The Monkey King

by Timothy Mo

Book Overview

The Poons, according to gossip in post-war Hong Kong, have plenty of money. But when Wallace Nolasco marries May Ling, daughter of the house of Poon, he finds he has been sold short. Wallace is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688061893
• ISBN13: 9780688061890
• Release Date: April 1986
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Poignant, ironic Hong Kong novel relevant today - Excellent!

I first read this novel, set in 1950's Hong Kong, while living in Hong Kong in the nineteen nineties - a cracking good read. An eccentric Chinese family living in a crumbling, atmospheric town house (of the kind that has, alas, been utterly swept away by remorseless development) is slowly revealed to the reader in absorbing, fascinating detail. I was amazed, as a Hong Kong resident, at how many of the actions and attitudes of Mr Mo's fictional family were still to be encountered in nineteen nineties Hong Kong (and no doubt today). I felt I met these people, or observed them, many times while living there. A sad, funny, ironic book that gains in strength by not becoming sentimental about Hong Kong, nor pulling any punches. Like other accurate reads about Hong Kong (such as Paul Theroux's Kowloon Tong - read it if you like this one), Monkey King tended to put a bee in the bonnet of some readers, chiefly those types so well-described by Mr Mo herein, and may be a painful read for some. But the detached reader has in store for him an excellent story, great characters and (an added plus) a book that is very informative about the Hong Kong of reality.

I loved this book.

This story of a Cantonese family in Hong Kong is filled with warmth and humor. It tracks the relationship between Wallace, a clever young man of Portuguese-Cantonese descent, and the family's shrewd, miserly, tyrannical patriarch. Perhaps it's a bit of a fairy tale that works out too smoothly in the end. But Mo writes so well about families - and is so good at capturing the magic of people finding somewhat unexpectedly that they love each other - that it doesn't matter. The scenes between Wallace and his surprisingly resourceful wife May Ling -- and between Wallace and his beloved nephews -- are simply a joy to read.