MCLC: Tash Aw's Five-Star Billionaire (1)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: thomas pickering <thomaspickering919 at gmail.com>
Subject: Tash Aw's Five-Star Billionaire (1)
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Tash Aw’s latest novel is a good read. The anthropomorphic characteristics
he gives to Shanghai bring it alive to the reader. He gives minor
characters such as Yanyan and Little Tang remarkable depth with just a few
strokes of the pen. And the cadence and grammar he gives to local English
speakers is precious and spot on.

The four character aphorisms at the beginning of each chapter add depth to
the novel, but will add little for those readers who lack background in
Chinese culture or language.

One point  the review did not highlight is the changing perception of
China by overseas Chinese as reflected in the attitudes of the novel’s
main characters. Fifty years ago in Southeast Asia if you asked someone
who’s grandparents or great-grandparents came from China about their
ethnicity, it was not uncommon to hear, “Well, my father is Chinese, but I
am [Thai, Malaysian, Filipino, Indonesian -- whatever was appropriate].”
Today it is far more usual to hear a statement like, “My mother is
Vietnamese, but my father is Chinese. I am Chinese.” This change is
already having profound effects on the region’s political climate.

Thomas Pickering