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The Harmony Silk Factory
 
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The Harmony Silk Factory (Paperback)

by Tash Aw (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: HarperPerennial; New Ed edition (16 Jan 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007232284
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007232284
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 134,906 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
'A fine, strong, confident novel - and what a storyteller Tash Aw is. Unputdownable' Doris Lessing 'The Harmony Silk Factory is an utterly remarkable debut. It's a dream of a novel, lovely and exquisite and intense, and reveals Tash Aw's already prodigious gift for storytelling; this young writer has come to us fully formed, and with the promise of a long and significant career.' Chang-rae Lee 'Bewitchingly written and gracefully assured! The story Aw tells is mercilessly gripping and his prose is lucid, uncluttered, beautiful! Aw orchestrates a graceful ballet of dissonances and congruences, of echoes and discords.' Neel Mukherjee, The Times 'Tash Aw's striking debut is as elusive as it is exotic. Aw is a skilled and sensitive writer' Daily Mail 'Absorbing! a rich, intense novel! The strength of Tash Aw's writing can be seen in the three narratives. Each voice is distinct and each offers a subtly different viewpoint, remaking the material afresh! The beauty and danger of nature are everywhere in this delicately drawn novel' TLS --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Waterstones Books Quarterly
'...the most delightful of hybrids, a literary page-turner…suspenseful until the last page.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
57 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A writer with a big future, 23 Mar 2005
This review is from: The Harmony Silk Factory (Hardcover)
I could say that 'The Harmony Silk Factory' is a stunning debut novel, but I'd be under-selling it. Using the word 'debut' implies that the book is good considering it's a first-time effort, that it's stunning by a different, less difficult set of criteria to other novels. This isn't a stunning debut - it's a stunning novel, no matter the author's publishing history.

The novel follows the story of Johnny Lim, a man of whispered reputation. No-one is quite sure if he's a hero or a gangster, a capitalist business man or a Communist leader. His story is told by three different narrators - his son Jasper, his wife Snow, and his friend Peter. Each relate part of Johnny's story, at times over-lapping and giving different interpretations of the man and his actions.

What makes the book work so well is the way Aw combines an epic, at time mythic, feel with wonderful small details. His chosen structure keeps mysteries alive until the end, and he writes wonderfully. The more I say the less you'll have to discover for yourself, so I'll keep it brief. What I will say is that if you're interested in the getting in at the start with an author who will become a big name in the future, order yourself a copy of 'The Harmony Silk Factory'.

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48 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Intriguing, 20 Oct 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: The Harmony Silk Factory (Paperback)
This book has been a big hit here, all over the headlines and bestseller lists - something that made me initially suspicious about it. Moreover I actually grew up in the Kinta Valley where this novel is set, I didn't want to read a slushy and inaccurate portrayal of the country. In the end I bought it after it had been longlisted for the Booker Prize and I had to stay up through the night to finish it. I was constantly surprised by how Tash Aw turns the countryside into something magical and spooky, he reinvents the entire history of Malaysia. All the characters in the book bend the truth and so the reader never really knows what's going on, right up until the enigmatic ending. This is an entertaining book, but also serious and thought-provoking, about how we re-shape our personal stories.

There are one or two problems, for example I found Snow, the central female character, a little too cold even for her name. However the storytelling is so convincing that one overlooks these details. I wouldn't say that this book changed my life but it did teach me to look at my country and surroundings in a new light. I'm also glad that Malaysians are reading and talking about a book that doesn't involve hobbits, spells or secret codes.

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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Shockingly disappointing, 4 Jun 2006
By Marcus (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This book begins well, creating a period atmosphere around the impending Japanese invasion of Malaysia and the Communist resistance, and great characterisation of Johnny Lim, the narrator's father.

The viewpoint then switches for the second and third parts of the book, to Johnny Lim's wife Snow and then an eccentric Brit called Wormwood.

It is in these two parts that the book collapses imaginatively. The plot becomes less plausible, the dialogue weakens, and you cannot believe that the marathon journey they set out on is in any way life-threatening, as it is supposed to be.

The dialogue deteriorates into inconsequential bitching, with, in particular, wooden-sounding assertions by the Japanese 'marquis' character, and camp observations by the Brit.

It's a long time since I have enjoyed a book so little.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Petering out
What a disappointment this was! The book came highly recommended and, to be fair, it sets off at a good rate with intriguing and well crafted stuff about Malaya, Johnny and the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. D. Mcintosh

5.0 out of 5 stars A lesson in not trusting your narrator
For a novel with little action this certainly keeps you turning the pages. We hear Johnny's story from three different narrators but because we never hear his voice we are left... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Hayles

1.0 out of 5 stars This book doesn't succeed or work at all
Falls apart after the brief first section. The book is split into three parts and the writer tries to shove a heterosexual love story between Snow and Johnny and Snow and Peter,... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ally M

4.0 out of 5 stars Lost in the jungle....
Johnny Lim, the central character, is the most successful merchant in the Kinta Valley (central Malaysia), trading in textiles and smuggled/stolen goods. Read more
Published 19 months ago by stevieby

3.0 out of 5 stars Typically 'Bookeresque"
It did not surprise me to discover that this book had been long listed for the 2005 Booker Prize. It has the typical literary style that for me turns an excellent novel in to a... Read more
Published 21 months ago by MaryAnne

5.0 out of 5 stars Lush story telling
This book is very poetically written. The civil war setting provides plenty of action and tension, but it is primarily the heady tropical atmosphere which stands out for me, and I... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Bolandini

3.0 out of 5 stars First part good, but...
...peters out in the second and last sections. For something also set in Malaya try Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain, which I really enjoyed.
Published on 30 Jun 2007 by Spotty

4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging read
The Harmony Silk Factory is a story of one man, Johnny Lim, as told through the eyes of his son Jasper, his wife Snow and his English friend. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2007 by Sofia

4.0 out of 5 stars Fresh writing, silent puzzles
I too was attracted to this book by the Booker short list. I kept going, quickly, because of the ironic certainty and freshly crafted viewpoint of each narrative; the lesser trod... Read more
Published on 3 Jun 2007 by nycstitcher

3.0 out of 5 stars A great storyteller marred by factual errors
Aw is a superb storyteller and his writing is smooth and polished and sardonic. However, as a Malaysian, I am jarred by the many factual errors in his writing, and so far I am... Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2005 by literature lover

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