Angela Stretch reviews Parang by Omar Musa
Parang
by Omar Musa
Blast! Publishing, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-646-59463-7
Reviewed by ANGELA STRETCH
It takes time to have a heart, to suffer, to feel the weight of things. The heart is alive precisely through its capacity for fellow-feeling.
Like the posthumous soul in Malaysian thought, memory disperses as if it is no longer attached to something tangible. To keep the soul from disintegrating Omar Musa consistently evokes it, bringing it back into direct contact with the living world. In this second collection Musa negotiates the heart of Malay traditions and rituals comprising of family, people, objects and interactions.
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