Tash Splash

At last! Big spread about Tash Aw in Starmag today as well as the cover pic. Again, it's the financial success of his book that grabs the main headline - The 3.5 Million Ringgit Man!

Here's some bits from Gim Ean's e-mail interview. (I post them up because you won't be able to access the link in a few days' time unless you are a subscriber. Stingy newspaper!!)



"I find personal information too difficult to handle, too stifling. You feel too obliged to stick to the truth, even when it doesn't suit the novel. For that reason, I never ever use anything from my own or my family's life. ... Autobiographical novels are often very moving for the writer, but really boring for everyone else ... I don't want to inflict my memories on anyone else because they'd probably find them really dull."

"I got the idea for Johnny's (alleged) betrayal from the story of Lai Tek (the Vietnamese secretary-general of the Malayan Communist Party, who switched from being a British agent to a Japanese one during WWII), but everything else about him was simply made up. Peter began life as a parody of a Somerset Maugham character, but quickly became something much more substantial."

Which part was harder to write, Jasper or Worm-wood?

"Jasper. The reasons for this lie in what I said earlier about the distance between the writer and his subject. Jasper, having grown up in Malaysia, had (on paper at least) more similarities to me and my life, whereas Peter had none. Ironically, this made Peter much easier to write because I was completely free to construct him as I wished."

What about comments that Snow's voice was insipid? Did he have difficulty putting himself in her shoes?

"No. I try not to think of how 'women' would behave in general, but rather how this particular woman that I'm writing about would behave. The same is true of my approach to men. ... In many ways, Snow's section is the most adventurous of the three. I took the biggest risks here. I wanted to give her all the things that are traditionally given to men: the action/adventure narrative, the road trip, the thriller. I wanted to play with readers' expectations of a diary written by a Chinese woman in the 1940s it isn't at all sentimental or even intimate. She tried to 'tell it like it is', and is really quite hard."

What made him start in the first place?

"Just the simple conviction that this was my vocation, that I loved words and had an ability to use language and to tell stories. Later it became an obsession. Then I realised I was in too deep and couldn't go back; then I had to pay the rent. Very simple, really...."

Do the accolades (e.g the comparions to maugham etc.)affect him?

"It doesn't make much difference to my working life, particularly since I don't pay all that much attention to reviews. I don't need good reviews to assure me that my work is good, because I know there are still aspects of it that are truly appalling. Neither do I take to heart bad reviews because I have enough confidence in the general strength of my work. I am, however, encouraged by comments made by established writers whom I have always admired. If someone like Doris Lessing or Chang-Rae Lee likes my work, that's all I need in terms of encouragement they render a thousand reviews (good or bad) utterly useless."

What would he say to Malaysian writers who dream of making a global impact?

"Stay true to what you think suits you best. Don't change your style for anyone and keep working, even if people tell you it isn't going to succeed. Don't ever think of potential riches or fame. The moment you start thinking of international glamour, you're finished as a writer, and you'll probably never attain those ridiculous dreams. ... Writing is still one of the few professions that involves purity and integrity (though, admittedly, this is decreasing). I know it sounds terribly cliched and schmaltzy, but you must try and focus on the work you believe in. But do bear in mind that it is really hard work, and that there is a very fine line between self-belief and self-delusion."

There's an interesting little side-column about the "man behind the author". He's a La Salle boy and grew up in Bangsar (centre of the universe!).

And there's my review of The Harmony Silk Factory.

I'm absolutely thrilled about Tash Aw's international success. Over the moon that he's put Malaysia on the literary map. But I honestly have very mixed feelings about the book.

His written style in wonderful, his plotting complex and clever. But what use is any of that to me if I cannot find myself in the shoes of any of the characters? Throughout the novel I felt myself standing outside looking in. I was never fully engaged by it.

Vox populi - reactions from friends who have read it (Raman, Sham, Mercy, so far) seem to be of the order of "Yes, it's good. Good but not great."

But he will undoubtedly develop further as a writer, and am happy to learn that he is in the midst of writing a novel set in Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1960's. The country may finally have found the voice it needs to chronicle its rich past and complex present.