Map of the Invisible World
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Review
'Aw's first novel was a sublime piece of work that Doris Lessing called "unputdownable". She will find this one similarly mesmerising…This is absolutely stunning writing - Aw is emerging as a master storyteller.' The Times
'Aw's prose can be powerful and mesmerising in its sense of place…and psychological acuity. Haunting and memorable.' Maya Jaggi, Guardian
'Aw is a writer of great power and delicacy, as able to conjure stampeding crowds as the glow of fireflies.' Daily Mail
'Aw's sinuous writing vividly brings the turbulent social backdrop to life.' Sunday Times
'His prose is vividly lyrical; and one can almost feel the heat and smell the sweat of Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.' Independent
'Buoyant, limber, confidently told…a book embodying huge ambition, jostling with love, betrayal and guilt, all set poignantly and subtly against the politics of turmoil in post-colonial Indonesia circa 1964.' Scotsman
‘An intelligent second novel…Aw’s characteristic tone is a fine lyricism that, at best owes something to Michael Ondaatje or Anne Michaels…Aw has an exceptional talent for set pieces.’ Sunday Telegraph
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.Product Description
From the author of the internationally acclaimed, Costa Award-winning The Harmony Silk Factory comes an enthralling new novel that evokes an exotic yet turbulent and often frightening world.
16-year-old Adam is an orphan three times over. He and his older brother, Johan, were abandoned by their mother as children; he watched as Johan was adopted and taken away by a wealthy couple; and he had to hide when Karl, the Dutch man who raised him, was arrested by soldiers during Sukarno's drive to purge 1960s Indonesia of its colonial past.
Adam sets out on a quest to find Karl, but all he has to guide him are some old photos and letters, which send him to the colourful, dangerous capital, Jakarta. Johan, meanwhile, is living a seemingly carefree, privileged life in Malaysia, but is careening out of control, unable to forget the long-ago betrayal of his helpless, trusting brother.
Map of the Invisible World is a masterful novel, and confirms Tash Aw as one of the most exciting young writers at work today.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Many Indonesians had become restless and frustrated by 1964, wanting a history apart from their colonial past, a history of "their own." Indonesia had been a Dutch colony for three and a half centuries, and had been occupied by the Japanese for much of World War II. Though long-time leader Dewi Sukarno declared the country's independence--and became President--after the defeat of the Japanese, the Dutch remained a dominating presence in the country's economy, to their own benefit far more than the Indonesians'. By 1964, when this novel opens, resentment against westerners is peaking. The Dutch are being arrested without warning and forcibly "repatriated," the Chinese and Russians are exerting significant influence, Communism has become so popular that the president and the army fear a coup, and violence has become a way of life.
Malaysian author Tash Aw recreates this turbulent period, and he does so on several levels at once. In a non-linear narrative which switches back and forth in time and among several main characters and plot lines, the author emphasizes the displacement and loss felt by all the main characters during the turmoil. Adam, a teenage orphan who has lost his mother, his brother, and his adoptive father, is particularly alienated, not sure who he really is and desperate to find out. His adoptive father Karl, a Dutch artist who has worked for many years on a remote island, has just been arrested and taken away by military police, ostensibly to be repatriated to Holland, and Adam cannot find him. Margaret Bates, a middle-aged American expatriate doing research on non-verbal communication, lives in Old Jakarta and considers herself Indonesian, but she has no close family ties and no lover. Her teaching assistant Din, a communist, is frustrated by the inaction of the Indonesian government in helping the poor. The secret lives--invisible lives--of all these characters are gradually revealed as part of the novel's mosaic-like structure.
Composed with great attention to detail, this imaginative novel suggests, rather then tells about, the action. The story is cumulative, consisting of dramatic, usually short, scenes which require the reader to draw conclusions from the accumulation of details about the characters, their lives, and their relationships. The plot develops on several planes at once, constantly creating suspense and constantly providing the reader with surprises, as each new piece of the puzzle falls into place--but then creates new complications. Dramatic and exciting scenes from past and present occur in rapid succession, keeping the reader's interest high, as we wonder whether Adam will find his brother and/or his adoptive father, whether Karl is still alive, whether Margaret will resolve her old feelings for a past lover, and whether revolution and bloodshed will sweep through Jakarta and catch up all the characters we have come to know.
In some sense, however, the novel has almost an embarrassment of riches. The novel is explosive, like Indonesia itself, with the characters acting and interacting in seemingly random fashion until coincidence brings them together in shocking new ways, and the reader may actually become a bit weary from the bombardment of surprises. The ending feels a bit rushed, as if the author were not sure how to present a grand finale after having had so much drama up to that point, and a few scenes feel gratuitous (and even manipulative of the reader). Over all, however, Tash Aw has created an absorbing and unusual novel about a time in which the future of Indonesia hangs in the balance, the lives of the characters connected in invisible and momentous ways. Mary Whipple
The Harmony Silk Factory
Malaysian author Tash Aw recreates this turbulent period, and he does so on several levels at once. In a non-linear narrative which switches back and forth in time and among several main characters and plot lines, the author emphasizes the displacement and loss felt by all the main characters during the turmoil. Adam, a teenage orphan who has lost his mother, his brother, and his adoptive father, is particularly alienated, not sure who he really is and desperate to find out. His adoptive father Karl, a Dutch artist who has worked for many years on a remote island, has just been arrested and taken away by military police, ostensibly to be repatriated to Holland, and Adam cannot find him. Margaret Bates, a middle-aged American expatriate doing research on non-verbal communication, lives in Old Jakarta and considers herself Indonesian, but she has no close family ties and no lover. Her teaching assistant Din, a communist, is frustrated by the inaction of the Indonesian government in helping the poor. The secret lives--invisible lives--of all these characters are gradually revealed as part of the novel's mosaic-like structure.
Composed with great attention to detail, this imaginative novel suggests, rather then tells about, the action. The story is cumulative, consisting of dramatic, usually short, scenes which require the reader to draw conclusions from the accumulation of details about the characters, their lives, and their relationships. The plot develops on several planes at once, constantly creating suspense and constantly providing the reader with surprises, as each new piece of the puzzle falls into place--but then creates new complications. Dramatic and exciting scenes from past and present occur in rapid succession, keeping the reader's interest high, as we wonder whether Adam will find his brother and/or his adoptive father, whether Karl is still alive, whether Margaret will resolve her old feelings for a past lover, and whether revolution and bloodshed will sweep through Jakarta and catch up all the characters we have come to know.
In some sense, however, the novel has almost an embarrassment of riches. The novel is explosive, like Indonesia itself, with the characters acting and interacting in seemingly random fashion until coincidence brings them together in shocking new ways, and the reader may actually become a bit weary from the bombardment of surprises. The ending feels a bit rushed, as if the author were not sure how to present a grand finale after having had so much drama up to that point, and a few scenes feel gratuitous (and even manipulative of the reader). Over all, however, Tash Aw has created an absorbing and unusual novel about a time in which the future of Indonesia hangs in the balance, the lives of the characters connected in invisible and momentous ways. Mary Whipple
The Harmony Silk Factory
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
On the face of it, this book should have been hard for me to 'fall into'. I know little of Indonesia and even less of its turbulent 20th century history; the main characters are far from my world. And yet Tash Aw's beautifully constructed settings and carefully observed characters were strangely familiar. Time and time again I thought to myself 'that's just how I would have put it, if only I had his mastery of words'! The settings and events may be as remote as can be but the emotional content is altogether close. As the stories intertwined, Aw nimbly jumps from decade to decade and follows his characters towards an ever more exciting conclusion. The mood is fatalistic from the outset; events control the characters more than the other way around and each person is set to dwell on certain defining moments, be they dimly or vividly recalled.
Despite starting out with some stock archetypes - the independent American who's intimate knowledge of `the locals' sets her apart; the orphan who's traumatic beginnings are shrouded in mist; the student activist etc. - Aw mostly avoids the pitfalls of cliché and stereotyping. These are individuals whose lives are not monochrome but coloured by their relationships, real or imagined, with one another and with Indonesia itself. I cannot comment on the historical accuracy of the era - Indonesia's post Imperial beginnings - but I felt that Aw was gently leading me through this background rather than trying to forcibly educate me of it. A point I much appreciate after occasionally wishing that a `historical novel' would just chose which entity it would rather be!
The storyline is compelling without quite crossing into the realm of `gripping'; and Aw's non-linear timeline does tread on the border of confusion at times. But overall he reveals himself to have a rare talent with words and a gift for characterization and I shall undoubtedly be looking out for his future work.
Despite starting out with some stock archetypes - the independent American who's intimate knowledge of `the locals' sets her apart; the orphan who's traumatic beginnings are shrouded in mist; the student activist etc. - Aw mostly avoids the pitfalls of cliché and stereotyping. These are individuals whose lives are not monochrome but coloured by their relationships, real or imagined, with one another and with Indonesia itself. I cannot comment on the historical accuracy of the era - Indonesia's post Imperial beginnings - but I felt that Aw was gently leading me through this background rather than trying to forcibly educate me of it. A point I much appreciate after occasionally wishing that a `historical novel' would just chose which entity it would rather be!
The storyline is compelling without quite crossing into the realm of `gripping'; and Aw's non-linear timeline does tread on the border of confusion at times. But overall he reveals himself to have a rare talent with words and a gift for characterization and I shall undoubtedly be looking out for his future work.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Map of the Invisible World talks of the political unrest in 1960s Indonesia following colonial independence from the Dutch. The story is based around that of two abandoned brothers separated from each other several years earlier. The characters are well defined and the story is extremely engaging. The plot flows well and the reader is able to sympathise with all the characters - from the two brothers with their difficult past and their very different current lives, to the young revolutionary in Indonesia who wants to make a statement through violence, and the last of the remaining Dutch inside Indonesia who are trying to establish a new identity. I certainly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it wholeheartedly.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Map Reading Problems
In Indonesia sometime in the late 1940s or maybe the 1950s, two young boys are abandoned by their mother and sent to an orphanage. Read more
Published 7 months ago by boingboing
Brilliant novel of search and discovery
The novel is very well written. Set in Indonesia, where revolutionaries are stirring up unrest and things are changing, particularly in attitudes toward the Dutch colonial... Read more
Published 17 months ago by P. Sharpe
Interesting background to a story that doesn't quite come off
The setting is Indonesia in 1963 and 1964, a time when Sukarno was whipping up fierce nationalist resentment against imperialism: against the British who had just set up Malaysia... Read more
Published on 6 May 2010 by Ralph Blumenau
Journey of discovery
Sixteen year old Adam is an orphan. He and his older brother, Johan, were abandoned by their mother as children; then Adam watched as Johan was taken away by a wealthy couple; and... Read more
Published on 22 Dec 2009 by ratstails
Loses its way...
I had high hopes for this book, and to start with I was engrossed. The characters and setting are wonderfully authentic, and the prose is absorbing. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2009 by H Pedder
A somewhat tiresome and one-dimensional book
I picked up this book with relish, having heard lavishing praise for Aw's previous novel, "The Harmony Silk Factory", but was sorely disappointed. Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2009 by Ian Shine
Not as good as The Harmony Silk Factory
`When it finally happened, there was no violence, hardly any drama'.
Tash Aw's second novel, Map of the Invisible World, starts with sixteen year old Adam witnessing his... Read more
Tash Aw's second novel, Map of the Invisible World, starts with sixteen year old Adam witnessing his... Read more
Published on 17 Aug 2009 by purpleheart
Beautifully written
A beautifully written book, full of evocative words that fill you with a sense of beauty. I ended up concentrating so hard on the writing that the story slipped me by. Read more
Published on 24 July 2009 by E. Chittenden
Not exactly Aw-ful but...
This book started well, but became very very, VERY dull and tepid after the 4th or 5th chapter. It was a struggle to motivate myself to go on reading it every time after I had... Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2009 by Midnight Blue
Good in places
Tash Aw's "Map of the Invisible World" opens with a theme that will be repeated throughout the book; someone being separated from their father and left alone to fend for... Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2009 by A. Macfarlane
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