Map of the Invisible World

Aw, Tash

ISBN 10: 000728988X / ISBN 13: 9780007289882

Published by Fourth Estate, 2009

About this Item

Fourth Estate, London 2009 / Paperback. UK Uncorrected Proof. Fine Paperback Original, as issued. Signed, Placed and Dated by the author directly to the title page. Seller Inventory # ABE-1648459157328

Bibliographic Details

Title: Map of the Invisible World

Publisher: Fourth Estate

Publication Date: 2009

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Fine

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

From the author of the internationally acclaimed, Costa Award-winning The Harmony Silk Factory comes an enthralling new novel that evokes an exotic yet turbulent and often frightening world.

16-year-old Adam is an orphan three times over. He and his older brother, Johan, were abandoned by their mother as children; he watched as Johan was adopted and taken away by a wealthy couple; and he had to hide when Karl, the Dutch man who raised him, was arrested by soldiers during Sukarno's drive to purge 1960s Indonesia of its colonial past.

Adam sets out on a quest to find Karl, but all he has to guide him are some old photos and letters, which send him to the colourful, dangerous capital, Jakarta. Johan, meanwhile, is living a seemingly carefree, privileged life in Malaysia, but is careening out of control, unable to forget the long-ago betrayal of his helpless, trusting brother.

Map of the Invisible World is a masterful novel, and confirms Tash Aw as one of the most exciting young writers at work today.

Review:

"Reminiscent of Graham Greene . . . powerful and mesmerizing . . . haunting and memorable."--"The Guardian" (U.K.) "Full of immense intelligence and empathy."--"Time""" "Beautifully written . . . The tension of the lives of Aw's characters, the frayed fabric of Jakarta . . . the dichotomies of beauty and squalor, the mobs, the menace, the impending crisis--all of this is captured in "Map of the Invisible World "with a fidelity that can't be faulted."--"The Washington Post" "Exquisite . . . What makes ["Map of the Invisible World"] brilliant are its rootless main characters. These fully formed individuals and their relationships transform [this] novel into a moving meditation on identity, memory, and art."--"Time Out New York " "Exquisitely and subtly rendered . . . Aw's haunting writing and his detailed evocation of 1960s Indonesia are both masterly."--"The Christian Science Monitor" "[A] vibrant narrative . . . enveloping the reader in several haun