A review by zaelle
Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw

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!).