Crazy Rich Asians,
the title of which by Kevin Kwan, poignantly missing punctuation marks, which
deftly turns this novel into being about two things: crazy-rich Asians, and
crazy, rich, Asians.
Rachel and Nick,
happily dating for two years and equally happily ensconced in their New York
lives as University professors, are summoned back to Singapore for the wedding
of the century of which Nick is the Best Man. Rachel - already understandably
nervous to be meeting her boyfriend's entire extended family - is suddenly
thrown into the lives of the rich and famous, the opulence of which making
American society look like trailer trash, and sometimes bordering on the
ridiculous. From the moment their private plane lands, Rachel and Nick both
find themselves with targets on their backs as they navigate the complexities
of family, wealth, prestige, power, and the ever-tumultuous love.
Not a whole lot
happens throughout the book, except for the ending, of course, and the
beginning is a bit long-winded. But you'll find yourself drawn to certain
characters and their stories, deeming most - if not all - of them extremely
unlikable. And the driving force of this novel - the unflinching racism that
seems to power most life-altering decisions - is something I find incredibly fascinating;
the opening scene an interesting dichotomy between what we inherently find
acceptable and what we don't; racism is not ok for outsiders, but appears to be
the lifeblood of ancient cultures. But as my trailer trash comment above
proves, it's something we all find ourselves doing.
Written with an
extremely intelligent air, Crazy Rich Asians is Mean Girls with real estate
holdings and ancient Chinese dynasties. It is definitely absurd and dramatic in
the way of Soap Operas, but about halfway through, I started looking at my
bookshelves and thinking about what I should read next, and I'm not sure I'll
ever find myself wanting to read the other two books in this trilogy. I mean,
how much more attention do these (yes, I know, fictional) people need? ⭐⭐/5
