When it comes to things literary, I can be a snob at times. It is seldom (very seldom indeed) that I get excited about the work of writers who are not yet dead. And if the writer happens to be younger than I am, hails from Malaysia and hasn’t got a book to his name, it’s likely I’ll never notice him till he kicks the bucket – twice.
But my days of literary snobbery are over! In a Facebook status update recently, a dear old friend asked me to have a look-see at his son’s blog, ‘Hold That Pose’. Frankly, I went in not expecting to see anything new. However, I ended-up reading the blog from beginning to end, immersed in each word as if they were the sweet, calming breath of a long lost beloved.
His prose took me on coastal road tours of familiar places long forgotten as well as on scary aerobatic flights at at altitudes I never knew I would ever scale. In the end, to say that the view that he showed me was breath-taking would be an understatement.
Arief Hamizan, the owner of Hold that Pose, is easily the most formidable talent I seen in a very, very long time. That he is young is neither here nor there. He writes with a maturity that belies his age; he writes as if he is an old soul that has been cruelly reincarnated in a young body. In another time and place I have no doubt that Arief Hamizan would be our equivalent of Hemingway, Twain, Kerouac, Bourdain and Fitzgerald – all rolled into one.
What do I like most about Arief Hamizan? He writes with such uncanny honesty that it makes the reader question his own. Arief Hamizan doesn’t write to impress anyone; Arief Hamizan doesn’t understand why he would need to. To be candid, I think he’d rather drill a hole in his head before writing in this way. Instead, he writes about the things that he sees, in the way that he sees them.
And I most definitely like what I am seeing. Naturally, I urge everyone to give Arief Hamizan a twirl.
Well, almost everyone. Those that write primarily to impress others will be well advised to give Arief Hamizan a pass. If you do read him, you’ll probably regret it for the rest of your lives.
Cool. I’ll check it out.
I remembered the scene in ‘Midnight in Paris’.
Gil: I would like you to read my novel and get your opinion.
Ernest Hemingway: I hate it.
Gil: You haven’t even read it yet.
Ernest Hemingway: If it’s bad, I’ll hate it. If it’s good, then I’ll be envious and hate it even more. You don’t want the opinion of another writer.
Arief Hamizan also reminds me of Oscar Wilde
Hi Fadhli
Heheh! Since I am nowhere near Hemingway’s stature, I guess I am allowed not to hate other people’s writing. I most certainly don’t hate Arief Hamizan’s work. But i must say I am a bit envious. No, make that a lot envious
oh my god! i have been reading him since 6 pm today. now cursing myself, i have to sleep early. tomorrow is another day in court. damn brilliant mind, stylish too. this all your fault!
This kid makes for some compelling reading. BTW, he also gave me a book to read: Shadow of the Wind. I suggest you grab that on your next trip to Kinokuniya. If the purchase turns out to be a disappointment, you are welcome to gouge my eye out.