PUBLISHED TO CRITICAL acclaim in 2005 in the UK and US, Tash Aw’s debut novel The Harmony Silk Factory was described by TIME as a “novel worthy of close inspection…” and by the Chicago Tribune as “an ambitious and accomplished debut novel”.

 

The Harmony Silk Factory has since been translated into 20 languages and won the Whitbread Best First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Best First Novel Award, apart from being long-listed for the Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. The international recognition — plus the fact that it sold more than 100,000 copies in the UK alone — helped propel Aw’s remarkable rise in the literary world.

 

The 37-year-old author is back in the spotlight with his second book Map of the Invisible World. Set in a turbulent Indonesia under President Sukarno in the 1960s, it is a touching tale of two orphaned brothers separated by the force of circumstances at a young age. Despite having a roof over their heads and love showered on them by their adoptive parents, the yearning to belong and the burning ache to connect with people in their surroundings persist (see review below).

 

Disconnection and displacement, which lurk just below the surface, appear to be the thematic thread that strings together Aw’s Invisible World. And perhaps it is an unconscious reflection of the author’s sense of where he is truly rooted.

 

Aw was born in Taipei to Malaysian parents. His family returned to Malaysia when he was two. The young Aw spent his formative years in Kuala Lumpur and was educated in a Catholic school until he relocated to England at 18 to attend university. After completing his education, he stayed on in London where he worked for four years as a lawyer while writing his first novel — usually at night and on weekends. He left his day job in 2002 to complete his first novel, which he finished a year later. All these years, Aw shuttled between the UK and Malaysia — both of which the writer considers his home.

 

Options had a brief encounter with Aw when he was in Singapore recently to promote his latest novel. His pleasantly cool demeanour was refreshing and unexpected from someone of his literary stature. To begin with, he did not have an entourage. The soft-spoken bachelor with a boyish smile talked about his passions — writing and a deep interest in Southeast Asia.

 

Aw: Yes, because I’m not really interested in politics. I’m interested in how politics affects individuals, how it affects our individual lives. My concern is for the individual and not for the politicians.

 

Basically, all my characters are bits of everyone I’ve met plus a lot of it is… down to the imagination. You borrow bits from here and there, say people you meet on the bus…

 

Not directly, but I think what I have in common with a lot of my characters is the fact that they’re all outsiders. There’s a sense in which I feel like an outsider because, obviously, I’m a Malaysian who lives mostly in London, so I guess that’s what I have in common, that’s the bit of my life that I share with my characters. But then, I’m also interested in how people can be outsiders in their own country. And I find that very interesting. That is much more painful in a way than being an outsider if you’re a foreigner because it basically means that your sense of disconnection is much greater.

 

I do feel disconnected from both London and Malaysia because, basically, the majority of the people in London are still white so, there’s definitely a sense of being an outsider. However, when I go back to Malaysia nowadays, which I do a lot, there’s a sense in which I feel a bit disconnected because I spend so much time outside of Malaysia.

 

[Laughs] That’s sort of like a million-dollar question. I guess internally my home is still Malaysia. Physically my home is London because that’s where I live.

 

You’re right. When I wrote the book, I didn’t think that that’s one of the things I wanted to write about. But it’s just underneath the surface — it must mean that it’s a question I think about a lot. And I don’t have the answer… I don’t think any of my books’ characters have the answer.

 

It’s difficult to say because there was no single point of inspiration. But the seed of the idea came from the fact that I’ve always thought of Indonesia in a serious way because growing up in Malaysia you’re always aware of the presence of Indonesia…. You can’t really escape. In so many different ways Indonesia is present… so I wanted to explore that relationship… because many people nowadays forget that it’s a very complicated relationship. Most importantly, I wanted to explore the notions of freedom, liberty and independence… Indonesia was very violent and turbulent, and Malaysia was relatively more calm, so far as these things can be calm. Malaysia and Indonesia handled their newfound freedom [at the time in history] very differently, which I was kind of interested in exploring. Which of your two novels reflects your better work? There’s a saying that you’re only as good as your last book. Hopefully, all writers try and grow with every novel. So, you know, in theory the latest book is always the best — but who can tell. It’s not for me to judge the best book. I think other people will have to make that decision for me.

 

I would give the same advice as I would to writers of any cultural background, not just Asian writers but writers anywhere in the world — which is to write about things that are important to you, to write about things that matter to you because the only things that are worth reading are things that are written with passion and they’re powerful, and they mean something to the writer. Because the only way you are going to relate to other people… is by writing about something that really matters to you. Otherwise, no one will ever feel that passion.

 

It’s a very long process. It’s very organic in a way. You never get a single source or spark of inspiration. You get an idea and then you build it in layers. You build it up very, very slowly over time. All novels have to be given time. A story has to be given time to develop organically. Sometimes, the writing is very quick. But the thinking [process] could take many years. Every book has its own rhythm.

 

Yes, I’m working on my third one. Southeast Asia theme as well. That’s all I can say right now. I’m still in the early stage.

 

 

The Story: During their years together in the orphanage Johan keeps a constant vigil over his little brother Adam — he’s all he’s got. But they are placed in different adoptive homes and lose all contact. Johan is taken to Kuala Lumpur by a wealthy Malaysian couple, to a life of smart restaurants and expensive cars, whilst Adam remains in Indonesia where a Dutch painter, Karl, adopts him, and he finds himself growing up in a simple coastal town. Adam often thinks of his brother, but as the years pass, the memories become less painful, and he adapts to his new life.

 

However, in the summer of 1964, unrest is in the air as Indonesia slides gradually towards civil war. Foreigners, especially the Dutch, are treated with increasing hostility. When Karl is arrested, 16-year-old Adam resolves to do all that he can to find him. He makes his way to Margaret, an old friend of Karl’s in Jakarta, who agrees to help, but in the volatile atmosphere of the capital, and lured by the promise of help to find his brother, Adam quickly falls in with a dangerous crowd and is swept up in events that reach far beyond his understanding…

 

Tash Aw vividly weaves Indonesia’s chaotic, confusing period into his latest novel Map of the Invisible World, a stirring story about love and loss, disconnection and displacement, family and friendships, hopes and dreams — all gleaned from the eyes of Indonesians and foreigners who make no bones about their mixed feelings of love and loathing for post-colonial Indonesia.

 

Aw’s graceful writing results in a rhythmic narrative that succinctly describes each character’s emotional displacement in relation to their physical environment. He illustrates quite tellingly how Adam feels unsettled when he first arrives in his new home with adoptive father Karl: “Like a pet in a new home, Adam did not venture far from his room for the first few days (much later, Karl would indeed liken Adam’s early appearance to that of a hatchling, or a newborn kitten, which Adam did not like, but only because he knew it was true)…. And above all, this foreign man who walked with a slight limp and seemed as wary of Adam as Adam was of him… and although he smiled in a gentle manner Adam sensed an awkwardness in his regard, almost as if he was scared of Adam…”

 

The author’s deep feelings for Southeast Asia at a time of change, of great upheaval — which he affirms will continue to take on a major role in his future works — is evident when he describes Jakarta’s then deteriorating conditions as observed by Margaret: “The streets were already teeming by the time she stepped out into the dusty sunlight. Along the shady lanes near her house the drains were no longer overflowing but filled with shallow puddles of oily water, blocked by dams of rubbish rotting slowly in the heat. Two mangy dogs picked listlessly through the tangle of tin cans and empty sacks and vegetation as Margaret walked past a row of shop-houses… Even in the south of the city, in the place that some people called ‘New’ Jakarta, Margaret could see only decay.”

 

A passionate storyteller who writes from the heart, Aw effortlessly engages the reader with details and metaphors only someone who has experienced feelings of displacement and disconnection can so convincingly do. To a large extent, Aw’s sensitive approach to his latest book reminds me of another eloquent writer, Pico Iyer. Some of Iyer’s previous works likewise had similar undertones of dislocation and identity. Map of the Invisible World is a worthy successor to Aw’s highly acclaimed first novel, The Harmony Silk Factory.

 

Map of the Invisible World is distributed in Singapore by Horizon Books, costs $26.75 with GST and available in Singapore in all major bookstores; Kinokuniya, Borders, Times Newslink, Times the Bookshop, Popular, PageOne, Select bookshop and Harris.