"[ The South ] explores the impacts of financial strain, ethnic hierarchies, and class disparity, in addition to the secrets that bind the families of the teenagers together . Aw affectingly evokes places: the private spaces where queer men congregate without shame; a nearby city where it''s possible to spy the skyscrapers of Singapore; and the farm itself, which will, like its fireflies, go dark one day." -- The New Yorker "Gorgeous . The sensuality of the prose is just one of the pleasures of Aw''s writing . [A] shimmering, psychologically rich tale of first love and a family at a crossroads stands taller than those ill-fated tamarind trees." --Heller McAlpin, The New York Times (Editors'' Choice) "Aw allows much to remain unknown, uncertain, or unsaid in The South , and he does so beautifully . A strong opening for Aw''s projected quartet, a quiet yet expansive novel, and it''s with great anticipation that I discovered that he is already hard at work on the second installment. If the first book is anything to go by, there is a lot to look forward to.
" --Ilana Masad, Los Angeles Times "An exquisite story of the gulf between generations, the thrill of self-discovery, and the heady danger of first love." --Sarah Moorhouse, Harvard Review "Sensitively drawn . Gorgeously rendered . Aw develops a story that is [universal]: about land ownership, the shadings of class and ethnic difference, legacy, globalism, youth and love." --Claude Peck, Minneapolis Star Tribune " The South is an heartbreaking and elegant look into the power of place and the lives who call it home." --Michael Welch, Chicago Review of Books "Absorbing . Aw is especially good at conveying complex stories and intertwining themes in language of startling directness." --Tim Pfaff, Bay Area Reporter "Reading The South is .
like recalling a summer vacation from one''s teenage years, with memories of youthful romance and sun-kissed pleasures." --Aaron Hamburger, The Rumpus "The stellar latest from Aw . Aw masterfully juxtaposes the hopes and desires of the younger generation, crystallized in the tender, slow-burning relationship . This masterwork of psychological realism brings to mind the classic novels of E. M. Forster." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Like Chekhov''s Russia, Aw''s Malaysia is both a universally resonant vision of a timeless and placeless lost world, and a historically precise portrait of a country undergoing rapid modernisation . [Awshers Weekly (starred review) "Like Chekhov''s Russia, Aw''s Malaysia is both a universally resonant vision of a timeless and placeless lost world, and a historically precise portrait of a country undergoing rapid modernisation .
[Awshers Weekly (starred review) "Like Chekhov''s Russia, Aw''s Malaysia is both a universally resonant vision of a timeless and placeless lost world, and a historically precise portrait of a country undergoing rapid modernisation . [Awshers Weekly (starred review) "Like Chekhov''s Russia, Aw''s Malaysia is both a universally resonant vision of a timeless and placeless lost world, and a historically precise portrait of a country undergoing rapid modernisation . [Aw] emerg[es] as a Proustian chronicler of momentary bodily and mental experience writing on a compressed, exquisite scale . blending the timeless and the historical to reinvent what an epic can be. " --Lara Feigel, The Guardian "[A] spellbinding story about a group of people navigating a period of upheaval . that reveals Aw''s greatest strength as a novelist--an ability to subtly shift and unsettle your perceptions." --Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Times (London) "A universal and mesmerising tale of family dynamics, first experiences of longing, and the subtle social and cultural changes that each generation has to grapple with." -- New Statesman "A sublime novel from one of the most important writers of our present.
" -- Édouard Louis, author of Change "Tash Aw''s The South is a mesmerizing tale of love, courage, and endurance , infused with humor, longing, and other aspects of humanity too subtle to be named. And, like any significant novel, it''s both heartbreaking and joyful ." --Michael Cunningham, author of Day "Tash Aw presents a world as timeless as the worlds brought to us by Turgenev and V. S. Naipaul, and yet catches the subtle and unstoppable changes each generation faces. Reflecting the human entanglements that come with home, land, and homeland, The South is a shimmeringly intelligent and elegiacally intimate novel ." --Yiyun Li, author of Wednesday''s Child aipaul, and yet catches the subtle and unstoppable changes each generation faces. Reflecting the human entanglements that come with home, land, and homeland, The South is a shimmeringly intelligent and elegiacally intimate novel .
" --Yiyun Li, author of Wednesday''s Child aipaul, and yet catches the subtle and unstoppable changes each generation faces. Reflecting the human entanglements that come with home, land, and homeland, The South is a shimmeringly intelligent and elegiacally intimate novel ." --Yiyun Li, author of Wednesday''s Child aipaul, and yet catches the subtle and unstoppable changes each generation faces. Reflecting the human entanglements that come with home, land, and homeland, The South is a shimmeringly intelligent and elegiacally intimate novel ." --Yiyun Li, author of Wednesday''s Child.