''Or Else, the Lightning God & Other Stories'' is a collection of eighteen

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

Catherine Lim Catherine Lim Poh Imm (, born 21 March 1942) is a Singaporean fiction author known for writing about Singapore society and of themes of traditional Chinese culture. Hailed as the "doyenne of Singapore writers", Lim has published nine collectio ...

, first published by

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

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 University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) is a non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge, which operates under the brand name Cambridge Assessment, and is part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment. It prov ...

for GCE 'O' Levels. Examined in 1989 and 1990, ''Or Else, the Lightning God & Other Stories'' was the first Singapore book to be used.

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''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Or Else, the Lightning god and Other Stories 1980 short story collections Heinemann (publisher) books Singaporean short story collections