Book: Crazy Rich Asians
Author: Kevin Kwan
Country: Singapore
Review: 4/5
This book follows the Youngs, an extremely wealthy family in Singapore and the various issues surrounding their family. There is Nick Young living in New York and is girlfriend Rachel, who knows nothing about Nick’s family, fame, or riches. We also see from the viewpoints of his mother, grandmother, cousins, and more as they each battle their own problems woven into their rich society. I must admit that I broke my own rule and saw the film adaptation first, not knowing that the book existed, so I did have possible prejudice going in. I loved this one, I thought it was quite funny and provided such a different lifestyle and viewpoint than my own. I was enticed by the opening chapter, where Eleanor Young tries to secure a room while a racist concierge attempts to keep her and her family from booking. Immediately we have a dramatic and clever turn of events that showed that this book wouldn’t be dull. Kwan was inspired to write Crazy Rich Asians while caring for his father who would tell Kwan about his life in Singapore, along with his own memories from Singapore. In this way, he is able to look at his birth country from an insider’s and outsider’s point of view, focussing on both the extremes of the ultra-wealthy and the generational values. I don’t know how reminiscent it truly is of Singapore, but (as with any book) I understand that one book cannot capture the lives and views of everyone, this extreme side is one very real possibility, described in a TIME Magazine article titled “The Ultra-Wealthy World of Crazy Rich Asians Is a Real Thing. Here’s Why.” My only critic was the length, there seemed to be a lot of downtime in the book, however there were many unanswered questions that carried me to the end of the book and added a lot of dramatic suspense, so it definitely wasn’t lacking for plot devices. I think I also would have preferred one view point rather than the multi-narrative set up that the book had; I think there was enough drama behind each story that they could have been different books. There are a plethora of characters, so I think splitting it in this way or including some sort of family tree could have been helpful. I chose this book for Singapore partly due to its popularity, but also for the stark contrast that it presents to some of the other books that I’ve come across during this challenge. This book promised to be full of drama and as entertaining as it is critical of the lives that it portrays. It did not disappoint! Stay tuned for other book recommendations for this country and other countries, and follow my journey on Instagram @beyondpageone and find more reviews on my GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/116494925-kaitlyn-nightingale Thank you and happy reading! Feature image from Goodreads. |