Map of the Invisible World

by Tash Aw

Book Overview

From the author of the internationally acclaimed The Harmony Silk Factory comes an enthralling novel that evokes an exotic yet turbulent place and time--1960s Indonesia during President Sukarno's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385527977
• ISBN13: 9780385527972
• Release Date: December 2010
• Publisher: Random House
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Map of the Invisible World: A Novel

Tash Aw's new novel is a haunting, multi-layered story; it takes us into the heart of Indonesia in the 1960s and weaves the experiences of different characters separated by time but interlocked by fate. Adam is an Indonesian orphan raised by a Dutch father who claims Indonesian identity. Adam and his brother Johan were abandoned by their mother as children; Johan was adopted by a wealthy couple and has not been seen ever since. The two brothers grow up apart. As the story begins, Adam witnesses the arrest of his foster father, Karl, by soldiers under Sukarno's regime, which is cleaning 1960s Indonesia of people of Dutch ancestry, who are the country's former colonialists. In his efforts to fight for Karl's release, Adam seeks the help of Margaret, an American woman who once dated Karl. The two embark on a dangerous quest in a time of rapid national change. Johan leads a dangerous life in Malaysia, but the memory of his brother haunts him and afflicts him with guilt. This is a well-crafted, moving story that shocks with its wide tapestry of character experiences, which the author harmoniously weaves into one satisfying story. Reviewed by Emmanuel Sigauke

"Is it better to be oppressed by a foreigner or by someone of your own race?"

(4.5 stars) Many Indonesians had become restless and frustrated by 1964, wanting a history apart from their colonial past, a history of "their own." Indonesia had been a Dutch colony for three and a half centuries, and had been occupied by the Japanese for much of World War II. Though long-time leader Dewi Sukarno declared the country's independence--and became President--after the defeat of the Japanese, the Dutch remained a dominating presence in the country's economy, to their own benefit far more than the Indonesians'. By 1964, when this novel opens, resentment against westerners is peaking. The Dutch are being arrested without warning and forcibly "repatriated," the Chinese and Russians are exerting significant influence, Communism has become so popular that the president and the army fear a coup, and violence has become a way of life. Malaysian author Tash Aw recreates this turbulent period, and he does so on several levels at once. In a non-linear narrative which switches back and forth in time and among several main characters and plot lines, the author emphasizes the displacement and loss felt by all the main characters during the turmoil. Adam, a teenage orphan who has lost his mother, his brother, and his adoptive father, is particularly alienated, not sure who he really is and desperate to find out. His adoptive father Karl, a Dutch artist who has worked for many years on a remote island, has just been arrested and taken away by military police, ostensibly to be repatriated to Holland, and Adam cannot find him. Margaret Bates, a middle-aged American expatriate doing research on non-verbal communication, lives in Old Jakarta and considers herself Indonesian, but she has no close family ties and no lover. Her teaching assistant Din, a communist, is frustrated by the inaction of the Indonesian government in helping the poor. The secret lives--invisible lives--of all these characters are gradually revealed as part of the novel's mosaic-like structure. Composed with great attention to detail, this imaginative novel suggests, rather then tells about, the action. The story is cumulative, consisting of dramatic, usually short, scenes which require the reader to draw conclusions from the accumulation of details about the characters, their lives, and their relationships. The plot develops on several planes at once, constantly creating suspense and constantly providing the reader with surprises, as each new piece of the puzzle falls into place--but then creates new complications. Dramatic and exciting scenes from past and present occur in rapid succession, keeping the reader's interest high, as we wonder whether Adam will find his brother and/or his adoptive father, whether Karl is still alive, whether Margaret will resolve her old feelings for a past lover, and whether revolution and bloodshed will sweep through Jakarta and catch up all the characters we have come to know. In some sense, however, the novel has almost an e