World of Suzie Wong [Hardcover]

Richard Mason (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1988

Penguin Books reintroduces the timeless story of the love affair between a British artist and a Chinese prostitute.

Robert is t he only resident of the Nam Kok hotel not renting his room by the hour when he meets Suzie at the bar. She becomes his muse and they fall in love. But even in Hong Kong, where many white expatriates have Chinese mistresses, their romance could jeopardize the things they each hold dear. Set in the mid-1950s, The World of Suzie Wong is a beautifully written time capsule of a novel. First published more than fifty years ago, it resonated with readers worldwide, inspiring a film starring William H olden, a ballet, and even a reggae song. Now readers can experience the romance of this groundbreaking story anew.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Reminiscent of Somerset Maugham at his storytelling best… Suzie Wong is enchanting.”

“Refreshingly different… excitingly real and vivid.”

“A thrilling, imaginative experience.”

“One of the tenderest, most beautiful, agonizing and interesting love stories of the year…. Magnificently effective.”

“The reader falls in love with Suzie as Mason weaves his magic spell.”

“One of the most tender and enchanting heroines to find her way into print in a long time.”

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Richard Mason (1919-1997) was a British author who learned Japanese during WWII and lived in Hong Kong after the war, where his experiences led him to write The World of Suzie Wong. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (September 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0848800524
• ISBN-13: 978-0848800529
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,281,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great interpretation of Hong Kong during the 1950s, July 10, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World of Suzie Wong (Hardcover)

Whatever your expectations based on watching the film by the same name, The World of Suzie Wong is actually a beautifully written book that provides an intimate portrait of post-WWII Hong Kong. For anyone who has lived in the former British colony, I guarantee you will be fascinated by Mason's astute observations of life in the territory. For those who have never set foot in Asia, Mason's themes about class and culture conflict are timeless, and the book surprisingly avoids easy cliches because it is so well executed. This is one of the most underrated books of the past 50 years, much deeper than the broadway play or Hollywood's film interpretation.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, solid literature, two intriguing themes, January 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: World of Suzie Wong (Hardcover)

Watch for this to come back in print in the US. I just picked it up and devoured it flying home from Hong Kong. Mason truly captures the flavor of Hong Kong, which is great for travel buffs. But, there's another key theme, as he chronicles the feelings and attitudes of prostitutes with a very sensitive and seemingly realistic touch. Further, he can really write! His own acknowledgement in the volume I purchased in HK tells us that he only wrote a couple of books and ran out of ideas. Hard to believe, since this is such excellent story-telling and pure quality writing.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is no substitute for great literature, January 21, 2001

By 

Bernard M. Patten "Book worm" (Seabrook, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World of Suzie Wong (Hardcover)

It's 44 years since Richard Mason's classic story made its entrance. Mason is still alive, living in Rome. Would he recognize Hong Kong? I doubt it. Today little remains of Mason's British Colony, the old Hong Kong, inhabited back in 1957 by Suzie, the pretty Wan Chai bar girl. Back in the 1950's Hong Kong was a small sleepy town. Traffic, if you believe Mason, as I do, was minimal and there were no back alleys with neon signs or red taxis charging exorbitant fares. The barefoot rickshaw drivers in harness to their two wheeled carts ran their cargoes of humans around town the hard way. Now the one driver left spends his time posing for tourist pictures and charging five Hong Kong dollars a shot. In Wan Chai the trams that Suzie took still work their way through the jammed streets that have their share of smoke filled pick up bars. One even bears the name Suzie Wong in honor of the character. The bars remain here but the girls are not Chinese. The girls come in from Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. The old business of "No money, no talk" still holds, but the prices have gone up. The hostesses of modern times don't even know Suzie nor have they read the book. But they too would cheer her story, the way the hostesses of the 50's did, championing Suzie's cause to become "a respectable girl." The book was followed in 1958 by a succssful stage play that ran for two years on Broadway starring France Nuyen as Suzie and none other than Star Trek's William Shatner as Robert Lomax. In 1960 a popular film version was released starring Nancy Kwan and William Holden. In a way, the Suzie Wong story helped bring Hong Kong before the world's gaze and played a part in the popular recognition of the territory and in that way contributed to its development. If you want to have some fun, read the book and compare it to the film. You'll learn (again) that there is no substitute for literature, especially great literature created by a great writer.