World of Suzie Wong (Hardcover)

~ Richard Mason (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Amereon Limited (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
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,550,018 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 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

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A revelation, October 17, 2003

By	Jeffrey H. R. Hemlin (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I remember seeing the William Holden film of this book many years ago, and liking it. So, when I saw this book at the YMCA book store in Kowloon, I picked it up to pass the time between meetings.

The book is very different than the movie. It is much more nuanced and descriptive of Hong Kong (and even British) society of the Fifties. Lomax is British in this book, not an architect or middle class, but rather an ex-pat who had worked in Malaya, and now wanted to paint. His romance with Suzie grows organically, and by the end of the novel, more truthful than the movie. That they end up living in Japan after time in racist England is so unexpected, but perfect... strangers in a strange land, to each other and to all around them, yet loving and supporting each other through life.

Highly recommended - for the story, the ambience, social commentary and historical detail.

14 of 16 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 (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

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.