After losing Katie, I was desperate for distraction, and picked up "Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding. It was the perfect, light-hearted tonic I needed -- it made me laugh at a time when I wondered whether I would ever laugh again -- & I still think of it fondly.
Fast-forward 20 years, and my current light-hearted distraction: "Crazy Rich Asians" by Kevin Kwan. Once again, I was looking for something fun & frivolous to read as FIL entered the palliative care ward and then passed away shortly afterward. Also, like Mel at Stirrup Queens, I knew the movie was being released this weekend, and wanted to read the book before I went to the theatre. (I finished the book last night and we saw the movie this afternoon -- see below.)(Plus, the paperback was on sale at the local mega-bookstore.)
"Crazy Rich Asians" will never be mistaken for high-minded literature, but it does keep you turning the pages. It's a satirical romp through the world of the ultra-rich residents of Singapore, as seen through the eyes of Rachel Chu, a California-raised economics professor now living in New York City. Rachel agrees to spend her summer with her boyfriend Nick in Asia, kicking things off by heading to Singapore for Nick's best friend's wedding. Little does she realize that her history professor boyfriend is from one of the wealthiest and most socially prominent families in Asia, and the most eligible bachelor on the island...!
I enjoyed learning more about Singapore, its history and culture through the pages of this book. I enjoyed seeing it all through Rachel's middle-class American eyes, and I got a kick out of her feisty Singaporean friend, Goh Peik Lin. (Spoiler alert!) I enjoyed seeing certain characters get their well-deserved come-uppance in the end.
But I will admit that, even though I realize the book is a satire, the characters' snobbery and obsession with money and what it can buy was somewhat offputting. This is SO not me and the way I was brought up or live now (although I currently LIVE among Crazy Rich Asians -- except they're not Asians & not QUITE so fabulously rich as the people in the book. Nevertheless, the obsession with money (and food!) and doing things in a certain way -- having the perfectly designed house, wearing designer labels, driving certain kinds of cars, throwing big, splashy weddings -- it all sounds very, very familiar...!)
(Case in point: when we first moved here, dh & I were at the movie theatre, enduring the parade of ads that appear before the coming attractions and then, finally, the movie... and I whispered to dh, "Have you noticed that all the car ads back in Old Community were for Ford and Nissan and Toyota, and all the ones here are for Lexus and BMW and Audi??")
I am not sure I will regard "Crazy Rich Asians" with quite the same affection I have for "Bridget Jones's Diary" -- I could relate to Bridget and her world far more than Nick's relatives, even the nicer ones -- but it was a fun read and a pleasant diversion. There are already not just one but two sequels (both also on sale right now at the local mega-bookstore... I think I will be picking them up the next time I'm there, although I'm not sure I'll be rushing to read them right away).
I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads (perhaps even stretching it to a 3.5 :) ).
This was book #17 that I've read so far in 2018, bringing me to 71% of my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 24 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 2 books ahead of schedule to meet my goal! :)
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With the book fresh in my mind (I finished it last night!), dh & I went to a matinee showing of the movie version of "Crazy Rich Asians" this afternoon. The movie has been well reviewed with a lot of buzz, particularly since it's the first Asian-focused movie with an all-Asian cast made by Hollywood since "The Joy Luck Club," 25 years ago. (A few possible spoilers below!)
I enjoyed the movie hugely, perhaps even more so than the book. While I think reading the book first gave me a leg up in terms of recognizing the characters and following the subplots, dh enjoyed it a lot too. There are ostentatious displays of wealth, of course, but somehow, for some reason, seeing them onscreen didn't bother me as much as reading about them (more showing vs telling -- not as many labels tossed conspicuously around?). Constance Wu is endearing as Rachel, and Awkwafina (never heard of her before "Ocean's 8") steals every scene she is in as Rachel's friend Peik Lin -- and her role (and that of her family) has been expanded from the book.
The movie was pretty faithful to the book -- right up until the last several minutes, which are quite different. There's a mah-jongg game between Rachel and Nick's formidable mother, Eleanor -- which apparently is even more significant if you actually understand mah-jongg. (I don't, but I hugely appreciated this article explaining exactly what was going on). And while the book's ending is ambiguous but hopeful regarding Rachel & Nick's future, the movie ending is more emphatically happy/Hollywood/fairytale (surprise!).
There's a brief scene amid the closing credits where Nick's cousin Astrid exchanges significant looks with a man at a party. The young girls in the audience all squealed in delight -- I couldn't figure out why. I thought maybe he was some hot Asian actor I'd never heard of -- and apparently he appeared on "Glee" (which I watched only sporadically during its first few seasons)? I didn't clue in just then, but apparently he was supposed to be Charlie Wu, Astrid's first love, who plays a significant role in the book (that was cut from the movie). Supposedly this bodes well for a movie sequel. Guess I'd better get reading those two book sequels, then...! ;)
I just Googled Michelle Yeoh, who plays Eleanor, Nick's mother, in the movie. She's a year YOUNGER than me!!! Yikes!!!
ReplyDeleteSo funny -- when she came on the screen, I commented to Josh, "She has a son in his thirties? Did she have him when she was a child?"
DeleteI do play mah-jonng -- my whole family plays and it's a rite of passage when you get old enough to be invited to the table to play your own hand. Up until then, you sit next to someone else and learn -- so it didn't occur to me that without an explanation, that scene wouldn't have the same meaning to someone else.
I can't wait to read books 2 and 3. I couldn't relate to most of the characters, but I loved them anyway. It was the perfect read because I always cared about when I'd be able to return to the book.
When we first bought our house, there was an Asian family living i the house across the back fence... we never got to know them very well, but one summer night, when my parents were visiting, we could see them all around the dining room table playing a game that I think was mah-jongg... it was a nice evening outside, so our patio doors were open, as were theirs, and we could hear them all LAUGHING like crazy. They were obviously having a great time, and my parents got quite a kick out of it. They would ask us for years afterwards if our neighbours were still playing mah-jongg. :)
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