This book tells the story of some Malaysians trying to make it in China. The stories are largely separate, with only occasional overlaps, apparently a most fashionable form at the moment.
What can I tell you? I kind of hated it. The characters are very varied – a migrant factory worker, a successful business woman, a pop star – but they are also all very similar. They all want money, or, perhaps to put it more fairly, they all want the symbols of money. They all find solace in the internet. They all think Shanghai is big. I can’t tell you too much about it as I’ve already forgotten most of it.
FIVE STAR BILLIONAIRE has received some good reviews, so perhaps I am being uncharitable. I guess it was sort of interesting to learn about contemporary China, but if that’s what China is like – dull and money grubbing – I’m not sure I’m very interested.