Kevin Kwan. Crazy Rich Asians. New York: Doubleday, 2013. Print.

Crazy Rich Asians reminded me of something by Kingsley Amis like Lucky Jim. It is over the top British humor. The author lives in New York but was raised in Singapore which has strong British roots. People should have a lot of fun with it.

Nick and Rachel are university junior faculty in New York City who have developed a very happy mutual relationship. Nick is beginning to think about popping the question. Rachel Chu’s mother and other relatives live in California, and Nick has visited them a few times. Nick Young is from Singapore and because his best friend Colin is getting married there, Rachel is finally going to meet his family and see how and where he grew up.

Little does she realize that the Youngs are one of the richest families in the world. So a lot of the humor and conflict is of the fish out of water variety. As an undergrad at Stanford, Rachel had a Singaporean roommate, Peik Lin Goh, who was from a millionaire family. But even her family was not in the same league, and she was not aware of the reputation of the Youngs.

At one point Peik Lin brings Rachel in an hour’s notice to a “wardrobe intervention” at a very exclusive couturier. So, yes, Rachel knows how to live like the upper crust. But when she saw the Young estate on Singapore—it is blocked on Google Earth as if it were a military site—even Peik Lin exclaims: “I have no idea who these people are. But I can tell you one thing—these people are richer than God.” (123, italics in original)

When we finally get to the wedding celebration, it makes Princess Di’s look like an elopement. The Vienna Boys’ Choir is flown in to Singapore for the service. One of several performing acts besides Asian pop stars is Cirque du Soleil. For this, even the children would not be caught dead in anything but designer exclusives.

Some of the conflict is predictable. Rachel does not feel like she fits in. A few women are very kind and helpful to her—Nick’s cousin Astrid, whose own husband is having doubts about marrying such wealth, and, of course, Peik Lin. Others are quite cruel, assuming that she is a gold digger, they do their best to make her feel unwelcome. American “mean girls” could learn a few things from them.

There is an amusing cast of minor characters. The gossipy Cassandra keeps family members and the media informed about what the upper crust Asian socialites are up to. The jocular Oliver has a clever rejoinder to and about nearly everyone. The salacious Kitty, a Hong Kong actress, is trying to get her claws (a coincidence in her name?) into the richest guy she can find. And Nick’s mother Eleanor Young—is she evil or does she have her son’s best interests at heart?

There is a lot of name-dropping. Some names are fictional like certain Chinese millionaires or Singaporean real estate tycoons. Some like the Sultan of Brunei are not. Singaporean Kwan writes as if he is familiar with the jet set in his home. The prep schools are important. So is belonging to the right church. The socially conscious Singaporean Chinese may be Buddhist or Taoist, but they send their kids to the Methodist Sunday School. The reader quickly loses track of all the couturier clothes, chartered aircraft, yachts, and private islands in the story.

Apart from the crazy rich Asians (Rachel’s term), Kwan makes Singapore sound like a great place to visit. The unique culture is a mix of Malay, British, Chinese (Min Nan, Cantonese, and Mandarin), with some Indian, Burmese, Thai, Filipino, and Indonesian thrown in. The descriptions of even the ordinary food there makes it sound like every Singaporean is a foodie.

While the reader can be in awe or laughing out loud at some of the excesses, the theme of Crazy Rich Asians is one that runs through British literature. Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare, Scott, Dickens, Tennyson, and many others raise the question of what is true nobility. Some of the people have Malay honorifics or spouses from the Thai royal family (a rather extensive pool to draw from if you think about it), and like many wealthy Americans they act like royalty even if they are not. The real question, though, is not one of status but who among the crazy rich Asians are truly noble in character.

We do meet a few. There are reasons why Nick and Colin are good friends. We learn of a doctor who during the Japanese occupation was able to save the lives of some Singaporeans singled out for slave labor camps or firing squads. We see the selflessness of Charlie Wu who goes out of his way for an old friend.

Will Nick and Rachel’s relationship last or will wicked mama Eleanor and host of jealous young socialites destroy it? Does Rachel even fit in?

I attended a prestigious college. It is even mentioned favorably in Crazy Rich Asians. Once I had been invited to a socially prominent fancy ball. I was invited to join a couple of the exclusive campus clubs. I admit that the guys at the clubs were quite friendly and on the surface not at all pretentious, but I just knew that they were not for me. A few friends were jealous that I had been invited, but even then I suppose I was listening to a beat of a different drummer.

Do I have any regret of not aspiring to more money and status? Only when sometimes I wish I were rich enough to own or boat or travel more—like to go to Singapore to sample some of those tempting dishes.

There may be two caveats about Crazy Rich Asians. The author himself is Chinese from Singapore, but the novel still might fit in with Western stereotypes of wily oriental gentlemen. As in America, there is both the old wealth and the new wealth. We have the Youngs whose old wealth is preserved in banking and real estate and Charlie Wu whose fortune comes from computers and electronics. Some are modest, some are flamboyant. This could be read as a contemporary version of a Fitzgerald novel. It was F. Scott Fitzgerald who wrote, “The rich are different from you and me.” Of course, Ernest Hemingway’s rejoinder was simply. “Yes, they have money.”

The second caveat is the Crazy Rich Asians does have some salty language. Most of it is used by characters who are not sympathetic, but some readers may find it offensive.

At times whenever we mere peons read about the wealthy, we can get envious. What was that song Lucky Jim? “Oh, Lucky Jim, how I envy him”? Some things in their lives are easier or nicer, but they are no happier. The Bible reminds us that when wealth increases, so do they who try to take it away. (Ecclesiastes 5:11) God has something better. That hope is an anchor (Hebrews 6:19)—perhaps we cannot see it now, but Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place for us. (John 14:2) Yes, we can be impressed with extravagance, but if someone were really richer than God, would it make any difference?

One slight surprise: I have noted in previous reviews that sometimes self-published works have misspellings. It may be the writer did not know the spelling or it may have been overlooked or missed during editing. This novel is published by a well-known and reputable publisher, and it also contains a couple of misspellings such as confusion over peel and peal. It is a little surprising, but this may also let us know that the book publishing business is not what it used to be.