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A review by daumari
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
4.0
Notes from the reread:
In light of the upcoming movie, decided to reread the trilogy and boy do I also empathize from Nick's point of view where he naively thinks his family will love Rachel, without pausing to think of the [unspoken] expectations they have on him. I also realize that some of my favorite Oliver T'sien lines are actually in book 2, oops. I also recognize parts of the community feel iffy about this adaptation being the big all-Asian diaspora production, but I would strongly push back as we need all kinds of stories- fluffy romcoms, gritty thrillers, moody oscarbait, etc. And as fluffy as CRA gets, part of the point is to satirize how ostentatiously over the top some people are (Eddie Cheng), and how class-conscious others are (Michael feeling very uncomfortable, Eleanor Young's shallow biddy friends, etc.)
Original 2015 review:
I can see why this was the fun summer read of 2013- a peek into the lifestyles of the outrageously rich and famous through the eyes of our ABC homegirl Rachel, accompanying her boyfriend Nick Young to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. Nick's mother combines the worst of Mrs. Bennett and Lady Catherine deBourgh. A sharp satire of today's modern Downton Abbey types, am definitely looking forward to the movie adaption.
In light of the upcoming movie, decided to reread the trilogy and boy do I also empathize from Nick's point of view where he naively thinks his family will love Rachel, without pausing to think of the [unspoken] expectations they have on him. I also realize that some of my favorite Oliver T'sien lines are actually in book 2, oops. I also recognize parts of the community feel iffy about this adaptation being the big all-Asian diaspora production, but I would strongly push back as we need all kinds of stories- fluffy romcoms, gritty thrillers, moody oscarbait, etc. And as fluffy as CRA gets, part of the point is to satirize how ostentatiously over the top some people are (Eddie Cheng), and how class-conscious others are (Michael feeling very uncomfortable, Eleanor Young's shallow biddy friends, etc.)
Original 2015 review:
I can see why this was the fun summer read of 2013- a peek into the lifestyles of the outrageously rich and famous through the eyes of our ABC homegirl Rachel, accompanying her boyfriend Nick Young to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. Nick's mother combines the worst of Mrs. Bennett and Lady Catherine deBourgh. A sharp satire of today's modern Downton Abbey types, am definitely looking forward to the movie adaption.