I grew up in Guwahati, a small city in the north-eastern part of India in the 1980s. During those days it was considered cheap and lacking in social manners if one was heard of flaunting his or her money. This attitude has stayed with me and hence, I purposely keep a low profile and generally stay away from people who love to show off their wealth.
This book, therefore, has been quite an out-of-the-box experience for me.
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan talks about a society that is so far away from the realm of my modest reality that I would not mind it calling it mythical. A society that consists of a handful of the uber-rich pedigreed Chinese families who live in these monstrous houses designed by the who's who of the architecture world, traveling all over the world in private jets, shopping unpronounceable brands, holidaying in places that are as exotic as they come, buying jewellery as if it doesn't cost money, and investing in properties as if these are simply peanuts!!
WOW...talk about being so sinfully rich that you even put the Arabs and the Sheikhs to shame!
Remember the simple saying that we have grown up listening, "Money never buys you happiness." This is an absolute truth and it applies to this stinkingly-rich society too. Although these families believe that their money, bloodline, and lineage shields them from the troubles of the mere mortals such as jealousy, hatred, indifference, infidelity, insecurity, and many more; however these vices plague them too because it's a known fact that man is never satisfied. The more he has, the more he craves. This uncontrolled greed is the crux of all problems!
This story is about two individuals living in New York working as professors, Nicholas Young, and Rachel Chu. When Rachel agrees to spend the entire summer with Nicholas and his family in Singapore, she envisions meeting a simple family with modest roots, spending time exploring Singapore, and hoping to take their relationship to the next level. She is in for a rude awakening when she realizes that her boyfriend is the most eligible bachelor with a family that is as good as Chinese royalty and that snootiness and bitchiness runs in the veins of 95% of Nick's family who is hell-bent to break nick and her relationship. The entire story is how this young couple maneuvers the Young family full of landmines!
There are some very interesting subplots in the story too that add to the zing!
This is a light breezy read that is all fluff. It is a total no-brainer, a pure chick-lit, with vivid, hilarious, and outrageously over the top characters who are so full of DRAMA and SECRETS. It's opulent, it's melodramatic, and it's completely nuts.
This is perfect for your light Sunday reading making you forget your measly real-life issues and plunges you straight into the superficial problems of the CRAZY RICH ASIANS! Enjoy!
