Reviews

Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw

yongen22's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

margaretefg's review against another edition

4.0

So much to marvel at in this book, set mostly in the period just before the overthrow of Sukarno in 1965. The Indonesian brothers at the heart of the story were orphaned (nothing about their birthparents) and then separated, one adopted by a wealthy, dysfunctional couple in Malaysia, the other, younger brother Adam adopted by a Dutch returnee? Karl, who seems incredibly sweet and impossibly idealistic. Margaret Bates, (are her parents supposed to seem like Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson?) once in love with Karl, is now a 40 something long term resident of Jakarta who speaks multiple local languages comfortably. And... There's political turmoil, plotting Communists, a bomb, a beautiful student/propagandist...aging Aussie newsman, ex CIA(?) US Embassy official. Lots of plot twists. And young men trying to figure themselves out with all the added complications of having been adopted. And scenes of rural and urban Indonesia in the 1950s/60s.

anusha_natesh's review against another edition

3.0

The book seemed to move at a slow pace at some places, and I only felt interested towards the end.

cjk646's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

lyla89's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

arian_isreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

zaelle's review against another edition

2.0

I'm surprised that I didn't like this book more than I did. Maybe I've just read too many like it to have loved it. It was an okay read. I finished it quite quickly and I believe that it dealt with important issues like nationality and I enjoyed learning some history. Indonesia is imagined by many to be a magical world, especially as compared to the apparent shallow life in Kuala Lumpur (as presented in the novel), and I appreciated how the author brought the country alive.

However, there's just too many of these 'ethnic identity' novels these days. I'm a huge fan of them, but they're all starting to sound the same. (Aka, this nation is bad, but it's our bad and there's nowhere else to go...oh, look how vibrant and alive it is!).

afahmy's review against another edition

3.0

Well, it was a very long and almost boring read for me, the first 150 pages have a really slow pace, or really fast that I can't grasp it, however, the last few chapters were quite exciting. It was a good read after all.

rachaelmcgovern's review

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

syafiqha's review against another edition

3.0

Maybe 3.4 stars out of 5.

So much things that i learn.
About politics in Indonesia, a pair of siblings split up since kid, about betrayal, love, the writer really brings the sensation of Indonesia also a bit Malaysia also about American & Dutch people live in Indonesia.

Writer's writing is like when you wanna talk about this than you flashback or thinks about something else related. Which i love but its too much for me especially in the middle.

One chapter contain almost 20 page (4th Estate publisher)