It’s unevenly
written; shallow and silly, yet Crazy
Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (Allen & Unwin) is creating a lot of buzz
right now. Vogue editor Anna Wintour called this debut novel “mordantly funny”,
Hunger Games producer Nina Jacobson
snapped up the movie rights, it’s soaring up best-seller lists worldwide. And
why? Because this is the blingiest, most fabulous, over-the-top read of the
year – an addictive satire that is to rampant consumerism what 50 Shades Of Grey was to you know what.
Crazy Rich Asians is the story of three uber-wealthy, inter-married
Singaporean Chinese families; people so rich that, when his wife is turned away
from a stuffy London hotel by the racist manager, Harry Leong makes a call and
buys the place. So rich that they have climate-controlled wardrobes, private
jets with yoga studios and the power to make their mansions “disappear” from
Google Earth. So rich that they don’t have money, they have fortunes.
Rachel Chu is
about to enter their orbit but she doesn’t know it yet. When her devastatingly
handsome boyfriend Nicholas Young asks her home to Singapore for the summer, he
forgets to mention that home is a palace. He certainly doesn’t let on that he’s
the heir apparent to a dynasty.
Nicholas is mad
about American Chinese academic Rachel. But when word gets back to his family
that he has a new girlfriend his scheming mother Eleanor swings into action,
digging into her history to find out if she’s a gold-digger. Because if you’re
a crazy rich Asian you have to go to the right schools, wear the right
designers, live in the right real estate, have the right career and most
importantly, marry the right person.
If not, then like
Nicholas’ devastatingly beautiful cousin Astrid, you will end up having marital
problems. Astrid has been faking poor – living in a relatively modest apartment
– for the sake of her husband Michael’s pride since he’s worth billions less
than her. She has to secret shop Parisian couture and precious jewellery to
make up for her luxury deficit. So when she starts uncovering clues that her
husband is having an affair, Astrid is heartbroken.
No need to worry
too much about the plot because that’s not what this book is really about. Who
cares whether they all live happily ever after? No, its big appeal is
voyeurism. This is a window on the world of the Asian upper crust, an expose of
their snobberies and excesses, their feuds, gossip and jealousies. It drips
with designer labels, is lavished with extravagant parties, is gilded with
sumptuous homes.
While it’s witty
and lots of fun, in the end I did weary of the endless wealth porn. It all
starts to feel a little bit one-joke at times which is a pity as Kwan could
have got his point across with fewer designer names and less high spending.
In interviews he
has claimed the book was inspired by his childhood growing up in Singapore. He
hints at an insider view of the decadent world he portrays. And while it is
hardly a subtle piece of writing it does show the clash between old and new
money, different cultures and generations in a way that seems credible.
About the reviewer.
Nicky Pellegrino, an Auckland-based author of popular fiction, is also the Books Editor of the Herald on Sunday where the above review was first published on Sunday 1 September 2013.
Her latest novel When In Rome is set in 1950's Italy and was published in September 2012. Her next novel, The Food Of Love Cooking School, will be published here next week.
It’s unevenly
written; shallow and silly, yet Crazy
Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (Allen & Unwin) is creating a lot of buzz
right now. Vogue editor Anna Wintour called this debut novel “mordantly funny”,
Hunger Games producer Nina Jacobson
snapped up the movie rights, it’s soaring up best-seller lists worldwide. And
why? Because this is the blingiest, most fabulous, over-the-top read of the
year – an addictive satire that is to rampant consumerism what 50 Shades Of Grey was to you know what.
About the reviewer.
READER EVENT: A Q & A with Lloyd Jones
Lloyd Jones is one of New
Zealand’s best known contemporary writers. His works include Biografi, a New York Times Notable Book, and the novels The Book of Fame – winner of numerous literary awards – Choo Woo, Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance, Paint Your Wife, Hand Me Down World and the phenomenally successful Mister Pip, winner of the 2007
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Montana Medal for Fiction and the Kiriyama
Writers’ Prize, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and adapted into a film,
which goes on general release on October 3. 
Past master: Lloyd Jones reveals a dramatic family history in his memoir A History of Silence. Photo: Phil Reid
Chronicling the journey of 264 Japanese netsuke — wood and ivory carvings of animals, plants and people, none larger than the palm of a hand — that Mr. de Waal inherited from his great-uncle Iggie, “The Hare With Amber Eyes” is a sweeping story that begins in Paris in 1871 and progresses through five generations of the Ephrussi family, whose collection of netsuke made its way to Vienna, where it was thought to have been confiscated by the Nazis, and decades later ended up in London. “My making and my writing is one thing,” Mr. de Waal explained, adding, “Pots turn into words, and words turn into pots.
