Or Else, the Lightning God & Other Stories

Or Else, the Lightning God & Other Stories is a collection of eighteen short stories by Catherine Lim, first published by Heinemann in 1980 under the Writing in Asia Series. The book follows the success of Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore, published two years ago by the same author. Both these two collections were used as set texts by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate for GCE 'O' Levels. Examined in 1989 and 1990, Or Else, the Lightning God & Other Stories was the first Singapore book to be used.^[1]

The Stories

The themes and style of the stories are very much carried on from Catherine Lim's first collection of short stories, Little Ironies. They focus on the snobbery, selfishness, prejudice and ignorance of the characters. The stories are also as a rule slightly longer than those in Little Ironies.

The Stories' order

Father and Son
Unseeing
A.P. Velloo
The Visit
The Bondmaid
Kevin
Kenneth Jerome Rozario
The Reporter
Big Sister
Gold Dust
Durian
Monkey Face
Ah Bah's Money
Last Wish
Puay Ah Moi
The Letters
Mrs. Maniam's Health
Or Else, the Lightning God

References

^ Sin, Yuen (15 February 2016). "Who's afraid of 'chao ah beng'? Overseas universities use Singaporean literature to teach". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 15 February 2016.

[1] Sin, Yuen (15 February 2016). "Who's afraid of 'chao ah beng'? Overseas universities use Singaporean literature to teach". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 15 February 2016.

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