Abraham's Promise

By Philip Jeyaretnam

Abraham Isaac, teacher of Latin, philosopher and father, has, after many years, a young pupil. Teaching pulls him back into his memories: of Rose, his first love; Mercy, his stubborn sister; and most of all of Rani, his beloved wife. Of days of youth and promise, when he threw himself into the politics of Singapore in the 50s and 60s. Days when temperance and restraint gave way to action and desire. Days when the culture and society of Singapore were defined and molded. Days when he believed he had a valuable role to play as a proud citizen of a new country. Now he is old, and the burden of his years weighs on him heavily. Distanced from a present devoid of idealism and obsessed with power and money, Abraham is estranged from his strong, successful son. Descending into the past, Abraham is led from the promise of youth, through cynicism born of experience, to an understanding and reconciliation of his life and times hard-won in maturity. Prizewinning author Philip Jeyaretnam was declared Young Artist of the Year for 1993 by the Singapore National Arts Council. Abraham's Promise is his second novel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0824817699
• ISBN13: 9780824817695
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
• Length: 178 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Read it!

This is a beautiful and moving story. Abraham Isaac is a tuition teacher coaching a young boy who will soon take his O Levels in Latin. One of my favorite passages in the story is "Seated in Komala Villas, off Serangoon Road, where I've come to salve my humiliation from last night's dinner part. I break into a vadai to dip into my coconut chutney, a cup of sweet hot tea in front of me. I remember another tea time where vadai too was served." We are taken from the present and transported through the past through the descriptions of food. Abraham Isaac is not an easy person to read but he is a poignant figure that I somehow related to. I could understand how if Victor, his son, was a beetle inching his way and holding his ground, Abraham would be a butterfly, full of ideals but flighty and escaping from action. Singaporeans, as a group, are said to be very practical people, and this is reflected sometimes in the story. Then we have Abraham, who is not really a very pragmatic person and becomes somehow mistreated in his life because of his very nature. I never felt that this story was overtly political or was it a social commentary. It was just a very personal story and a well-written one at that. I give it four stars because it touched me and I feel that many Singaporeans should take a look at it.

Abraham's Promise... A very confusing yet enriching book

I am doing this book for my GCE 'O' Level Literature, and it is indeed a very confusing book. It does not go in chronlogical order, and to make it worse, the narrator, Abraham, is again, a very confused old man living in modern times Singapore.His memory comes drifting back in piecesas he analysises his life under scrutiny, only to realise that his life could not 'withstand srcutiny' and was more disatrous than he thought it was. It is a difficult book to do for O Level, since it does not have any guidebook or what-so-ever.. but read it at least 2 times, and you will find yourself looking at life from a different point of view!