The Harmony Silk Factory
Today, I spent I the entire morning - and a little bit of the afternoon - reading Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory.
The reason why I bought this book in the first place because it was
written by a Malaysian, and it's actually a nominee for the Booker
Prize. That, of course, just makes you want to get a copy - after all,
how often do you see Malaysians getting such nominations for their
writings? Well, anyway, here's a short review on the book.
At first sight, you would think that it's just a simple novel about a fictional character Johnny Lim, a tycoon in 1930-40's Malaya. Although that is the foundation that THSF builds itself upon, the book offers much more than that. The story is divided into three segments, each offering different viewpoints from three main characters: Jasper (Johnny's son), Snow Soong (Johnny's wife) and Peter Wormwood (Johnny's English friend). Jasper knows about his father from newspaper articles and his childhood memories, and sees his father as a notorious cheat and liar of the highest order. In other words, in Jasper's eyes, his father was just simply a bad man; his character almost feels ashamed to know that he is a son to Johnny. In the second segment, we look at Johnny through his wife, Snow's eyes. From there, Johnny is seen to be socially inept, not intimate with his wife - to the extent that his wife has sentiments of leaving him. When Snow's parents suggest that they go on a belated honeymoon, they travel to the mysterious Seven Maiden Islands, joined by Peter Wormwood, Kunichika Mamoru (a Japanese professor who is not who he seems) and Frederick Honey, another Englishman. The main story unfolds during the journey to the Seven Maiden Islands and during the time at the islands. In the last segment of the story, we look at Johnny's character through Peter Wormwood. The last segment is undoubtedly the most colourful, emotional and expressive part among the three, and serves its purpose of ending the story appropriately.
What I really loved about this novel was the fact that the author didn't bother introducing too many characters - sure, there were the additional minor characters of Snow's parents, but other than that, the story focussed itself on the main characters, namely Johnny, Snow, Peter. The diversity of the three viewpoints was also very clever - it shows how differently different people can view one same individual. All three viewpoints offer contrasting opinions about Johnny Lim's character, and you are bound to pity, hate, love Johnny - all three at the same time. The quotation that keeps coming up in the story is rather interesting as well: "Death erases traces of everything.", your memories of a person, how you felt towards a person. Also, I liked the fact the idea of the stories about an individual that will go on and on, even after the person has died, except that the deceased can do nothing about these stories.
The character development and the connection between the characters, to me, is the strong point for this novel. Although the three segments will take you mostly through the same incidents, each segment describes it differently and offers varying opinions. Even though Tash Aw's main aim was probably to introduce and explain Johnny Lim's complex character, he didn't just throw all the information to the reader, which would've made the book a bore. Instead it is as if you, the reader, are getting to know Johnny yourself, and you get three chances at it. At least, that's what I felt about it. It's like a reminder to you that you can't just make a conclusion about someone's personality, just because one individual said something about him. Why, you can't even make that conclusion if that person told you his/her lifetime story of knowing that particular individual!
In conclusion, I really loved this book. THSF is definitely going into my favourites list, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone (not just Malaysians!), for it is truly a compelling story. It will make you smile, frown, laugh and cry, believe me. And hey, Tash Aw certainly does a good job of promoting Malaysia with his effort! Haha. Well, I strongly suggest that you pick up a copy of THSF the next time you drop by at the bookstore - it's just too brilliant to be missed.
At first sight, you would think that it's just a simple novel about a fictional character Johnny Lim, a tycoon in 1930-40's Malaya. Although that is the foundation that THSF builds itself upon, the book offers much more than that. The story is divided into three segments, each offering different viewpoints from three main characters: Jasper (Johnny's son), Snow Soong (Johnny's wife) and Peter Wormwood (Johnny's English friend). Jasper knows about his father from newspaper articles and his childhood memories, and sees his father as a notorious cheat and liar of the highest order. In other words, in Jasper's eyes, his father was just simply a bad man; his character almost feels ashamed to know that he is a son to Johnny. In the second segment, we look at Johnny through his wife, Snow's eyes. From there, Johnny is seen to be socially inept, not intimate with his wife - to the extent that his wife has sentiments of leaving him. When Snow's parents suggest that they go on a belated honeymoon, they travel to the mysterious Seven Maiden Islands, joined by Peter Wormwood, Kunichika Mamoru (a Japanese professor who is not who he seems) and Frederick Honey, another Englishman. The main story unfolds during the journey to the Seven Maiden Islands and during the time at the islands. In the last segment of the story, we look at Johnny's character through Peter Wormwood. The last segment is undoubtedly the most colourful, emotional and expressive part among the three, and serves its purpose of ending the story appropriately.
What I really loved about this novel was the fact that the author didn't bother introducing too many characters - sure, there were the additional minor characters of Snow's parents, but other than that, the story focussed itself on the main characters, namely Johnny, Snow, Peter. The diversity of the three viewpoints was also very clever - it shows how differently different people can view one same individual. All three viewpoints offer contrasting opinions about Johnny Lim's character, and you are bound to pity, hate, love Johnny - all three at the same time. The quotation that keeps coming up in the story is rather interesting as well: "Death erases traces of everything.", your memories of a person, how you felt towards a person. Also, I liked the fact the idea of the stories about an individual that will go on and on, even after the person has died, except that the deceased can do nothing about these stories.
The character development and the connection between the characters, to me, is the strong point for this novel. Although the three segments will take you mostly through the same incidents, each segment describes it differently and offers varying opinions. Even though Tash Aw's main aim was probably to introduce and explain Johnny Lim's complex character, he didn't just throw all the information to the reader, which would've made the book a bore. Instead it is as if you, the reader, are getting to know Johnny yourself, and you get three chances at it. At least, that's what I felt about it. It's like a reminder to you that you can't just make a conclusion about someone's personality, just because one individual said something about him. Why, you can't even make that conclusion if that person told you his/her lifetime story of knowing that particular individual!
In conclusion, I really loved this book. THSF is definitely going into my favourites list, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone (not just Malaysians!), for it is truly a compelling story. It will make you smile, frown, laugh and cry, believe me. And hey, Tash Aw certainly does a good job of promoting Malaysia with his effort! Haha. Well, I strongly suggest that you pick up a copy of THSF the next time you drop by at the bookstore - it's just too brilliant to be missed.