Tom tom cho

Stuck in the middle of unenthralling "The Slap", I reached up to the pile of books above my head and started reading Tom Cho's short stories. Man, so funny! Some of the stories draw upon his life as an Asian Australian: sweet and sour pork recipes passed down from generation to generation, an aunt who likes to point out how similar "this house is mine" and "do i smell burning" look in cantonese -and other bits from his life as a geek: dungeons and dragons, 80s movies. I read this within a couple of days, often sitting up in bed by myself and giggling.. if not sitting in a crowded university cafeteria doing the same thing.

The brilliance of Tom Cho, I think, is not just that he's funny - but that some of his derivatives quite complex and intelligent. The majority of these stories touch on a real emotion, a real problem or dilemma, and only use comedy to belie the absurdity inherent in life, or as something to ease the tension. I wonder how he goes about writing these stories - does he base the story around the serious bit? or does he insert serious bits into a comedy sketch? or is this all just Tom Cho winging it? Given that he has just finished his PhD, I must assume that he really thinks out these pieces and it pays off.

Having finished Look Who's Morphing, i had to return to the Slap. I have never been so tempted not to bother finishing a book... it is a hard slog. I'm not saying it's not good. I can understand that some of it demonstrates acute observations into Australian middle-class culture - but some of it just seems too contrived and yet too shallow. He produces characters who live, breathe, speak like someone you know well - and yet this character is empty and it doesn't quite make sense... as if he has noticed how a person acts but doesn't understanding why they act that way - drawing instead on an amalgamated understanding. Is it really the case that everyone cheats on their wives so determinedly? Is a woman who breastfeeds her child for a long time really the sort of person who will be so vindictive when it comes to a cousin of her friend? Is it necessary to begin each sexual encounter with "she cupped his balls" - frankly I much prefer to hear about Tom Cho "having the hottest sex you can imagine".

So there you go, who'd have thought one could compare these books in a meaningful fashion? Looks like I found a way!