Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Emily Rose
Dec 21, 2024
3 min read

Langkawi Island, Malaysia

A note on the selected location: The majority of the novel Crazy Rich Asians takes place in Singapore and discusses the lives of an extremely (crazy) rich extended family of Singaporians. However, I already read a book about Singapore back in 2021. I went through a phase, thanks to the show Top Chef, during which I really wanted to visit Singapore. The book I read, Singapore Is Not an Island, was a dense non-fiction book about Singaporian economics and foreign policy. Funnily enough, I did not learn (or perhaps retain) that Singapore included a class of extremely wealthy people. After reading Crazy Rich Asians, I am much less inclined to go visit the city-state.

This book was selected as a book club read at my local library. Otherwise, I’m almost positive I never would have picked it up. In the previous months, we had read several heavy, historical fiction books, and the librarian said she wanted us to read something “light” for January. This ended up being quite ironic, as our book club was as heated as ever for this book!

Crazy Rich Asians is a 2013 novel that tells the story of New York-living Singaporian Nick Young, the son/grandson of an extremely wealthy family who asks his middle-class ABC girlfriend Rachel Chu to go to Singapore with him for the summer to meet his family and attend his best friend’s wedding. Rachel is completely unaware of Nicholas’ family and their wealth. While in Singapore, Rachel is not accepted by a lot of Nicolas’ family and friends, and she has to learn to quickly adapt to the world of “crazy rich asians.”

Kwan wrote this novel as a semi-satirical, Pride and Prejudice-like book while also educating the American public about the lives of ultra-rich people in Asia. As a young Socialist living in America, this is not something I am even remotely interested in. But I genuinely tried to suspend all my hatred of capitalism and judgment of the rich so that I could attempt to enjoy this “fun” book. The fact that this book takes place in Asia with all Asian characters helped me feel a little more distance from the economics of America (though in truth we’re obviously in a global economy) so that I could enjoy the book while I was reading it (like if I’m going to read a book about ultra-rich people, I suppose it’s marginally more palatable when they’re non-white). Kwan also tries to put the family in a sympathetic light through the prologue in which the family is attempting to stay in a swanky hotel in London, but they are turned away by a racist manager. Nick’s mother, Eleanor, makes a few phone calls, and they end up buying the hotel and firing the manager.

This prologue did make me cheer for some of the family’s success, but unless you are really good at cognitive dissonance (like myself) this book could be difficult to get through because there is a lot of descriptions of completely over the top, wasteful, overly-indulgent shit consumed by all of the characters. The author does not discuss the economics or living conditions of anyone in Singapore other than the ultra-wealthy, despite the fact that approximately 10% of Singaporians live in poverty, the second-most income-disparaged country in Asia. If you based the overall living conditions of the country on this novel, you would think every Singaporian person lives comfortably. And there is only one character (who is not portrayed in a positive light) that mentions their ultra-wealth is not okay when there are so many people struggling to get by in the world.

All that aside, the novel is entertaining. Kwan can really set a scene, and his descriptions of food made my mouth water! You really feel like you’re getting a glimpse into Singapore. There’s some discussion about old money, traditions, and the purpose of strict social norms. The character Oliver is hilarious in a watching-an-episode-of-The-Bachelor kind of way. The novel is long, but it didn’t feel so while reading it.

I tried watching the movie, but I couldn’t get through it. The characters were so much less relatable on screen, and they were the only things that slightly redeemed the novel. But if you like the fantasy of reading about the ultra-wealthy, then you will most likely enjoy this novel.

In short: Yay for representation; the book is entertaining; but fuck everyone that this book is based off of, and let’s eat the rich!