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A review by theconstantreader
Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
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.