Island Song by Alan Chin -- Review

ISLAND SONG by Alan Chin

Publisher: Zumaya Publications, LLC (September 8, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1934841021
ISBN-13: 978-1934841020

Alan Chin’s Island Song is many things: exotic, spiritual, lyrical, and lovely. The author’s visual touch when he word-paints a scene in Hawaii is so lush as to almost overwhelm the senses. I have a soft spot for books that are beautifully written but which do more than entertain; they actually teach the reader something. Island Song does this. And does it in such a way that it’s unobtrusive, as when Song, the beautiful young Hawaiian, explains to Garrett the interconnectedness of all life.

The first chapter is one of the most evocative I have read for a long time. An old man chants a plea to the island gods, and as he does the young man with him sees something eerie and frightening, something that may not be there, and he feels brushed by an all-encompassing Power. The old man is called Grandfather by all, and is the spiritual leader of the island. The young man is Songoree, destined for and being trained to walk the same path Grandfather has taken, to take his place eventually. In the same way other faiths have waited for promised leaders, they are waiting the being called the Speaker. He is to be what St. Paul was to Christians. Who he is, where he may come from, whether he is young or old, no one knows. Grandfather just knows that he will come.

In the meantime, Garrett Davidson, a Californian who has never recovered emotionally from the AIDS-related death of Marc, his life-partner, is seeking a place where he can be alone with his grief and the depression that has led to chronic, severe pain in his head. His goal is to write about Marc and their life together. The story of Island Song is one of the physical, mental, and emotional recovery of this man, and his awakening to new love and spirituality. A large part of his recovery is the unexpected and unwanted love he comes to feel for the exuberantly innocent and alive Songoree, beloved by the islanders, and called Song. Never has a character had a more apt name, because his whole being is a song of existence.

However, the author is not one to let the reader rest peacefully on the flow of his prose. Several times, when least expected, something startling bursts to the surface: homophobia, which runs like an undercurrent beneath the story; a startling backstory trip to a San Francisco gay bathhouse; a stunning suicide; a violent bar fight. Chin’s facility with description is faultless, whether he is writing about the exquisite beauty to be found below the surface of the sea or relating the grit of life.

I also very much like the way Chin handled the scenes of making love. They were very well done; they were graphic without being gross; they came at the proper place in the story; and they were never thrown in just to be titillating. And best of all they were, truly, scenes of physical love in the fullest sense of the word.

Characterization is mixed. Garrett, Song, and Grandfather are as beautifully realized as figures in a Renaissance painting. You come to know them intimately and they are unforgettable. I wish the character of Audrey had been fleshed out a little bit more, and three of the characters—Owen, his lover Micah the rebellious preacher’s son, and Micah’s father the homophobic preacher—are close to being stereotypes. Owen and Micah, though likable, seem to always to be scampering holding hands. (They don’t, actually, but that’s the impression I was left with.)

The only real quibbles are more “quibs” than “quibbles,” things that personally put me off a tad. First was the style, which was present verb tense. I have never liked books written in the present tense, but because Island Song is so well done I was able to ignore the tense…until the first flashback. Because the flashbacks were also in present tense, I then became distractingly aware of the tense. The other issue more than likely bothered me because of the “I wouldn’t have written it that way” syndrome common to novelists who write reviews. The final two chapters, while pleasant, felt tacked on like an afterthought, and read more like the first two chapters of a sequel. (I hope there is one!) I felt that the last words in the book should have been the end of Chapter 30: “All things begin within the density of silence.” That is so profound and so in keeping with the general feeling of the story, it (to me) just seems more apt.

At the risk of repeating myself, Island Song is a wonderful debut novel. I have never left the Midwest, but with his artistry Alan Chin took my heart and mind to Hawaii. Island Song is very highly recommended.

Conversation with ALAN CHIN, author of Island Song, The Lonely War, Match Maker. I will post my review of Island Song separately.

RS: Hello, Alan. You’re the first of my conversations. How’s it feel to be in the vanguard? As you know, I just finished your book Island Song. Congratulations on a job well done! It is a fascinating story with interesting people (I always hate to say “characters”).

AC: Thanks Ruth, I’ve very pleased to have the opportunity to chat about myself and my work. I don’t know of any author that doesn’t love to talk about his/her books.

RS: I think it’s in our genes. What was the inspiration for Island Song: the spiritual aspect? Garrett’s loss of his life partner? The characters of Song or Grandfather? Hawaii itself? I can see so many possibilities for inspiration. I’d also like to know if you’re one of these organized authors who outline or whether the story unfolds as you write it.

AC: The flash of inspiration came from a true event in Arizona where a teenaged gay boy was beaten to death by four classmates who happened to be football jocks. They killed him solely because he was gay, and different. The jocks pleaded guilty and the judge let them off with 6 months of community service, saying that he, the judge, was impressed that all four boys were active members of the high school football team and that’s what this country needed more of. So four boys got away with murdering a gay kid simply because they were jocks. I was so outraged that I wanted to write about fighting back against gay bashers. That idea eventually grew into Island Song.

This story percolated in the back of my head for several months, and by the time I began to write, it had completely formed in my head. In fact, the first line I wrote appears in the bar fight scene, which happens almost at the end of the story.

RS: That answer took me totally by surprise!
The sense of spirituality (admirably presented without dogma) is very strong in Island Song, and your knowledge of Buddhism seems very personal. May I ask if you’re a Buddhist and if so, was it something you grew up with? If not, how did you learn enough about it to be so convincing?

AC: I was raised in the Church of Christ, but Christianity always played too many sour notes for my ears. Then in my late twenties, I began to explore Eastern religions, and eventually stumbled upon Zen Buddhism. For me, Zen held the clear, pure notes to the song of life that I’d been searching for. I’ve been a practicing Buddhist for over twenty years now. That sense of spirituality shows up in all my work. It’s impossible for me to suppress that part of myself when I write.

RS: It’s said that authors of fiction always, sometimes unconsciously, put parts of their own lives in their work. Is there anything in Island Song that’s inspired by your own life?

AC: There is so much of my life reflected in those pages. Each of the characters is built on part of my life and personality, but I would say that Garrett most closely reflects the sum of me, with his losing a long-time lover, hiding from an unkind world, reluctant to give up the past, new beginnings with someone remarkable, searching for spiritual depth. Yeah, you could say there is a little of me peeking though the characters.

RS: I read somewhere that Chin is not the surname you were born with, and that there is a rather romantic reason for the use of that name.

AC: Not sure how romantic it is. I met the man of my dreams, Herman Chin, back in 1994 and we began living together in ’95. Then in ’99, when we both retired from corporate life and began to travel the world, we both wanted to share the same family name, as a statement of our love and commitment to each other. Since my surname at the time was Hurlburt, the possibilities were either Alan Chin or Herman Hurlburt. Guess why I lost that argument?

We were the first male/male couple to be married in Marin County, California – the day after it became legal. I’m proud of that, not for being the first, but for being on the front line of the gay marriage movement. It’s clear gay rights are gaining momentum, and I believe now is the time for all gay, lesbian and gay-friendly people to push for equality on every front. Ok, I’ll step off my soapbox now…

RS: My best wishes for you and Herman and your life together. Mazel tov!
Another feeling I got while reading Island Song was that the author was head-over-heels in love with Hawaii. Have you always lived there?

AC: I’m pretty much head-over-heels in love with most every place I’ve ever visited. I love experiencing different cultures. Herman and I travel four to six months every year and have visited over forty countries in the last dozen years. I’ve vacationed in Hawaii several times, but never more than three weeks at any one stay. I adore the laidback Hawaiian culture and the islands are so picturesque.

RS: Do you have other books published or soon-to-be published? Perhaps a sequel to Island Song?

AC: I have a new novel, The Lonely War, released in September 2009 (Zumaya). It’s a historical, men-in-uniform romance. Most of the story takes place within a WWII Japanese prisoner of war camp on Singapore Island. The POW camp was real, and many of the events and situations in my novel are based on true camp life. And although the novel is historical, it makes a clear political statement about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, without being preachy.

I also have another novel, Match Maker (coming from Dreamspinner in September 2010). It’s the story of a gay tennis coach who teams up with a straight, teenaged tennis prodigy, and together they try to make the big-time on the pro tennis tour.

As for a sequel to Island Song, I’ve not planned one at this time. I do plan, however, to turn Island Song into a screenplay. I should start work on it in October and I hope to have the first draft done by Christmas.

Thank you, Ruth, for giving me the opportunity to talk about my writing. Your readers can find out more about me and my novels at http://alanchin.net, or at my writer’s blog, http://alanchinwriter.blogspot.com.

RS: Thank you, Alan, for taking the time to talk to me. You write so well that I can see "best seller" in your future.

Toddlers and Tiaras tv show

Well, in my "Butt glue" post on LiveJournal last week, I said I was going to seek out the tv show Toddlers and Tiaras, just to see what it was like. I did.

It's freaky.

None of the moms looked like they had money to spare, and one of them said it had cost them $15,000 to enter, get the costumes, and travel to this particular pageant. Her daughter, age 6, had been doing pageants for 4 years and had won, over the years, something like $10,000, according to the mom. Had she really? I'm sure I don't know. She had a lot of sparkly crowns. This pageant had a cash prize for the top winner, but don't remember how much.

This particular little girl, without all the glitz, was a darling child, blond and normal looking as fresh made apple pie. After the hair, the makeup, the flashy clothes, she had an uncanny and chilling resemblance to JonBenet Ramsey. This little girl was very upfront that she liked the swimsuit category (a swimsuit category for little children!?) because she got to wear her bikini (which, if I recall correctly, cost $300, maybe more) because it "shows my stomach and I get to shake my butt."

There was also a two-year-old who cried and whined through the entire show, and when they put her ruffly swimsuit on her cried for her mom to "It hurts, take it off, take it off." Needless to say, it didn't come off. And then when she was on stage, she saw all the crowns and sashes on a nearby table and said over and over, "I want a present, I want a present..." How do you explain to a two-year old that the "presents" that are so close, have to be awarded? Mom promised her one if she "did good." Somehow, I just think that a 24-four-month-old brain is going to have trouble with that concept.

Another lady had twins and had dresses picked out for them--and then found out they cost $500 each! Mom's home sewing to the rescue! I think this was their first pageant, and they did actually seem to have fun.

I felt sorry for the moms at the end, though. Constant delays put the pageant two or three hours behind schedule, and then at the end when the crowning too place, they found out from a stunned spokesperson that the pageant director had taken the money and skipped out! The fees, the expensive costumes, makeup artists, hair artists, travel and lodging expenses were all for nothing.

And, of course, according to the mothers "the wrong one" won the top title and the judges were either crazy or blind. (The winner had a Pyrrhic victory at best, since there was no money to award.)

I mean, could any novelist out there come up with this stuff?

It would be interesting to know if the missing director was found and if she ever made restitution of the money she made off with. I wonder if the series will follow up with it. I'll never know because I will probably never watch it again

Related topic:
There is a comment site somewhere that I ran across, where the comments are horribly snarky. While abhorring what they see as child abuse and exploitation, some of them also refer to those little girls as "whores in training" and like terms, which I think is nasty and uncalled for. They also flat out state that the male judges are pedophiles, which is also uncalled for. There are no doubt pedophiles who avidly follow the pageants, but to make such an accusation--anonymously, of course!--is also uncalled for and is slander. Maybe some of them are; I wouldn't know, and neither do their accusers. But it's wrong to accuse someone anonymously of such a horrible thing, and in some cases the statement is accompanied by a photo. This comment forum is as upsetting as the show. Internet anonymity lets a person get away with saying anything they like about anyone, apparently.

The galley!

In ten weeks I have gone from having no book contract to having the final galley proof appear in my Inbox. Amazing.

This part is the hardest for me because, by nature, I want to continually change things and once it has reached this point, there are no more rewrites, no more revisions, no more switches in paragraph construction. This is the point at which, if I were God at sunset on Day Six of Creation, I couldn't say, "Well, I think I think I'll move the pecker to the forehead on Man. It looks silly down yonder. Let's change it, switch places with the nose." No. No major changes now. I have to control my revision-urge.

Wow -- It's been an eventful year

Forgot I had this blog. I think I have another one somewhere. Time to get serious about it. New book coming out, three and soon to be four short stories out, and time running out. "Oh the days dwindle down to a precious few, September, November..." Etc.

In January 2010 I had several unfinished novels, several finished short stories with no place to send them, and one finished, unpublished novel. Then, in two months, I had two short stories published and doing well, a third one contracted for, and a book accepted by an energetic, well-known independent press!

I think I'm asleep and dreaming and will soon walk up and find out. Don't wanna. If this is a dream I want to continue dreaming.

Tomorrow I'll blog the details. Tonight it's almost 10:30 and I get up at 4:15 -- that's A.M., friend. *snore*

I wonder if anyone will find this daggone blog. How do you make it visible? I really need to find out.