Sino and Gideon are sitting pretty. A generation ago, they would have been condemned to a life of menial labour in their native China and South Africa. Today, both are embedded in a global conglomerate, on the fast-track to management greatness. The problem is, the more they think about what's on offer, the more they want to go home, even if life in their own emerging cultures can still be nasty, brutish and short and the state the biggest criminal of all. For their American boss, Sam, this attitude is a problem. He needs a steady stream of ambitious, malleable graduates to staff his operations around the world, otherwise he won't be able to keep the profits coming in. Sam's other problems are mounting, too. Chinese competitors are squeezing his businesses and regulators are breathing down his neck. Even his old European stepmother, who used to turn a blind eye as long as the profits kept rolling in, is starting to lose faith in his ability to hold things together. The Glass Tower is a wry and ruthless portrait of a weakened western elite struggling to remain relevant as the emerging world powers forward into the future.
The Glass Tower
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Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Glass Tower tells the story of characters from three different continents and cultures whose paths cross at a multinational engaged in undefined engineering activities.
Like the impersonal glass tower in which they work, the characters are remote at first, as if unwilling to disclose much about themselves in a competitive corporate environment. But just as the mighty global company is gradually revealed to be weaker than it seemed, so every character is shown to be more human than they would like to let on. Each bears scars from the past, and with great dexterity and sympathy, the author recounts how loss, separation, loneliness or aggression have shaped their lives.
In the process, the book courageously enters the quicksands of cultural stereotype that can so easily slip into cliché, and explores the cultural roots of the characters' behaviours with considerable sympathy and sensitivity.
Many books fall flat at the end, but this novel avoids the pitfall by shunning a big showdown or even a single ending. The author phases the characters out so gently that you don't realize they have gone for good until the book ends. Only then does it become clear that there was no single story to wrap up, but a series of interwoven stories about individuals. Without fanfare, each character enters a new phase of their lives, marking the end of their role in the book.
A very warm and uplifting novel that lingers like an autumn mist, prompting mellow reflections on the courage required to face our own demons and pursue what really makes us happy.
Like the impersonal glass tower in which they work, the characters are remote at first, as if unwilling to disclose much about themselves in a competitive corporate environment. But just as the mighty global company is gradually revealed to be weaker than it seemed, so every character is shown to be more human than they would like to let on. Each bears scars from the past, and with great dexterity and sympathy, the author recounts how loss, separation, loneliness or aggression have shaped their lives.
In the process, the book courageously enters the quicksands of cultural stereotype that can so easily slip into cliché, and explores the cultural roots of the characters' behaviours with considerable sympathy and sensitivity.
Many books fall flat at the end, but this novel avoids the pitfall by shunning a big showdown or even a single ending. The author phases the characters out so gently that you don't realize they have gone for good until the book ends. Only then does it become clear that there was no single story to wrap up, but a series of interwoven stories about individuals. Without fanfare, each character enters a new phase of their lives, marking the end of their role in the book.
A very warm and uplifting novel that lingers like an autumn mist, prompting mellow reflections on the courage required to face our own demons and pursue what really makes us happy.
By Mark Curtis
Format:Paperback
The Glass Tower brings a human account of Western corporate life, transformed by the emerging economies' struggling for a piece of the action.
The main characters represent the economies of the world, from the declining influence of the US and Europe to the emerging economies of Africa and China.
Hughes builds his characters, some of whom you hate, others you grow to love, each depicting aspects of personalities familiar to those who have worked for a major corporation. I particularly liked Sino, a Chinese trainee who has been advised in life by his grandfather to simply "fill the holes." Unsure of his precise role in the corporate environment, Sino does exactly that with great success. The Glass Tower is a witty portrait of different cultures, forced together in a globalized economy, with vivid and often very funny metaphors, which are guaranteed to make you smile.
The main characters represent the economies of the world, from the declining influence of the US and Europe to the emerging economies of Africa and China.
Hughes builds his characters, some of whom you hate, others you grow to love, each depicting aspects of personalities familiar to those who have worked for a major corporation. I particularly liked Sino, a Chinese trainee who has been advised in life by his grandfather to simply "fill the holes." Unsure of his precise role in the corporate environment, Sino does exactly that with great success. The Glass Tower is a witty portrait of different cultures, forced together in a globalized economy, with vivid and often very funny metaphors, which are guaranteed to make you smile.
By Daniella
Format:Paperback
I was lent this book by a friend, who knew I was interested in China's involvement in Africa. I started by dipping into it - there's a list of chapters in the front - and quickly became engrossed. (My favourite chapter was "The Bereaved Bitch".) The best thing about the book is the characters, who are very life-like (you quickly start to like them or hate them). I liked most of them; I thought the Chinese guy was great, and the older European woman very simpatico. The American and the South African, I didn't like at all, although the South African grew on me towards the end.
Each chapter is given over to a different character, and sometimes you have the feeling you're reading a totally different book. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in understanding how other cultures tick. It's quite sad in parts but also funny and slightly nasty. Don't read it, if you're easily offended, or the boss of a multinational.
Each chapter is given over to a different character, and sometimes you have the feeling you're reading a totally different book. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in understanding how other cultures tick. It's quite sad in parts but also funny and slightly nasty. Don't read it, if you're easily offended, or the boss of a multinational.
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