Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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57 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A writer with a big future, 23 Mar 2005
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 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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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Shockingly disappointing, 4 Jun 2006
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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