Five Star Billionaire in Around the World in 80 Books

Jun 01, 2013 Sunflower rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction-read-2013, e-books

This book is the story of four Malaysian Chinese who leave Malaysia for better lives in Shanghai. The Malaysian influence is there in the flashbacks, and in their perceptions, but it's mainly about Shanghai. The city itself is almost a character too- portrayed as a relentlessly demanding and constantly changing environment that its citizens either ride the crest of like a wave, or get dumped and left behind.
The book is structured with strictly ordered chapters, in exactly the same order (Phoebe ...more

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Aug 07, 2013 Sam rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, 1-contemp-literary, setting-china, setting-asia-southeast, setting-asia-east, read-2013, authors-asian-descent-outside-asia

In Five Star Billionaire, Tash Aw trains his eye on contemporary Shanghai, the world’s fastest growing city. Even in a book that has no shortage of characters, the city really is the most important character in the book. Its sleek skyscrapers (that seemingly multiply overnight), wide boulevards of designer shops, luxuries to fulfill the whims of those who can afford it, and booming economy with entrepreneurs on the make, all conspire to create promises of wealth, of power, of modernity, of oppor In Five Star Billionaire, Tash Aw trains his eye on contemporary Shanghai, the world’s fastest growing city. Even in a book that has no shortage of characters, the city really is the most important character in the book. Its sleek skyscrapers (that seemingly multiply overnight), wide boulevards of designer shops, luxuries to fulfill the whims of those who can afford it, and booming economy with entrepreneurs on the make, all conspire to create promises of wealth, of power, of modernity, of opportunities to remake yourself in whatever guise you want.

The novel introduces us to five people who have found the lure of Shanghai’s promises irresistible. They all have roots in Malaysia (like the author), but are drawn to Shanghai for various reasons; some are seeking money, fame, and love; others are running away from their past lives into the anonymity offered by the big city.

But Shanghai is also a brutal city that can tear you to pieces and spit you back out if you can’t stay ahead of it, by hook or by crook. The frequent refrain that runs through the book is that Shanghai is ever-changing which, as it turns out, is a double-edged sword—great if you’re looking to start fresh, but devastating if you can’t keep up. As one character observes:

“The city was teasing you, testing your limits, using you. You arrived thinking you were going to use Shanghai to get what you wanted, and it would be sometime before you realized that it was using you, that it had already moved on and you were playing catch-up.” (257)

How do our characters fare as they set their sights on being the exception to the above rule? And how will their lives intersect with one another? *Will* they be connected at all? Even when the novel gets off to a bit of a slow start, these are the questions that kept me with the book.

There were points when I rued having picked up yet another book with a bazillion points of view that didn’t seem to cohere into anything meaningful. What’s more, it seemed that Aw was too slow in getting to the point—any point. But Aw’s unassuming, though still effective, writing was smooth enough that I wasn’t totally ready to abandon it. It didn't hurt that there were quite a few funny sections in the book as well. And so somewhere along the way—I can’t even identify where—I found myself understanding the characters and empathizing with them to the point that I did come care about knowing what happened next.

Those who are tempted to abandon the book before the mid-point might miss getting to marvel at how Aw braids these disparate stories together, connecting the hints scattered here and there about how things will turn out and what the end game is.

As befitting a rather baggy book, there are a host of themes you can tease out. But for me, the most affecting aspect of the novel is how it’s able to show that for all the challenge that Shanghai presents in terms of mastering it, I think the bigger challenge for our characters is that of changing themselves; the battle is more so an internal one. They are trying to run away from their pasts, their families, old grudges and pressures, past hardships, suppressed desires, and immature illusions. Some succeed in earning a sense of freedom, but others find that running and changing can only go so far. Even though, as I’ve mentioned, Shanghai is the most important character in the book, it turns out that the heart of the book comes from those five other characters whose tribulations readers weathered through alongside them and whose machinations (I am thinking of one person’s in particular) kind of take our breath away.
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Oct 28, 2013 Saima rated it liked it

Shelves: arc, 2013

Similar to Mohsin Hamid's "How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia", Tash Aw's book focuses on five Shanghai transplants who struggle in various ways to find happiness and success. Heartbreaking. ...more

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