The World of Suzie Wong
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| Author | Richard Mason |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Released | 1957 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 383 pp |
| ISBN | N/A |
The World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by Richard Mason, which was adapted into both a play and a hit film.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The book is about an impoverished English artist, Robert Lomax, who visits Hong Kong. He soon attracts the attention of the young English daughter of the Hong Kong's aristocracy, and is tempted to choose a safer lifestyle and a more stable career. Whilst down on his luck, he falls in love with the mysterious Chinese prostitute, Suzie Wong. Two worlds of privilege and poverty collide in a classic tale of romance, endurance, and the strength of true love.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel was first adapted into a stage production and was first produced in 1958 by David Merrick and starred William Shatner and France Nuyen.
The book was later adapted into a hit film in 1960, directed by Richard Quine and starring William Holden, Nancy Kwan, Sylvia Syms, and Michael Wilding. It featured the English actor Lionel Blair who played a small bit part as a dancing sailor, and was filmed on location in the streets of Hong Kong. The film was a commercial success and changed the career of Nancy Kwan overnight, transforming her into a Hollywood star and sex symbol.
In 2005 a new dance version was staged by the Hong Kong Ballet.
[edit] Influence on Asian stereotypes
The World of Suzie Wong has been accused of creating and reinforcing many negative stereotypes of East Asian women, such as being overly promiscuous or submissive.
[edit] Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
The Nam Kok Hotel featured in the story is based on the Luk Kwok Hotel on Gloucester Road in Wanchai, where Mason stayed, although the building is now more modern, the site having been redeveloped in the 1980s. (The film used a different building in Hollywood Road as the hotel.) Also, unlike the hotel in the book, the modern hotel is not a pseudo-brothel and is one of many smaller smart hotels on Hong Kong Island.
Visitors today should travel a few streets further south to Lockhart Road and Jaffe Road for today's versions of similar establishments to those in the story. The area is sometimes known as "the Suzie Wong district" today, and over the years, some local nightclubs have used the name "Suzie Wong Club". However, with many other economic opportunities now open to Hong Kong women, most of today's bargirls are recruited from Thailand, Indonesia and The Philippines.
