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A review by misspalah
Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
4.0
“Discussion of these men seemed innocent enough at first; Yinghui tried to shrug it off as merely catching up on gossip. But after a while she could no longer ignore the fact that her (securely married) friends were taking pity on her, particularly as the men in question were almost exclusively Western - for everyone knew that once a woman was past thirty-five, there was little point in even trying to hook up with a local guy: Westerners were so much more accepting of age. 'Are you trying to matchmake me?' she challenged them jokingly one day as the double-chilli fish head arrived. She expected them to be embarrassed by the exposure of their scheming ways, but instead they were upfront about it. 'Let's face it, one of them said, beginning to pluck the meat from the fish cheeks with her chopsticks, you can't be happy in a place like Shanghai if you're single. We're all feminists, blah blah blah, but this is not London or New York, you know, this is China. Without a husband, you won't be successful in your work. You can't expect to work the hours you do and come back to an empty apartment. Besides, if you want children, you have to get moving. We know it sounds cruel, but ... get real.?
- (Forget the past, look only the future) : 5 Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
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Tash Aw’s writing is clear and very detailed. The flow is natural hence why his books is readable. Unfortunately, having 5 stories and 5 characters in a way linked to each other despite some of them barely knew one another is a laborious reading process. It took me about 4 days to finish this book and pondered on the said ending. Dont get me wrong, i did enjoy the book after passing 100 pages - I was rooting for both ladies, Phoebe and Yinghui as i always gravitated towards women characters. I really wanted Phoebe to succeed despite her shallowness and Yinghui to make her name respectable despite her blindness for love. Major plot happened in Shanghai but occasionally, these characters will catch a glimpse of their past in Malaysia - grew up in the rural area wither in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor. One thing i noticed that none of them actually missed their birthplace (probably because of dark past they have while growing up). They also dont seem to want to return once they truly made it in Shanghai, China (at the end, some of them did return). While they did achieve what they wanted to do ; ambition and career wise, we can see how miserable these characters are. They craved affection and connection but was denied by harsh circumstances. I think what Tash Aw wanted to highlight here that the grass is not always greener on the other sides. Aside from that, materialism seems to be highlighted as well. Status, Names , Money and Class is the motivation of shifting to a bustling city like Shanghai. Everyone wanted to make it even Yanyan who’ve become a recluse woman after being laid off. Funny how the fifth character (some sort of narrator in a way) which is Walter in the book seems so familiar to me. His style, the way he reliving the past via stories / lessons and describing it in the chapter forcing me to remember that i have read this kind of style before. Indeed, I was right as i sense familiarity with Mohsin Hamid’s book - how to get filthy rich in rising Asia (which i already read but didnt really enjoy it). I would say this book does it a bit better. When it comes to migrant stories - capitalism has been the tool to why urban migration / migration is so famous. Everybody is seeking a better employment, better opportunities, better life somewhere else and fell in the trap of false promises. But it is not without flaws. Via Gary story, we are shown how Shanghai is ruthless , competitive and waits for no one. We have seen Gary at the peak of his career and also at the lowest of his career trying to survive when his popularity is fading. What made it more tragic, Gary has ventured from Malaysia to China just so he dont end up like his own mother , a mediocre musician / music teacher stuck in a rural town. As i remembered many points about Phoebe and her career progress in a spa centre, Yinghui and her tendency to seek validation either from her father and walter, Walter trying to force connection with phoebe that they both essentially the same - came from rural area and try to make it in the city, Gary and his late night online chatting with strangers - i couldnt for the life of me connect to Justin character and story. Maybe my brain already maxed out on 4 characters at a time or i felt that Justin chracter could have fleshed out more for me to care about him. Overall, it was 3.5 read for me but to give it 3 is unfair as the story did come full circle no matter how unsatisfactory the ending is. I honestly enjoyed ‘We the survivors’ more but i think this came close to how well Tash Aw constructed the structure of his storyline and eventually offered readers lessons of seeing society faltered under the gripe of greed in the name of modernization and development. I would recommend this if you have time and wanted to savor your book in a slow pace with abundance of description and sort of morally grey characters.
- (Forget the past, look only the future) : 5 Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
.
.
Tash Aw’s writing is clear and very detailed. The flow is natural hence why his books is readable. Unfortunately, having 5 stories and 5 characters in a way linked to each other despite some of them barely knew one another is a laborious reading process. It took me about 4 days to finish this book and pondered on the said ending. Dont get me wrong, i did enjoy the book after passing 100 pages - I was rooting for both ladies, Phoebe and Yinghui as i always gravitated towards women characters. I really wanted Phoebe to succeed despite her shallowness and Yinghui to make her name respectable despite her blindness for love. Major plot happened in Shanghai but occasionally, these characters will catch a glimpse of their past in Malaysia - grew up in the rural area wither in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor. One thing i noticed that none of them actually missed their birthplace (probably because of dark past they have while growing up). They also dont seem to want to return once they truly made it in Shanghai, China (at the end, some of them did return). While they did achieve what they wanted to do ; ambition and career wise, we can see how miserable these characters are. They craved affection and connection but was denied by harsh circumstances. I think what Tash Aw wanted to highlight here that the grass is not always greener on the other sides. Aside from that, materialism seems to be highlighted as well. Status, Names , Money and Class is the motivation of shifting to a bustling city like Shanghai. Everyone wanted to make it even Yanyan who’ve become a recluse woman after being laid off. Funny how the fifth character (some sort of narrator in a way) which is Walter in the book seems so familiar to me. His style, the way he reliving the past via stories / lessons and describing it in the chapter forcing me to remember that i have read this kind of style before. Indeed, I was right as i sense familiarity with Mohsin Hamid’s book - how to get filthy rich in rising Asia (which i already read but didnt really enjoy it). I would say this book does it a bit better. When it comes to migrant stories - capitalism has been the tool to why urban migration / migration is so famous. Everybody is seeking a better employment, better opportunities, better life somewhere else and fell in the trap of false promises. But it is not without flaws. Via Gary story, we are shown how Shanghai is ruthless , competitive and waits for no one. We have seen Gary at the peak of his career and also at the lowest of his career trying to survive when his popularity is fading. What made it more tragic, Gary has ventured from Malaysia to China just so he dont end up like his own mother , a mediocre musician / music teacher stuck in a rural town. As i remembered many points about Phoebe and her career progress in a spa centre, Yinghui and her tendency to seek validation either from her father and walter, Walter trying to force connection with phoebe that they both essentially the same - came from rural area and try to make it in the city, Gary and his late night online chatting with strangers - i couldnt for the life of me connect to Justin character and story. Maybe my brain already maxed out on 4 characters at a time or i felt that Justin chracter could have fleshed out more for me to care about him. Overall, it was 3.5 read for me but to give it 3 is unfair as the story did come full circle no matter how unsatisfactory the ending is. I honestly enjoyed ‘We the survivors’ more but i think this came close to how well Tash Aw constructed the structure of his storyline and eventually offered readers lessons of seeing society faltered under the gripe of greed in the name of modernization and development. I would recommend this if you have time and wanted to savor your book in a slow pace with abundance of description and sort of morally grey characters.