Book to Movie – …on the B.L.

Crazy Rich Asians – Book and Movie

August 16, 2018May 16, 2019 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Movie Watch!
Length 527
Quick Review Rachel Chu is completely unprepared to enter her boyfriend’s world of money, drama, and family. Although it comes across as a rom-commy love store, it’s more of a satire.

Recreating the cover of Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.

I picked up Crazy Rich Asians and its sisters right before the movie came out because I like supporting POC, especially when they’re represented in the media. I power read my way through Crazy Rich Asians in a day, so I could write and publish this the day after seeing the movie, which I saw last night.

Honestly, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan is an interesting read. As an American with no depth in Singaporean high-society or any level of Singaporean society, a lot of the satire and poorly veiled pseudonyms were lost on me without digging a little. From the beginning, Kwan has a quirky and funny writing style. The family tree is footnoted with hilarious tidbits.

Rachel Chu is a Chinese-American living in New York as an economics professor at NYU. Her boyfriend Nick Young, a NYU history professor, is the heir apparent to a millions-upon-millions fortune in Singapore, all unbeknownst to Rachel. They take a summer trip to his hometown for his best friend’s wedding, where she is thrown into the viper pit without warning. Ensues is a level of opulence that makes The Great Gatsby look like peanuts, (although, there are a lot of similar elements between the two stories), mystery, privacy, and so much drama you can’t even imagine.

Kwan does a really good job from the very first chapter in setting up the story to demonstrate the ability the Young’s, T’sien’s, and Shang’s have at getting their way because of their money. Kwan does a much better job at crafting intriguing and well-rounded male characters. For the most part, the female characters fall flat. They lack the emotional range a real woman would have in any situation let alone one similar to that of these characters. The female characters become tropes. There is a lot of mystery and drama, which helped make the novel interesting.

I did enjoy the way Kwan wrote the book. The writing style is fun and quirky with really quippy dialogue. The narrative structure really helped the novel. Had it been told from one or two perspectives, it would have been a lot less effective, and the problems with the characters would have shown through much more. The chapters were told from the perspectives of several characters of different genders, families, and backgrounds; this was great for showing several perspectives, story lines, and mystery. The narration was in the third person, but Kwan gave insight into the character’s psyche through italicizing their inner dialogues. There were also flash back moments to fill in about their personal history or adding to the family’s.

Movie
I saw the movie last night. I really, really enjoyed it. I love that it was an all Asian cast. The acting was great. Constance Wu took the character of Rachel – who fell flat in the book – and turned her into a believable, funny, and interesting character to watch and empathize with. The rest of the cast was equally thrilling to watch. Awkwafina was brilliant.

I loved the men in this movie. Asian men are quite literally the least romantically sought after ethnic group in America because they have constantly been feminized and more. It’s a big issue. A complicated issue. We need to start recognizing Asian men as complex fascinating men just like their counter parts. I have never understood this stereotype. I love Asian guys; I have dated Asian guys; I wish they were seen as the sexy beings they truly are. Like Ali Wong says, they’re frickin’ dolphins with no body hair. What’s not to like??? This movie has HOT Asian dudes in it. Hopefully, it’s a step towards having Asian leading men (and ladies). If we’re only going to let beautiful people on screen, can I, at least, look at beautiful people of different colors.

The movie fixed the things I didn’t like in the novel but cut out the things I did like about the book. Unfortunately. I understand why. You can’t fit that kind of family drama into 120 minutes. I did not love the flat characters in the book, but the movie fixed that. I didn’t think Kevin Kwan really understood how bitchy and subversive women can be when they’re torturing other women, but the movie got it! Cut it short but got it. The movie had to reduce about 80% of the drama and mystery that made the book interesting to read, but I forgive them. The movie can stand on its own without it. The movie also gets rid of a bunch of the profanity and crudeness out of the book. It would have very much been rated R if they kept it. I did enjoy reading those bits, though. Hilarious. Debauchery comes in every culture.

Overall, the movie is fabulous. Go watch it. This weekend! Show up for POC!!! We need to support them, so we can continue to have diverse representation in media. When POC win, we all win.

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Memorable Quotes
“NEVER, EVER wear green chiffon unless you want to look like bok choy that got gang-raped.”

Title: Crazy Rich Asians
Author: Kevin Kwan
Publisher: Anchor Books
Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 9780345803788

Books

The Glass Castle

July 31, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 288
Quick Review A memoir about the difficulties of growing up in a dysfunctionally transient family with a fascinating and intelligent alcoholic of a father leading their way.

I read this book a few years ago, and it has stayed with me not just for the story but because of Walls’ writing. With the movie coming out in a few days, I power read it over the weekend. It is just as resonating a second time.

Jeannette Walls is a journalist in New York City with a degree from Barnard College. These are wonderful achievements, which help define her character and intelligence even more so considering what she overcame as a child. The Glass Castle is a testament to her resilience.

Walls was born in 1960 to Rex and Rose Mary. She is one of four children. Growing up she lived a nomadic life. Her father was a brilliant man. His children adored him before growing up to resent his alcoholism and inability to conform even a little. He was able to capture his children’s imagination through storytelling and science. The children were home schooled a great deal with an emphasis on living life through the absence of fear. With one parent abhorring the conformity of society, the children needed a grounded parent. They did not find it in their mother, Rose Mary. She was an artistic free spirit looking at feminine domesticity as a prison she would not tolerate. She dismissed her role as parent and mother.

Walls writes about the difficulties of growing up in secluded environment. She describes the bond between her siblings; how they would lean on each other for support, nourishment, clothing, and protection in a world where their parents were barely present.

All four Walls children went on to live in society as fully functional and present participants ending up in New York City. Rex and Rose Mary followed their children to New York. Rex died in 1994 from a heart attack after he and his wife chose to remain homeless despite offers of help from their children.

Walls is a wonderful writer. She does not shy away from brutal honesty. She meets her childhood trauma head on with the maturity in the realization it formed her into the well-respected and successful journalist and writer she is today.

Memorable Quotes
“You’ve got to get right back in the saddle. You can’t live in fear of something as basic as fire.”
“You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that.”
“She had her addictions and one of them was reading.”
“Life’s too short to care about what other people think. Besides, they should accept us for who we are”

Title: The Glass Castle
Author: Jeannette Walls
Publisher: Scribner
Copyright: 2005
ISBN: 9780743247542

Books, Fiction

The Handmaid’s Tale

February 8, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 311
Quick Review It’s a remarkable work of dystopian fiction, which has been talked about for decades. It’s a highly influential book in the world of contemporary fiction.

I have been hearing about The Handmaid’s Tale for a long time now. It’s been on my to read list for just as long. Amazon has created a TV show of the same name, and I wanted to read the novel before watching the show. So that was my shallow push to finally get around to reading it.

To be honest, it’s a book I read because it is so widely talked about, and not out of pure love for the genre. As a reader, I do not like Atwood’s style throughout. It’s odd and difficult to follow at times. Nor does it follow grammatical rules at all whatsoever. I majored in Literature in college, and have experience with textual analysis. From a scholarly standpoint, the style is incredibly compelling and fully supports the plot. More importantly the style gives credence to Offred, the protagonist, as well as help the reader understand where she starts and her evolution. The style changes throughout the story as Offred progresses taking steps to reclaim her previous self. I won’t say more, so I don’t ruin it for you. The style is intrinsic to the story. I do not think it would be such a compelling work of fiction if the style were more traditional.

It was a difficult book to read, at this point, for me. I live in a country which is experiences a lot of upheaval and frankly illegal/unconstitutional actions. These are the first steps towards societies depicted in dystopian fiction. For me it was difficult to read because there were points where the novel was not depicting a fictional world, but things I see happening right now today.

I was entirely uncomfortable reading The Handmaid’s Tale because of how women are treated. As a self-proclaimed feminist, I was uncomfortable and at times a bit queasy. Although, these are all intended by the author, I’m sure; no one writes dystopian fiction saying: yes this is the perfect world.

I had a hard time getting into the novel because of the style, but once I got used to it, I really enjoyed it. For me, the ending was both perfect yet entirely unsatisfying.

Read it. It’s fabulous and deserving of the hype surrounding it. It ranks high within my list of interesting dystopian novels.

Memorable Quotes
“It’s good to have small goals that can be easily attained.”
“They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time.”

Title: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Anchor Books
Copyright: 1986
ISBN: 9780385490818