of September” were penned. Malim also forays into the world of neurosis, seldom touched by other fiction writer, such as in “o” and “The Port”. Above all, short stories in this collection provide the window into Malim’s aesthetic strength in the realm of fiction.