Malaysia's Grub Street and Book Reviewers

I am almost a veteran of the field, despite my still relatively young years, at a time when you can live to more than 80, if you are neither accident prone nor disease-ridden. Almost. Maybe a young veteran, if such an oxymoron is acceptable. The field I refer to is book reviewing. Started when I was in my last year of my undergraduate days, which was sometime near the beginning of this century. Had been inconsistent in recent years. But I've attempted to earn a living as a freelance journalist/writer/reviewer (if such a vocation is possible). Basically, a freelance hack. Not to any great success, seeing the number of times I've crawled back to the parental fold, begging for some cash to tie me over for the next month, before I finally buckled down to a proper job 2 years back (plus a series of freelance/part-time work, not to mention that MA which I had so impulsively signed up for). Or perhaps the naive, infantile-like dependency that characterise my early twenties had been the cause of my failure in earning anything that is remotely a living?

Enough of intimate details.

I was reading the "New Grub Street" by George Gissing, which I finally completed (though I cheated a little in doing so, but will not reveal how here) at past 2 am on a Sat night, when other people are out socialising or getting pissed drunk. Maybe I am a masochistic, but I got myself through a really depressive read. Gissing isn't really a happy guy, in his novels at least. Try his "odd Women" if you don't believe me. In some ways, he reminds me of Orwell, in his "Clergymen's Daughter". I guess you know now that I haven't really been reading much in terms of modern fiction (Orwell is modern enough though), though I did start on Kerouac's "Desolation Angels". I am trying to squeeze in as much fiction reading as I can before my university library access expires come this Dec 30th. Would then take on a subscription with the BC Library I suppose. I've unpaid fines of over RM60 due to having returned two books pretty late, one of which was the remarked upon as the one by Orwell. And their collection has not tempted me enough to pay the fine and to resume my access. Another friend borrowed a book from them and I daresay, he's still keeping that book, not having bothered to return it, though it's been a year. And since KL Memorial Library has taken on some of BC's old books (and I love old books more than contemporary ones, where fiction is concerned, though I do read modern fiction and enjoy them), I'll also get myself a subscription there. But I better not forget that I will also have to start reading books which are neither in English, Malaysian Malay or Indonesian, beginning at the latest, Jan 2006. (:

Here, for your perusal, is an article by Orwell about his book reviewing days and his tips for young-wannabes (might be outdated, since newspapers and magazines have changed remarkably since his day. I know because I, a young-wannabe of unknown quantity, applied to review books for English and American pubs, and had failed miserably in that endeavour, save for one American webzine). But worth a read, as anything by Orwell is (call it blind worship by yours truly) and here is a more general article on the Grub Street. Read this if you have ever been a hack, or are now attempting to be a hack. Try Malaysian publications first. It's a lot easier and you don't need as much an impeccable command of the language (whatever the language you want to write in, except maybe French, German, Spanish, etc).

I didn't go out much this weekend, except to run errands and attend tap class. Meant to go for Yoga, but was too squeezed for time during the period when the classes are on, so did not in the end.

And my current addiction to novels are not help in my regaining any form of a healthy social life. But then, I've never been much of a socialiate. Not posh enough, it seems. (: