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katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Long-listed for the Man Booker, the story sounded readable. A lot this year didn't. Not having tried this author before I was dubious when seeing the length but very quickly began to enjoy the multiple-plots of the five stories meeting in Shanghai.
Despite the foreign setting, nothing about the writing or context made me feel alienated or out of my depth. The stories of country girl heading to the big city, former billionaire son and pop stars losing their fortune/celebrity, hardworking businesswoman finding her way, and the Five Star Billionaire of the title and how they all connect, was all well-written, engrossing and fascinating.
I really wish this had made the Booker shortlist and the closer I got to the ending and saw Aw's clever knotting of the stories together made me rethink the whole of the book and how the characters all connected. Very clever.
Great book, worthy of winning awards. And very readable. Don't be put off by the setting or the award tag. Good payoff.
Despite the foreign setting, nothing about the writing or context made me feel alienated or out of my depth. The stories of country girl heading to the big city, former billionaire son and pop stars losing their fortune/celebrity, hardworking businesswoman finding her way, and the Five Star Billionaire of the title and how they all connect, was all well-written, engrossing and fascinating.
I really wish this had made the Booker shortlist and the closer I got to the ending and saw Aw's clever knotting of the stories together made me rethink the whole of the book and how the characters all connected. Very clever.
Great book, worthy of winning awards. And very readable. Don't be put off by the setting or the award tag. Good payoff.
shadowsmoon's review against another edition
1.0
I gave up on this book on p. 236 when I just couldn't stand not knowing where it was going anymore...and having no interest in the characters at all I'm left wondering what the heck was the point. It put me off reading for weeks :-/
newson66's review against another edition
3.0
Five emotionally stunted characters attempt to find a semblance of meaning in their hugely differing lives in a transient Shanghai.
I'm not entirely sure what stopped me throughly enjoying this book, it had the potential to go on to great things but somehow just didn't - rather like the emotionally neutered characters that fail to connect or engage with their lives.
I'm not entirely sure what stopped me throughly enjoying this book, it had the potential to go on to great things but somehow just didn't - rather like the emotionally neutered characters that fail to connect or engage with their lives.
coffeemybook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A solid 2 stars right till the revelation at the end, and the solemn ending
alisonjfields's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty great bordering on brilliant. Great language, mostly wonderful characters. Could have been a Five Star Book, but for one character whose story seemed tacked on to the rest for reasons I could not quite figure. That said, it offers plenty of insight and reads breathless as a guilty pleasure.
As a sidenote: it did not particularly inspire any new desire to visit Shanghai, though I am now very curious about Velvet Underground-listening hipsters in Kuala Lumpur.
As a sidenote: it did not particularly inspire any new desire to visit Shanghai, though I am now very curious about Velvet Underground-listening hipsters in Kuala Lumpur.
bboduffy's review against another edition
5.0
I asked my Singaporean coworker to recommend some books that captured the Malaysian contemporary lit genre and cultural experience. The character-centered plot of this Tash Aw novel seemed like a great starting place.
It was far darker than I'd anticipated, with a tonality evocative of [a:Haruki Murakami|3354|Haruki Murakami|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1470611596p2/3354.jpg]. It shared similarities with Western novels in this genre, introspection, loneliness, social performance - but the internal monologues of the characters differed in ways that are difficult to articulate. The description of work ethic - almost merciless - and the motivations for material gain stood out.
I've always imagined the U.S. to be the embodiment of capitalism with our economy of Disneyfication, but the pursuit of luxury goods and luxury experiences was a key driver throughout this text. It reminded me of [b:The White Tiger|1768603|The White Tiger|Aravind Adiga|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347754998s/1768603.jpg|1766737], another book she had recommended. In that book, the narrator was also highly fixated on these external indicators of wealth.
Guess I'll just have to read more novels from these regions to see if it is a sampling bias and/or what other themes emerge in the APAC contemporary lit space.
It was far darker than I'd anticipated, with a tonality evocative of [a:Haruki Murakami|3354|Haruki Murakami|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1470611596p2/3354.jpg]. It shared similarities with Western novels in this genre, introspection, loneliness, social performance - but the internal monologues of the characters differed in ways that are difficult to articulate. The description of work ethic - almost merciless - and the motivations for material gain stood out.
I've always imagined the U.S. to be the embodiment of capitalism with our economy of Disneyfication, but the pursuit of luxury goods and luxury experiences was a key driver throughout this text. It reminded me of [b:The White Tiger|1768603|The White Tiger|Aravind Adiga|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347754998s/1768603.jpg|1766737], another book she had recommended. In that book, the narrator was also highly fixated on these external indicators of wealth.
Guess I'll just have to read more novels from these regions to see if it is a sampling bias and/or what other themes emerge in the APAC contemporary lit space.
theslowreaderr's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
They were all leaving, and they knew that, in Malaysia, to leave meant to be privileged.
They were all leaving, and they knew that, in Malaysia, to leave meant to be privileged.
djvilleza's review against another edition
3.0
Author Tash Aw lends us a vivid exploration of China's urban jungle, Shanghai. Five Star Billionaire weaves tangential encounters through several key characters, but nothing greater than Shanghai itself - depicted as an unforgiving and relentless character willing to shed its skin of culture and tradition to slither through economic growth. Five Star Billionaire initially proffers an immersive journey, but only ends up a sojourn once the narrative loses its focus in the last act.
theconstantreader's review against another edition
4.0
There was a lot going on in this book and while sometimes it felt a bit clunky, overall I found it to be entertaining. It deals with perception, imitation and deceit. What lengths would you go to to become someone else and how do you ever really know a person? Scary and interesting topics to explore for sure.
There were quite a few questions left unanswered for me though:
- Why was Gary necessary? Did he have any link to Walter? All these synopses I read make out like all the characters were linked to Walter Chao in some away. Besides Gary befriending Phoebe online, I didn't see any connection between him and any of the other characters. While his story was interesting and provided the clear "wealth doesn't equal happiness" lesson, I don't think Gary as a character was truly required.
- So Walter was the 'Five Star Billionaire' but was he really a billionaire? I felt like Aw left too much unsaid here. Walter was such an unreliable character I wasn't sure what to believe and what not to believe. Was all the cheap crockery and cutlery in Walter's house to show he was in fact just a scam artist or that despite his wealth, his life was mostly empty with no-one to share it with?
I need answers!
Otherwise I thought each of the characters was developed pretty well and I enjoyed the intermingling of their stories. Initially I found the first person chapters told by Walter confusing compared to the third person accounts shared about each of the other characters (and also including Walter) but it all ironed out in the end.
There were quite a few questions left unanswered for me though:
- Why was Gary necessary? Did he have any link to Walter? All these synopses I read make out like all the characters were linked to Walter Chao in some away. Besides Gary befriending Phoebe online, I didn't see any connection between him and any of the other characters. While his story was interesting and provided the clear "wealth doesn't equal happiness" lesson, I don't think Gary as a character was truly required.
- So Walter was the 'Five Star Billionaire' but was he really a billionaire? I felt like Aw left too much unsaid here. Walter was such an unreliable character I wasn't sure what to believe and what not to believe. Was all the cheap crockery and cutlery in Walter's house to show he was in fact just a scam artist or that despite his wealth, his life was mostly empty with no-one to share it with?
I need answers!
Otherwise I thought each of the characters was developed pretty well and I enjoyed the intermingling of their stories. Initially I found the first person chapters told by Walter confusing compared to the third person accounts shared about each of the other characters (and also including Walter) but it all ironed out in the end.
kfront's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0