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Nazi Goreng: Young•Malay•Fanatic•Skinheads
Nazi Goreng is a disturbing story of one young Malay man's comingofage in the big city and offers a stunning portrait of the racial tensions that pervade Malaysian society. Asrul is a fanatical yet naive Muslim skinhead from small town Kedah, who finds escape in hardcore punk and aspires to life in the big city. After Asrul is recruited by friend Malik to join a neoNazi skinhead gang, the boys move to Penang to realise their racially fuelled teenage dreams. Petty acts of ethnic violence against immigrant workers and minority groups in the name of Kuasa Melayu (Malay Power) earn Asrul limited social empowerment and occasional ridicule, so it is not without trepidation that he follows Malik again, this time into the seedy world of the Malaysian narcotics trade, where selling drugs offers quick money and street respect. Surrounded by corrupt police officials, shifty Iranians, guntoting Nigerians and a sexy drug mule from mainland China, Asrul soon finds himself drawn into a downward spiral that makes him question his friends, his loved ones and his core beliefs. In this intense and gripping debut, Asiabased punk rock guitarist Marco Ferrarese dishes up a powerful portrayal of displaced urban Malay life.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2013
22 people are currently reading
284 people want to read
About the author
Marco Ferrarese
29 books29 followersMARCO FERRARESE has traveled extensively and lived in Italy, the United States, China, Australia and Malaysia. He started vagabonding as a punk rock guitarist in Europe and North America. Since 2009 he's been based in Southeast Asia as a writer, hardcore punk musician and researcher. Being an overland buff, he traveled from Mongolia to Australia in 2009, and hitchhiked from Singapore to Milano through Silk Road routes and the Middle East in 2012. He has written about overland Asian travel and extreme music in Asia for a variety of international publications, and blogs at Monkeyrockworld. Marco's first Asian pulp novel Nazi Goreng was published in November 2013 on Monsoon Books. Follow him @monkeyrockworld
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
March 3, 2014
If there is one word to describe this book, unapologetic would be it.
Nazi Goreng by Marco Ferrarese is about a young Malay man, Asrul, who goes through a traumatic experience in the hands of a group of Indian thugs, and is then taken under the wings of one charismatic Malik, who is several years older than Asrul. I don’t normally emphasize on race, but race is everything in this book. Everything. You see, Malik is a Malay supremacist skinhead who sees other races as impure, corrupt, a cancer that gnaws on the sovereignty of Malaysia. Much like White supremacist skinheads in the US or UK.
I kid you not.
This duo then escapes backwater Alor Star for better opportunities in Penang, and get involved with drug traffickers. Much like White supremacist skinheads from Lima, Ohio, who get involved with Mexican drug cartels. Why do I keep comparing the protagonists with White skinheads? Because, essentially, if you transplant these Malaysian characters and settings into an American one, you’ll get the makings of an American novel/movie.
So is the book inherently Malaysian, you ask? I’ve been implied to take into consideration an author’s Whiteness in writing a Malaysian book. In truth, I don’t really care who the writer is; to me, the writing is everything. I got irked when author Marc DeFaoite kept using “Kay El” regardless the narrator is Bangladeshi, Indonesian, Nepalese, Malay, Indian, or whatever nationality that is not Western. In this book, Mr Ferrarese injects Italian sensibilities in a protagonist that has never been out of Alor Star. He compares characters and objects with Venus, Cyclops and Jesus. The main character, Asrul, is a practicing Muslim, by the way, though ‘practicing’ is a strong word for what he does.
But oh. My. God. Mr Ferrarese is one hell of a compelling writer. I finished the book in less than a day. The opening chapters are beautifully written, with exquisite imagery and characterization. Despite what I will say in the following paragraphs, reading this book makes me feel that the culture of skinhead Malay supremacists is pervasive throughout peninsular Malaysia, and that they represent an actual cancer that gnaws at the fragile equilibrium that is Malaysia. Reading this book makes me believe that the threat is real, and racism in Malaysia has deeper roots than I’m willing to admit. And that, to me, makes for a successful novel.
Nazi Goreng, in the introductory chapters, holds so much promise, so much potential. It has the makings of something great. Killer opener? Check. Excellent writing that feels real? Check. High concept? Skinhead racists plus Iranian cartels plus trigger-happy Africans plus multiple locations in Malaysia (and one in Taipei). Check. Page-turning thriller with danger at every corner? Check. Stakes that grow bigger and bigger? Check. A likeable protagonist? Check.
So what went wrong?
When Asrul and Malik get involved with the Iranian drug lord and aspire to do more than just trafficking drug at the Malaysian/Thai border, Asrul’s life careens out of control. Unfortunately, so does the book. It’s like the author introduces too many action/thriller elements and doesn’t know what to do with them. Good news is, he tries to tie these elements together at the end of the novel. Bad news is, he loses interest in the main characters and is more invested in the stolen money instead. More on the ending later.
In the middle of the book, the author breaks off from the main characters and writes a few chapters on a group of four immigrants, Ngoc, Nyan, Cam and Than. I know, right? Not only are the names too close and confusing, introducing new named characters that are not essential in the middle of a book is not a good idea. Sure, Mr Ferrarese is smart enough to use these characters later in the book to move it, but if his intention to spend two chapters on their backgrounds and wants and needs to humanize them, to build sympathy toward marginalized immigrants, I say he’s not done enough. In the end, these chapters and characters become mere fluff to thicken the novel, fluff that distracts a reader’s attention, risking losing that attention altogether. Even if the author did not employ these characters’ perspectives, did not even name them, he could still use them later on to move the story as he needed. This bit of fluff has earned the author some negative marking.
So Mr Ferrerese throws in Iranian drug lords, African rival cartels, sleazy bartenders, one hot Chinese national drug mule, and one not-so-hot Indonesian maid, with high-speed chase and machine guns, kapows and ratatatats that lead to torture and murder, all in the name of stolen money with a grand total of…drumroll please…
RM40,000.
That’s USD 12,182.12, according to Google.
Even a terrace house in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur costs over a million ringgit. Heck, give me forty-thousand ringgits and half a day at Pavilion, and I’ll ask if you have another forty-thousand to spare at the end of three hours. Maybe two, depending on which stores I visit first.
The first job Asrul and Malik secure, transporting drugs in a car tire without them realizing it, earns them RM8,000. Have them do five jobs, they’ll get the same amount of money. So all these murder and mayhem in the name of RM 40,000…. What I’m saying is that the stakes are not high enough. Not nearly enough. Too low, in fact. If it were USD 40,000 (which Google converts to RM 131,340.03), then it would have been something at least. Still not high enough, but much higher than what the author uses.
Also, Malik keeps mentioning he has connections in high places. At first Asrul thinks it’s his connections with police officers who believe in Kuasa Melayu (Malay Power) as much as Malik does, but that’s not it. When Malik does reveal who he actually is…OH COME ON! THAT’S IT?! Speaking of, I would have appreciated more insight on what makes Malik tick. He’s a sociopath, that’s clear, but why is he such an angry racist in the first place? With Asrul, it’s pretty clear. Take a traumatic experience and a highly impressionable young man in his late teens, you get Asrul. Malik, however…. I think it’s a lost opportunity with him. Would have made for a mighty interesting story.
Now. Coming to the ending.
I fell asleep at the supposed climax.
Like I mentioned before, when the ending comes, it’s no longer about Asrul and Malik’s journey, but about the missing money. It doesn’t really matter what becomes of them; the protagonists are relegated into secondary characters. Worse, the greatest sin of all, the author ends the novel with exposition after exposition. It’s like reading Naruto, where you’re getting to the climatic fight (for that chapter in Naruto’s life), and then you see the inevitable black background and you’re forced to read ANOTHER back story. For an action thriller novel, writing a climax using exposition is not only anti-climactic, it’s buzzkill. It’s robbing a reader of a much-needed release. It causes blue balls.
Blue balls are NEVER good.
I don’t think the author’s entirely at fault here. It was pretty clear that he lost control of the story when Asrul lost control of his life. Mr Ferrarese did not self-publish this book, so an editor is involved. An invested editor takes the rein when the author loses control. Or supposed to, anyway. I wasn’t lying when I said the beginning is brilliant and the writing is engaging. They are. Mr Ferrarese has the mark of a good writer. What he needed for Nazi Goreng was a team of good editors, editors who, without compromising his stylistic and artistic integrity, guide the story back to its intended path, to smoothen out kinks like Italian mythology in Malay characters, derogatory descriptions of a Muslim praying (he uses “kisses the floor” throughout the book to describe praying), to correct his consistently wrong usage of colons, all that jazz. And he needed a good proofreader (or two) to spot and correct the horrendous amount of typos, missed spaces, wrong punctuations.
In essence, Mr Ferrarese was sold short with Nazi Goreng, and what could have been a brilliant novel is merely a book of good writing, unrealized potentials, and a non-existent climax. What we have here is a book that causes blue balls.
When I started reading the book, despite what my friend said, I wanted to give it a 4.5 to 5 star rating. When the story went out of control, I wanted to give the book a 3.5 star rating, rounded up. With the ending taken into consideration, I’ll only give it 3.5 stars, rounded down.
The author holds so much promise, and the book so much potential. It’s unfortunate, really. I hope, if Mr Ferrarese writes another novel, he is fortunate enough to invest in invested editors.
Nazi Goreng by Marco Ferrarese is about a young Malay man, Asrul, who goes through a traumatic experience in the hands of a group of Indian thugs, and is then taken under the wings of one charismatic Malik, who is several years older than Asrul. I don’t normally emphasize on race, but race is everything in this book. Everything. You see, Malik is a Malay supremacist skinhead who sees other races as impure, corrupt, a cancer that gnaws on the sovereignty of Malaysia. Much like White supremacist skinheads in the US or UK.
I kid you not.
This duo then escapes backwater Alor Star for better opportunities in Penang, and get involved with drug traffickers. Much like White supremacist skinheads from Lima, Ohio, who get involved with Mexican drug cartels. Why do I keep comparing the protagonists with White skinheads? Because, essentially, if you transplant these Malaysian characters and settings into an American one, you’ll get the makings of an American novel/movie.
So is the book inherently Malaysian, you ask? I’ve been implied to take into consideration an author’s Whiteness in writing a Malaysian book. In truth, I don’t really care who the writer is; to me, the writing is everything. I got irked when author Marc DeFaoite kept using “Kay El” regardless the narrator is Bangladeshi, Indonesian, Nepalese, Malay, Indian, or whatever nationality that is not Western. In this book, Mr Ferrarese injects Italian sensibilities in a protagonist that has never been out of Alor Star. He compares characters and objects with Venus, Cyclops and Jesus. The main character, Asrul, is a practicing Muslim, by the way, though ‘practicing’ is a strong word for what he does.
But oh. My. God. Mr Ferrarese is one hell of a compelling writer. I finished the book in less than a day. The opening chapters are beautifully written, with exquisite imagery and characterization. Despite what I will say in the following paragraphs, reading this book makes me feel that the culture of skinhead Malay supremacists is pervasive throughout peninsular Malaysia, and that they represent an actual cancer that gnaws at the fragile equilibrium that is Malaysia. Reading this book makes me believe that the threat is real, and racism in Malaysia has deeper roots than I’m willing to admit. And that, to me, makes for a successful novel.
Nazi Goreng, in the introductory chapters, holds so much promise, so much potential. It has the makings of something great. Killer opener? Check. Excellent writing that feels real? Check. High concept? Skinhead racists plus Iranian cartels plus trigger-happy Africans plus multiple locations in Malaysia (and one in Taipei). Check. Page-turning thriller with danger at every corner? Check. Stakes that grow bigger and bigger? Check. A likeable protagonist? Check.
So what went wrong?
When Asrul and Malik get involved with the Iranian drug lord and aspire to do more than just trafficking drug at the Malaysian/Thai border, Asrul’s life careens out of control. Unfortunately, so does the book. It’s like the author introduces too many action/thriller elements and doesn’t know what to do with them. Good news is, he tries to tie these elements together at the end of the novel. Bad news is, he loses interest in the main characters and is more invested in the stolen money instead. More on the ending later.
In the middle of the book, the author breaks off from the main characters and writes a few chapters on a group of four immigrants, Ngoc, Nyan, Cam and Than. I know, right? Not only are the names too close and confusing, introducing new named characters that are not essential in the middle of a book is not a good idea. Sure, Mr Ferrarese is smart enough to use these characters later in the book to move it, but if his intention to spend two chapters on their backgrounds and wants and needs to humanize them, to build sympathy toward marginalized immigrants, I say he’s not done enough. In the end, these chapters and characters become mere fluff to thicken the novel, fluff that distracts a reader’s attention, risking losing that attention altogether. Even if the author did not employ these characters’ perspectives, did not even name them, he could still use them later on to move the story as he needed. This bit of fluff has earned the author some negative marking.
So Mr Ferrerese throws in Iranian drug lords, African rival cartels, sleazy bartenders, one hot Chinese national drug mule, and one not-so-hot Indonesian maid, with high-speed chase and machine guns, kapows and ratatatats that lead to torture and murder, all in the name of stolen money with a grand total of…drumroll please…
RM40,000.
That’s USD 12,182.12, according to Google.
Even a terrace house in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur costs over a million ringgit. Heck, give me forty-thousand ringgits and half a day at Pavilion, and I’ll ask if you have another forty-thousand to spare at the end of three hours. Maybe two, depending on which stores I visit first.
The first job Asrul and Malik secure, transporting drugs in a car tire without them realizing it, earns them RM8,000. Have them do five jobs, they’ll get the same amount of money. So all these murder and mayhem in the name of RM 40,000…. What I’m saying is that the stakes are not high enough. Not nearly enough. Too low, in fact. If it were USD 40,000 (which Google converts to RM 131,340.03), then it would have been something at least. Still not high enough, but much higher than what the author uses.
Also, Malik keeps mentioning he has connections in high places. At first Asrul thinks it’s his connections with police officers who believe in Kuasa Melayu (Malay Power) as much as Malik does, but that’s not it. When Malik does reveal who he actually is…OH COME ON! THAT’S IT?! Speaking of, I would have appreciated more insight on what makes Malik tick. He’s a sociopath, that’s clear, but why is he such an angry racist in the first place? With Asrul, it’s pretty clear. Take a traumatic experience and a highly impressionable young man in his late teens, you get Asrul. Malik, however…. I think it’s a lost opportunity with him. Would have made for a mighty interesting story.
Now. Coming to the ending.
I fell asleep at the supposed climax.
Like I mentioned before, when the ending comes, it’s no longer about Asrul and Malik’s journey, but about the missing money. It doesn’t really matter what becomes of them; the protagonists are relegated into secondary characters. Worse, the greatest sin of all, the author ends the novel with exposition after exposition. It’s like reading Naruto, where you’re getting to the climatic fight (for that chapter in Naruto’s life), and then you see the inevitable black background and you’re forced to read ANOTHER back story. For an action thriller novel, writing a climax using exposition is not only anti-climactic, it’s buzzkill. It’s robbing a reader of a much-needed release. It causes blue balls.
Blue balls are NEVER good.
I don’t think the author’s entirely at fault here. It was pretty clear that he lost control of the story when Asrul lost control of his life. Mr Ferrarese did not self-publish this book, so an editor is involved. An invested editor takes the rein when the author loses control. Or supposed to, anyway. I wasn’t lying when I said the beginning is brilliant and the writing is engaging. They are. Mr Ferrarese has the mark of a good writer. What he needed for Nazi Goreng was a team of good editors, editors who, without compromising his stylistic and artistic integrity, guide the story back to its intended path, to smoothen out kinks like Italian mythology in Malay characters, derogatory descriptions of a Muslim praying (he uses “kisses the floor” throughout the book to describe praying), to correct his consistently wrong usage of colons, all that jazz. And he needed a good proofreader (or two) to spot and correct the horrendous amount of typos, missed spaces, wrong punctuations.
In essence, Mr Ferrarese was sold short with Nazi Goreng, and what could have been a brilliant novel is merely a book of good writing, unrealized potentials, and a non-existent climax. What we have here is a book that causes blue balls.
When I started reading the book, despite what my friend said, I wanted to give it a 4.5 to 5 star rating. When the story went out of control, I wanted to give the book a 3.5 star rating, rounded up. With the ending taken into consideration, I’ll only give it 3.5 stars, rounded down.
The author holds so much promise, and the book so much potential. It’s unfortunate, really. I hope, if Mr Ferrarese writes another novel, he is fortunate enough to invest in invested editors.
December 17, 2013
Read this book with a very open mind because there will be a lot of things you will find disagreeable. It is very honest and in-your-face.
October 30, 2017
Jalan cerita ringkas, straight to the point. Aku teringin nak baca novel ni yang versi asal, sebelum diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Melayu.
p/s: Patut la kena blacklist! Kah kah kah
p/s: Patut la kena blacklist! Kah kah kah
September 16, 2018
Oh gosh, I wanted to like this book. I really did. The premise is intriguing, and as someone who has spent some time in and around Malaysia - and in particular Penang - I was looking forward to perhaps learning more about its subcultures and racial politics.
I was sorely disappointed. I was really hoping this book might explore the context of radicalization and racism in Malaysia...however the story very quickly degenerated into a derivative and predictable crime novel that seemed to be pulled from the tabloids and western B-movies.
Perhaps what bothered me most about this book (and as has been written by other reviewers) is the author’s portrayal and descriptions of women. I don’t know if the author has ever met, seen, or interacted with a woman, but the main descriptors tended to be about lips and breast size. The only female characters in the book were used primarily as sex objects, and tended towards the femme fatale archetype.
Example: “She was sitting in front of him, across the plastic table, sucking slowly from a pink straw. The ice cubs in her kopi ice surfaced more and more as the brown drink emptied into her pouting lips.” [pg 56]
I don’t know how you can pout while you’re sucking on a straw, but this gal sure managed to figure it out, while contemplating her immature breasts or whatever.
Example: “She quickly adjusted her face to let him press his lips against hers and then opened her mouth: her tongue softly started battling against his. He hadn’t kissed many girls before, but this one surely tasted like magic.” *he proceeds to finger her on the beach* [pg 97]
I know they say love is a battlefield, but I’ve never heard of a tongue battle before.
Example: “She broke into a giggle and went back to looking outside the window. Asrul kept ogling at her, at the line that curved along her breasts, pressing softly against her silky cream shirt, then going down to a flat, inviting stomach, continuing along her thighs, covered in a short black skirt, and then down again, from her upper knee and to her ankle, her skin opaquely translucent under maroon nylon.” [pg 171]
I could go on, but I’d really rather not.
I think that this type of fictional story really would have been better told by a local (if a local would ever write such a thing), as opposed to a foreign author, even one who has some experience of the people and culture. This type of narrative needs some nuance, especially one written for an English-speaking audience but from the perspective of a Malay main character. I guess I’ll keep on searching for some lit that helps me delve deeper into radicalization and racial politics of Malaysia, because I sure didn’t find it here.
I was sorely disappointed. I was really hoping this book might explore the context of radicalization and racism in Malaysia...however the story very quickly degenerated into a derivative and predictable crime novel that seemed to be pulled from the tabloids and western B-movies.
Perhaps what bothered me most about this book (and as has been written by other reviewers) is the author’s portrayal and descriptions of women. I don’t know if the author has ever met, seen, or interacted with a woman, but the main descriptors tended to be about lips and breast size. The only female characters in the book were used primarily as sex objects, and tended towards the femme fatale archetype.
Example: “She was sitting in front of him, across the plastic table, sucking slowly from a pink straw. The ice cubs in her kopi ice surfaced more and more as the brown drink emptied into her pouting lips.” [pg 56]
I don’t know how you can pout while you’re sucking on a straw, but this gal sure managed to figure it out, while contemplating her immature breasts or whatever.
Example: “She quickly adjusted her face to let him press his lips against hers and then opened her mouth: her tongue softly started battling against his. He hadn’t kissed many girls before, but this one surely tasted like magic.” *he proceeds to finger her on the beach* [pg 97]
I know they say love is a battlefield, but I’ve never heard of a tongue battle before.
Example: “She broke into a giggle and went back to looking outside the window. Asrul kept ogling at her, at the line that curved along her breasts, pressing softly against her silky cream shirt, then going down to a flat, inviting stomach, continuing along her thighs, covered in a short black skirt, and then down again, from her upper knee and to her ankle, her skin opaquely translucent under maroon nylon.” [pg 171]
I could go on, but I’d really rather not.
I think that this type of fictional story really would have been better told by a local (if a local would ever write such a thing), as opposed to a foreign author, even one who has some experience of the people and culture. This type of narrative needs some nuance, especially one written for an English-speaking audience but from the perspective of a Malay main character. I guess I’ll keep on searching for some lit that helps me delve deeper into radicalization and racial politics of Malaysia, because I sure didn’t find it here.
May 29, 2018
korupsi... penipuan... tikam belakang.... dadah... kuasa melayu.... happen in reality world. sudah terang lagi bersuluh...
January 12, 2019
Ini sebuah lagi buku -terjemahan- DuBook yang aku baca. Maksudnya, ada jugaklah buku-buku mereka yang berkualiti. Dan boleh dikatakan, banyak jugaklah. Sampah pun ada juga. Tapi berkualiti atau ada isi, lebih banyak. Sikap penerbit liar, angkuh yang suka merendah, mempersenda dan kemaruk duit itu yang patut dicela. Tapi buku mereka, banyak yang berkualiti.
Ya benar. Buku ini ganas. Novel yang seksi juga. Aku baca sampai habis. Dan berazam mahu cari versi Englishnya. Mahu menghadam dengan baik sekali lagi penceritaan-pengkaryaan, salah sebuah novel yang dikatakan terlaris dan terbaik di Malaysia. Novel ini adalah novel sub-culture/sub-kultur yang jarang-jarang ada. Di Malaysia, genre 'terus-terang' sebegini, masih belum rancak dan meluas. Sepatutnya lebih ramai orang menulis tentang pengalaman hidup, berorganisasi, berideologi, berpolitik, keislaman, kesilaman mereka dalam dunia bawah tanah, atas tanah, masuk penjara, lokap, bergelumang dengan itu dan ini, supaya jadi bekal pengajaran, atau pengetahuan untuk lain-lain insan.
Terbaik Marco. Aku masih membaca-ulang buku ini. Aku bagi empat bintang.
Ya benar. Buku ini ganas. Novel yang seksi juga. Aku baca sampai habis. Dan berazam mahu cari versi Englishnya. Mahu menghadam dengan baik sekali lagi penceritaan-pengkaryaan, salah sebuah novel yang dikatakan terlaris dan terbaik di Malaysia. Novel ini adalah novel sub-culture/sub-kultur yang jarang-jarang ada. Di Malaysia, genre 'terus-terang' sebegini, masih belum rancak dan meluas. Sepatutnya lebih ramai orang menulis tentang pengalaman hidup, berorganisasi, berideologi, berpolitik, keislaman, kesilaman mereka dalam dunia bawah tanah, atas tanah, masuk penjara, lokap, bergelumang dengan itu dan ini, supaya jadi bekal pengajaran, atau pengetahuan untuk lain-lain insan.
Terbaik Marco. Aku masih membaca-ulang buku ini. Aku bagi empat bintang.
March 23, 2015
Nazi Goreng starts off pretty mildly with Asrul, the naive young Malay from Alor Setar, first meeting the neo-Nazi skinhead, Malik, after he gets beaten up by a gang of Indians. In fact, the first part of the book is generally benign and frankly a little slow, as Asrul and Malik move from the backwaters of Kedah to the bigger city of Penang.
Things begin to pick up when Malik gets them involved with the Iranian drug dealer, Mr Porthaksh, then quickly spiral out of control. From petty acts of ethnic violence, Asrul soon finds himself involved in more dangerous situations, such as gun-toting Nigerians and a Chinese triad, Sio Sam Ong.
Marco Ferrarese introduces me to a Penang I hardly recognise, although I've lived here almost all my life. I don't deny that these things do happen - and maybe this book is a way to build awareness of the tensions that I live so blithely unaware of, for the sole reason that I avoid these places in the dark. It seems as if the city has a different night life from what I think - if, in fact, these are based on true facts.
I suppose my dislike of this book mainly stems from the copious amounts of sex and swearing. He drops variants of the word "fuck" as if it were candy, allowing it to pepper most of the dialogue, and often uses "cunt" or "bitch" to describe women. I obviously don't move in the same circles as Ferrarese does; the dialogue he writes doesn't seem real to me.
Overall, the language Ferrarese uses to describe women, mainly through Malik, are extremely derogatory, and he tries often to disabuse Asrul of his "naive" view of women. These are then proven true when the two women that Asrul actually interacts with end up having sex with him for the sole reason of gaining his trust to use and/or trick him. In fact, of the four main women characterised in the book, two sleep with Asrul to take advantage of him, and the other two are forced to perform oral sex on corrupt policemen whilst their immigrant boyfriends are being thrown off a cliff. I'm not sure what view Ferrarese has of women, but from this book, it seems rather bleak.
Marco Ferrarese has his moments - the story is compelling and intricate enough to make you want to continue reading, which is why I'm leaving this as a two-star story, even if I personally did not really like it. Perhaps part of the reason this book seems unbelievable to me is the rose-tinted glasses I view Penang with. I know it's not perfect and definitely no utopia, but I would rather live with a biased view of the peaceful and gracious people that the Malays are than to think of them as these foul-mouthed, irrational, sex-obssessed thugs that Ferrarese makes them out to be.
Things begin to pick up when Malik gets them involved with the Iranian drug dealer, Mr Porthaksh, then quickly spiral out of control. From petty acts of ethnic violence, Asrul soon finds himself involved in more dangerous situations, such as gun-toting Nigerians and a Chinese triad, Sio Sam Ong.
Marco Ferrarese introduces me to a Penang I hardly recognise, although I've lived here almost all my life. I don't deny that these things do happen - and maybe this book is a way to build awareness of the tensions that I live so blithely unaware of, for the sole reason that I avoid these places in the dark. It seems as if the city has a different night life from what I think - if, in fact, these are based on true facts.
I suppose my dislike of this book mainly stems from the copious amounts of sex and swearing. He drops variants of the word "fuck" as if it were candy, allowing it to pepper most of the dialogue, and often uses "cunt" or "bitch" to describe women. I obviously don't move in the same circles as Ferrarese does; the dialogue he writes doesn't seem real to me.
Overall, the language Ferrarese uses to describe women, mainly through Malik, are extremely derogatory, and he tries often to disabuse Asrul of his "naive" view of women. These are then proven true when the two women that Asrul actually interacts with end up having sex with him for the sole reason of gaining his trust to use and/or trick him. In fact, of the four main women characterised in the book, two sleep with Asrul to take advantage of him, and the other two are forced to perform oral sex on corrupt policemen whilst their immigrant boyfriends are being thrown off a cliff. I'm not sure what view Ferrarese has of women, but from this book, it seems rather bleak.
Marco Ferrarese has his moments - the story is compelling and intricate enough to make you want to continue reading, which is why I'm leaving this as a two-star story, even if I personally did not really like it. Perhaps part of the reason this book seems unbelievable to me is the rose-tinted glasses I view Penang with. I know it's not perfect and definitely no utopia, but I would rather live with a biased view of the peaceful and gracious people that the Malays are than to think of them as these foul-mouthed, irrational, sex-obssessed thugs that Ferrarese makes them out to be.
December 31, 2013
Itulah konteks penceritaan yang mungkin ditawarkan oleh Marco Ferrarese, penulis buku ini, tentang keanehan bagaimana perkauman yang didasarkan pada kepercayaan Kuasa Melayu boleh dihubung kaitkan pula dengan prinsip Nazi. Walau bagaimanapun, ‘Nazi Goreng’ tidak hanya berbicara tentang perkara itu. Ada sisi-sisi gelap yang cuba ditampilkan oleh penulis. Dadah, pembunuhan, pelacuran. Sebetulnya buku ini dikategorikan dalam klasifikasi fiksi, namun begitu ada hal-hal dalam ‘Nazi Goreng’ yang menyebabkan para pembaca akan dapat merasakan bahawa inilah realiti Malaysia, inilah realiti kehidupan.
Ringkasnya, ‘Nazi Goreng’ menceritakan dengan baik sekali tentang peralihan daripada dunia muzik bawah tanah kepada dunia penjenayahan, dan lebih penting lagi tentang pengalaman-pengalaman menjadi pendatang di bumi yang asing. Para pembaca pasti akan dapat merasai nikmat setiap bait-bait kata dalam buku ini. Bahkan, pembaca turut boleh berasa seolah-olah benar-benar terlibat dalam ‘Nazi Goreng’ kerana penulisan Marco Ferrarese yang begitu menggoda untuk mengajak pembaca supaya terlibat langsung dalam tiap-tiap konflik yang diberikan.
Benarlah, buku ini memang tidak harus dibaca oleh kaum Melayu sahaja.
‘We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.’ – kata-kata Abraham Lincoln yang diparafrasakan dalam penutup filem American History X.
Ringkasnya, ‘Nazi Goreng’ menceritakan dengan baik sekali tentang peralihan daripada dunia muzik bawah tanah kepada dunia penjenayahan, dan lebih penting lagi tentang pengalaman-pengalaman menjadi pendatang di bumi yang asing. Para pembaca pasti akan dapat merasai nikmat setiap bait-bait kata dalam buku ini. Bahkan, pembaca turut boleh berasa seolah-olah benar-benar terlibat dalam ‘Nazi Goreng’ kerana penulisan Marco Ferrarese yang begitu menggoda untuk mengajak pembaca supaya terlibat langsung dalam tiap-tiap konflik yang diberikan.
Benarlah, buku ini memang tidak harus dibaca oleh kaum Melayu sahaja.
‘We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.’ – kata-kata Abraham Lincoln yang diparafrasakan dalam penutup filem American History X.
Read
May 18, 2019Not gonna rate this because I couldn't finish it (I tried few times already) and not gonna give it a try anymore. The beginning was promising but I slowly lose interest. That's it.
May 12, 2017
1) Saya tidak tahu kategori apa yang sesuai untuk buku ini (mengikut definisi saya). Mungkin genre aksi.
2) Hal berkenaan perjuangan dua lelaki SkinHead (kepala botak, secara literal), Malik dan Asrul, yang berasal dari utara tanah air. Dialog-dialognya menggunakan bahasa utara, selain bahasa Inggeris.
3) Saya tidak tahu apa ideologi kumpulan SkinHead (dalam dunia sebenar), dan perkaitannya dengan Nazi. Yang saya faham dari buku ini, mereka berdua terutamanya memperjuangkan ketuanan Melayu, dengan cara ikut sedap mereka.
4) Keduanya jelas menjadikan kaum pendatang seperti Bangla, Indon, Myanmar dan Vietnam sebagai mangsa buli. Benci membuak-buak.
5) Hal-hal penguasa yang korup (dan amanah) juga terselit.
6) Timbul juga pertanyaan sama ada cerita ini dibuat berdasarkan "kisah benar" kerana terdapat bahagian yang saya fikir agak terperinci. Sama ada penulis ada pengalaman langsung, atau memang membuat "homework". Bagus sekali.
7) Cuma hal perjuangan "bangsa" mula diragui apabila Malik mula berurusan dengan orang Parsi. Malik pilih kasih?
8) Watak-watak tambahan seperti Nyan, Than, Ngoc dan Cam seperti kurang menyerlah. Walaupun maklumat dari mereka (aduan polis) yang menjadi sumber utama rujukan polis, tetapi masih tidak terasa kekuatan watak mereka.
9) Duit RM 40 ribu yang menjadi punca perbalahan, bagai tidak setara dengan segala kekusutan yang berlaku.
10) Penyudahnya, walaupun disusun cantik, tetapi tidak mencapai kemuncak. Agak kabur.
11) Dubook agak berani menerbitkan buku ini. Maksud saya, dari segi kandungan yang "kebiru-biruan". Buku Dubook memang menjadi koleksi, tetapi Nazi Goreng yang pertama ada "adegan yang tidak ingin saya baca". Orang akan menggelar saya "moralis", tidak mengapa. Dan Dubook pasti ada alasan kenapa mereka mahu terbitkan buku ini.
12) Genre sebegini bukan minat saya. Sama seperti buku A.D.A.M oleh RAM. Tetapi tidak bermakna buku-buku ini tidak bagus.
2) Hal berkenaan perjuangan dua lelaki SkinHead (kepala botak, secara literal), Malik dan Asrul, yang berasal dari utara tanah air. Dialog-dialognya menggunakan bahasa utara, selain bahasa Inggeris.
3) Saya tidak tahu apa ideologi kumpulan SkinHead (dalam dunia sebenar), dan perkaitannya dengan Nazi. Yang saya faham dari buku ini, mereka berdua terutamanya memperjuangkan ketuanan Melayu, dengan cara ikut sedap mereka.
4) Keduanya jelas menjadikan kaum pendatang seperti Bangla, Indon, Myanmar dan Vietnam sebagai mangsa buli. Benci membuak-buak.
5) Hal-hal penguasa yang korup (dan amanah) juga terselit.
6) Timbul juga pertanyaan sama ada cerita ini dibuat berdasarkan "kisah benar" kerana terdapat bahagian yang saya fikir agak terperinci. Sama ada penulis ada pengalaman langsung, atau memang membuat "homework". Bagus sekali.
7) Cuma hal perjuangan "bangsa" mula diragui apabila Malik mula berurusan dengan orang Parsi. Malik pilih kasih?
8) Watak-watak tambahan seperti Nyan, Than, Ngoc dan Cam seperti kurang menyerlah. Walaupun maklumat dari mereka (aduan polis) yang menjadi sumber utama rujukan polis, tetapi masih tidak terasa kekuatan watak mereka.
9) Duit RM 40 ribu yang menjadi punca perbalahan, bagai tidak setara dengan segala kekusutan yang berlaku.
10) Penyudahnya, walaupun disusun cantik, tetapi tidak mencapai kemuncak. Agak kabur.
11) Dubook agak berani menerbitkan buku ini. Maksud saya, dari segi kandungan yang "kebiru-biruan". Buku Dubook memang menjadi koleksi, tetapi Nazi Goreng yang pertama ada "adegan yang tidak ingin saya baca". Orang akan menggelar saya "moralis", tidak mengapa. Dan Dubook pasti ada alasan kenapa mereka mahu terbitkan buku ini.
12) Genre sebegini bukan minat saya. Sama seperti buku A.D.A.M oleh RAM. Tetapi tidak bermakna buku-buku ini tidak bagus.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2014
I picked Nazi Goreng hoping it would surprise me about this little-known Malay subculture. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed. The idea was promising: Malay supremacists and their part in the criminal underground of Penang. With the recent spike in crime on the island (a real-world problem) and growing ethnic tensions in Malaysia, the story embarked to a promising start, but quickly dissipated as the plot quickly began to rely on predictable tropes.
The femme fatale. The calculating drug lord who wants minimal mess. Gang wars. Single policeman who notices the anomaly. M. Ferrarese's attempt to paint the Malaysian drug empire was admirable but fell short. Research for Nazi Goreng feels suspiciously like having read through a lot of Harian Metro (a local bestselling national tabloid) reports, discussions with friends and a box full of imagination manifested from consuming pulp fiction and film.
What it lacks is believability; the protagonist Asrul's motivations and coincidences too kind. I get it that it's (pulp) fiction, and you're supposed to suspend disbelief but I did not feel invested enough in the characters. Least of all Asrul, who was struggling with his morals, and surrounded by cardboard stock characters that plays to every possible stereotype. The story promised the ideology of Malay supremacy, but climaxed .
An ambitious concept, but one that fell short.
The femme fatale. The calculating drug lord who wants minimal mess. Gang wars. Single policeman who notices the anomaly. M. Ferrarese's attempt to paint the Malaysian drug empire was admirable but fell short. Research for Nazi Goreng feels suspiciously like having read through a lot of Harian Metro (a local bestselling national tabloid) reports, discussions with friends and a box full of imagination manifested from consuming pulp fiction and film.
What it lacks is believability; the protagonist Asrul's motivations and coincidences too kind. I get it that it's (pulp) fiction, and you're supposed to suspend disbelief but I did not feel invested enough in the characters. Least of all Asrul, who was struggling with his morals, and surrounded by cardboard stock characters that plays to every possible stereotype. The story promised the ideology of Malay supremacy, but climaxed .
An ambitious concept, but one that fell short.
April 9, 2018
When I purchased Nazi Goreng at the airport book store in Bali, and read the plot outline as well as scanned the cover page I thought this was going to be that one great read I'd been looking for, for a long time. Alas! My hopes died as soon as I was finished with the initial few pages. What should have been a hardcore, hard hitting, rip roaring, well written and poetic look at the Malay underworld and insight into the youth gone wrong there turned out to be just one B-grade 90's style rehashed pulp movie (badly done). Very disappointed, considering what the book should have been and what it landed up being. The ending tries hard to have a great twist but its all done so amateurishly and in a sudden rush to finish the book that it falls flat as well. Lame is the word that comes to mind. Still giving it 2 stars because one can still finish it an afternoon or so! Whatever it may be, boring it is not.
November 21, 2013
After Reading this book , it is something like " Romper Stomper " meets " Of Mice and Men" in "Chinatown".
The Story reveals another side of Malaysia that is not Political correct but Real. Marco puts good use of his experience of travelling around the world and weave it into a devastating book that shows the collision Nihilism and Race Fanaticism in a back drop set in Malaysia.
The Story reveals another side of Malaysia that is not Political correct but Real. Marco puts good use of his experience of travelling around the world and weave it into a devastating book that shows the collision Nihilism and Race Fanaticism in a back drop set in Malaysia.
November 13, 2013
The ending is kinda disappointing to be honest. Other than that, nicely done.
August 4, 2015
Malay Power?
Skinhead?
Nazi?
Polis korup?
Segala rencah jenayah dan masalah bangsa yang ianya realiti di Malaysia, bacalah.
Menarik.
Skinhead?
Nazi?
Polis korup?
Segala rencah jenayah dan masalah bangsa yang ianya realiti di Malaysia, bacalah.
Menarik.
February 15, 2021
'Kuasa Melayu' supposingly is the story's central theme, but it is not heavily associated with the story. They believe in 'Kuasa Melayu', but few actual movements have been done to support their belief. Unless randomly berating at other races and bashing the immigrants is considered an action or "making a statement". The story is about two teenagers expressing their anger and hatred against other races, or two teenagers lost their direction in life. 'Kuasa Melayu' seems is just a borrowed term to attract readers.
I felt the structure of the story is more concerning than the story itself. The story's flow is difficult for me to follow as it seems jumpy and all over the places. One state of the story tells how the gang was disturbed with the couple kissing at the park. The story then moves away from that state with Asrul recalling how he was approached by Malik after the trauma incident. After the recall, the story returns to the current state, Malik's plan of what to do with the couple intimating at the park.
To be honest, I felt the writing style is mediocre and more suitable for young adults. However, I would like to give credits for the author's effort and ability to write an English novel although English is not the first language in his origin country. I think the story plot is interesting but too bad, the writing is not strong enough to support such an extraordinary idea. I wonder whether it will be a great book if he tells the story in his own language and gets translated into an English version. There were too many irrelevant details which I have to skim through. The amount of information on every human's appearance from top to bottom is too much for me. However, I have no doubt of the author's ability in background settings due to his extensive writing travelogues experience. The sceneries are brilliantly transformed into words.
Book Review: Nazi Goreng: Young-Malay-Fanatic-Skinheads by Marco Ferrarese.
I felt the structure of the story is more concerning than the story itself. The story's flow is difficult for me to follow as it seems jumpy and all over the places. One state of the story tells how the gang was disturbed with the couple kissing at the park. The story then moves away from that state with Asrul recalling how he was approached by Malik after the trauma incident. After the recall, the story returns to the current state, Malik's plan of what to do with the couple intimating at the park.
To be honest, I felt the writing style is mediocre and more suitable for young adults. However, I would like to give credits for the author's effort and ability to write an English novel although English is not the first language in his origin country. I think the story plot is interesting but too bad, the writing is not strong enough to support such an extraordinary idea. I wonder whether it will be a great book if he tells the story in his own language and gets translated into an English version. There were too many irrelevant details which I have to skim through. The amount of information on every human's appearance from top to bottom is too much for me. However, I have no doubt of the author's ability in background settings due to his extensive writing travelogues experience. The sceneries are brilliantly transformed into words.
Book Review: Nazi Goreng: Young-Malay-Fanatic-Skinheads by Marco Ferrarese.
March 7, 2018
Mr Ferrarese is a skillful writer, and the first half of his book held me mesmerized. He chose a most challenging milieu in which to set his story, and to his great credit I felt that he pulled it off exceptionally well. There are few modern western writers setting their stories in SE Asia who come even close to avoiding cultural cliche after cliche, and who understand the internal contradictions of the people comprising this complex mish-mash of ethnicities and cultures: but somehow Ferrarese seems to manage all that very well.
Unfortunately, Ferrarese rather spoils his perceptive characterization of the key protagonists by overcomplicating his promisingly simple plot and leading us to a very unsatisfying conclusion. It's almost as if he got bored with Malik and Asrul, and drifted off into subsidiary plots and cops and robbers scenarios and left us- the readers - to work out what happens to the key players.
If I'd rated this book half-way through I would have given it a 5, but then I'd have to give the second half a 1 or 2....such a shame, so disappointing.
Unfortunately, Ferrarese rather spoils his perceptive characterization of the key protagonists by overcomplicating his promisingly simple plot and leading us to a very unsatisfying conclusion. It's almost as if he got bored with Malik and Asrul, and drifted off into subsidiary plots and cops and robbers scenarios and left us- the readers - to work out what happens to the key players.
If I'd rated this book half-way through I would have given it a 5, but then I'd have to give the second half a 1 or 2....such a shame, so disappointing.
February 11, 2014
Most main characters in this fiction are almost well-built, but do not rise above the stereotypical in the least. As for main anchors (Asrul and Malik) the author accomplishes in giving readers basic character that might fit suitably in the story, but fails to go deep inside the head of such person in order to provide a compelling, believable or credible explanations for how such persons could exist (except for the part on early pages where Asrul was beaten by a bunch of Indians, which is not adequate enough for me). Such failure to reveal a deep understanding of human psyche is a bit of a turn-off, thus affecting the whole story which undoubtedly can be better.
Read the full review here
Read the full review here
February 13, 2014
The main character. A very good Muslim at heart, and also a skinhead/Nazi who believes in Kuasa Melayu. Prays five times a day, drink beer, fornicates, sell drugs - but won't do drugs (the highest form of intoxication, he said). I am instantly a fan of the author and I can't wait for his next book.
September 21, 2014
Not bad, I rarely read fiction so this feels like a heavy entertainment for me. He wrote Penang and Kedah quite well, more than I can vividly imagine for sure. Some lewd scenes which not really to my liking, but you can feel Marco had tried his best to minimize those realistic depiction of Malay teenagers morale and values.
Looking forward to get in touch with his other writings.
Looking forward to get in touch with his other writings.
April 12, 2018
I have so many complain about how this book evolves, probably because I had a high expectation of the intriguing premise.
It started out interesting in the beginning, with all the native-pride which always makes me curious, but it turned out to be a B-class action movie in the end where motivation is guided by money.
It started out interesting in the beginning, with all the native-pride which always makes me curious, but it turned out to be a B-class action movie in the end where motivation is guided by money.
October 25, 2015
Solid read. Not too heavy, in fact pretty mellow considering the theme.
It is my first attemp on reading this kind of book, so might be a lil bit sceptic.
Credit for tempting me to finish it in a day.
It is my first attemp on reading this kind of book, so might be a lil bit sceptic.
Credit for tempting me to finish it in a day.
August 6, 2014
the ending tho. quite dissapointed but overall the book is good. and i love it :}
November 17, 2014
This book should be turned into a movie!
November 8, 2013
Writer and musician Marco Ferrarese’s debut novel “Nazi Goreng”, about a young, Malay, Punk-loving skinhead caught up in the dilemma of Nazism versus living a normal life, is full of violence, debauchery, philosophy, and reality, but most importantly – it hands an important moral lesson to us on a platter. Ferrarese’s unique narrative and insightful evaluation of Malaysian culture takes the novel to new heights, promising to be one of the best contemporary novels about this whirlwind of a country we might ever see.
It’s not every day that Malaysians get to read about real Malaysian social issues, dramatized and put into perspective for informed discussion. Most of us reside within our little comfort cocoon of false hopes and mild social environments, the dirty reality lurking somewhere out there but never quite materializing in front of us. This is why a lot of Malaysians, especially the youth, remain sheltered from and largely uninformed of the phenomenon known as “Malay Nazism”.
Marco Ferrarese, an Italian writer and musician who spent the past few years working in Asia, said the volatile and intense climate of racial tensions in Malaysia made a profound impact on him, describing it as something he had not seen before. His experiences and opinions with this brand of racism, which some might describe as uniquely Malaysian, spurred him to write a novel with a rather unorthodox hero: young Asrul from Alor Setar, Kedah, pursuing the ultimate Malay Nazi dream – which is basically a Malaysia free from non-Malays.
“Nazi Goreng” the novel can be plainly described as a coming-of-age novel, but that would be doing it little justice, since it also happens to be a weighty and troubling analysis of the ever-present and inherent racial tensions in Malaysia. The novel also delves briefly into the world of Malaysian skinheads and punks – a small, ostracized subculture that most urban Malaysians probably have a hard time taking seriously when in fact, a lot of the supremacist ideologies fuelling Asrul’s actions stem from the skinhead culture of Neo-Nazism and racial supremacy. Being a punk musician himself, Ferrarese very delicately evaluates the erratic and inciting nature of the skinhead culture, and its relation to our young protagonist who is suffering from quite the identity crisis. To be honest, I would not have minded if the novel went on for another 50 pages, if it meant those extra pages would be spent on further explorations into the underground music scene.
Asrul is first introduced to us as just another Malay kid from the suburbs, but with a fondness for Punk and other kinds of heavy music. He goes around minding his own business for the most part and is in fact quite a casual, normal teenager, but Malaysia’s rather interesting demographical situation in which thousands of foreigners flood cities annually to take up odd jobs (a large number of whom do this illegally), has left some sense of resentment imbuing inside him, spurred on by an equally misguided sense of entitlement. A traumatic run-in with Indian gangsters is the catalyst that sets that resentment exploding and festering discontent within him, and charismatic, intimidating, and forceful Malik seizes his opportunity to plant seeds of hatred into Asrul’s susceptible mind.
Almost everybody in the world knows a ‘Malik’. He might not be your friend, but you know of him and his ways and for the large part, try to avoid him. Strong-willed, hard-headed, convincing, intelligent, compelling, yet bubbling with violence and aggression, such ‘Maliks’ are powerfully captivating, and dangerous both from the outside and inside, especially once you hear what he has to say. “Nazi Goreng’s” Malik is the perfect mold for this personality, à la Malaysian style. He latches his haunches easily into Asrul, who is initially meek and clueless, and there is no path for Asrul anymore except the one Malik has paved for him.
The novel then starts to take an interesting turn as Asrul and Malik leave the small town of Alor Setar for the tourist haven of Penang, and eventually, beyond. In Penang, the innocent Asrul is yet again taken into a situation he initially wants no part of, following Malik around like a puppy dog, becoming embroiled in an illegal drug business. From here, Ferrarese seizes the opportunity to expound on other gripping Malaysian issues such as the death penalty, the drug culture in Malaysia, the frustration of coming to terms with sexual tension and sexuality which are regarded as taboo topics, Asrul’s devotion to Islam which is warped by his involvement with the drug business and Nazism, corruption in the police force and government, and of course, unavoidable and underlying racism everywhere you go. That being said, the most important issue Ferrarese touches on is that of foreigners and immigrants in Malaysia. He does what perhaps no other novelist has ever done: giving the reader insight into the thoughts of a foreign worker in Malaysia. They are no longer the ‘unnamed untouchables’. They are memorable characters instead of plot devices. He opens up narratives with their thoughts and displays their humanity in all its subdued glory. Ferrarese exposes the mystery of the immigrant – an enigma many Malaysians consider inconsequential and even irritating – to show us that all they want to do is fit in and climb the social ladder – just like us.
It is important to note that “Nazi Goreng” isn’t all violence and social commentary – young Asrul does manage to meet a charming Indonesian girl named Siti. The dilemma sprouting from his relationship with her, his duty to Nazism, and his job as a runner for a drug lord culminate in a ferocious climax, a conclusion of which is refreshingly realistic, tragic and deserved.
In the end, Asrul’s first major fault was letting his instinct to survive overtake his humanity. One line in the novel perfectly captures Asrul’s turn from meek philosopher to full-on Nazi: “Tonight, he had switched sides; he was on the safe end of the blade.” It’s easy to sympathize with Asrul once you realize his entire foray into Nazism was just to feel like he was on the safe end of the blade. But is the blade even there in the first place? Who was first to wield the blade? This is where Ferrarese’s commentary on the Malaysian system of government and more obviously, law enforcement, comes into play – shedding light on the profound effect the actions of authorities have on young minds. However, the novel doesn’t try to draw any noble conclusions for us on what racism is and how we should react to it. It simply shows us the reality of the world we live it, leaving us to our own decisions on how we want to change things.
For a country with a colorful cultural climate that suffers occasionally from bouts of passiveness and ignorance, “Nazi Goreng” is great for any Malaysian to read. This novel is untraditional in every sense. From the superfluous narrative that switches effortlessly from the different points of view of each character, to taboo themes creeping their inexplicably dark powers over you, Marco Ferrarese has managed to pull readers into the dark and dangerous side of Malaysia. But despite its heavy and controversial subject matter, Ferrarese’s relentless debut novel manages to put the grueling reality of disenfranchised Malay youth and the short-sightedness of their naïve racism into a sympathetic light – giving the rest of us perspective and insight into why they did the things they did, the sympathy of it all taking us through an eye-opening journey of discovering how we all have a Malik, Asrul, corrupt law enforcer, naïve worker, and hopeful youngster in us, driven to either lie dormant or emerge by our actions and decisions.
“Nazi Goreng” is now available in digital and print copy. For more information, visit http://www.monsoonbooks.com.sg/nazi-g...
Marco Ferrarese can be found at his website: http://www.monkeyrockworld.com/ where he blogs about his music and travels.
Ferrarese's band Weot Skam's new album, Six Pack Tsunami Attack, was also reviewed by Metal-Temple here:
http://www.metal-temple.com/site/cata...
It’s not every day that Malaysians get to read about real Malaysian social issues, dramatized and put into perspective for informed discussion. Most of us reside within our little comfort cocoon of false hopes and mild social environments, the dirty reality lurking somewhere out there but never quite materializing in front of us. This is why a lot of Malaysians, especially the youth, remain sheltered from and largely uninformed of the phenomenon known as “Malay Nazism”.
Marco Ferrarese, an Italian writer and musician who spent the past few years working in Asia, said the volatile and intense climate of racial tensions in Malaysia made a profound impact on him, describing it as something he had not seen before. His experiences and opinions with this brand of racism, which some might describe as uniquely Malaysian, spurred him to write a novel with a rather unorthodox hero: young Asrul from Alor Setar, Kedah, pursuing the ultimate Malay Nazi dream – which is basically a Malaysia free from non-Malays.
“Nazi Goreng” the novel can be plainly described as a coming-of-age novel, but that would be doing it little justice, since it also happens to be a weighty and troubling analysis of the ever-present and inherent racial tensions in Malaysia. The novel also delves briefly into the world of Malaysian skinheads and punks – a small, ostracized subculture that most urban Malaysians probably have a hard time taking seriously when in fact, a lot of the supremacist ideologies fuelling Asrul’s actions stem from the skinhead culture of Neo-Nazism and racial supremacy. Being a punk musician himself, Ferrarese very delicately evaluates the erratic and inciting nature of the skinhead culture, and its relation to our young protagonist who is suffering from quite the identity crisis. To be honest, I would not have minded if the novel went on for another 50 pages, if it meant those extra pages would be spent on further explorations into the underground music scene.
Asrul is first introduced to us as just another Malay kid from the suburbs, but with a fondness for Punk and other kinds of heavy music. He goes around minding his own business for the most part and is in fact quite a casual, normal teenager, but Malaysia’s rather interesting demographical situation in which thousands of foreigners flood cities annually to take up odd jobs (a large number of whom do this illegally), has left some sense of resentment imbuing inside him, spurred on by an equally misguided sense of entitlement. A traumatic run-in with Indian gangsters is the catalyst that sets that resentment exploding and festering discontent within him, and charismatic, intimidating, and forceful Malik seizes his opportunity to plant seeds of hatred into Asrul’s susceptible mind.
Almost everybody in the world knows a ‘Malik’. He might not be your friend, but you know of him and his ways and for the large part, try to avoid him. Strong-willed, hard-headed, convincing, intelligent, compelling, yet bubbling with violence and aggression, such ‘Maliks’ are powerfully captivating, and dangerous both from the outside and inside, especially once you hear what he has to say. “Nazi Goreng’s” Malik is the perfect mold for this personality, à la Malaysian style. He latches his haunches easily into Asrul, who is initially meek and clueless, and there is no path for Asrul anymore except the one Malik has paved for him.
The novel then starts to take an interesting turn as Asrul and Malik leave the small town of Alor Setar for the tourist haven of Penang, and eventually, beyond. In Penang, the innocent Asrul is yet again taken into a situation he initially wants no part of, following Malik around like a puppy dog, becoming embroiled in an illegal drug business. From here, Ferrarese seizes the opportunity to expound on other gripping Malaysian issues such as the death penalty, the drug culture in Malaysia, the frustration of coming to terms with sexual tension and sexuality which are regarded as taboo topics, Asrul’s devotion to Islam which is warped by his involvement with the drug business and Nazism, corruption in the police force and government, and of course, unavoidable and underlying racism everywhere you go. That being said, the most important issue Ferrarese touches on is that of foreigners and immigrants in Malaysia. He does what perhaps no other novelist has ever done: giving the reader insight into the thoughts of a foreign worker in Malaysia. They are no longer the ‘unnamed untouchables’. They are memorable characters instead of plot devices. He opens up narratives with their thoughts and displays their humanity in all its subdued glory. Ferrarese exposes the mystery of the immigrant – an enigma many Malaysians consider inconsequential and even irritating – to show us that all they want to do is fit in and climb the social ladder – just like us.
It is important to note that “Nazi Goreng” isn’t all violence and social commentary – young Asrul does manage to meet a charming Indonesian girl named Siti. The dilemma sprouting from his relationship with her, his duty to Nazism, and his job as a runner for a drug lord culminate in a ferocious climax, a conclusion of which is refreshingly realistic, tragic and deserved.
In the end, Asrul’s first major fault was letting his instinct to survive overtake his humanity. One line in the novel perfectly captures Asrul’s turn from meek philosopher to full-on Nazi: “Tonight, he had switched sides; he was on the safe end of the blade.” It’s easy to sympathize with Asrul once you realize his entire foray into Nazism was just to feel like he was on the safe end of the blade. But is the blade even there in the first place? Who was first to wield the blade? This is where Ferrarese’s commentary on the Malaysian system of government and more obviously, law enforcement, comes into play – shedding light on the profound effect the actions of authorities have on young minds. However, the novel doesn’t try to draw any noble conclusions for us on what racism is and how we should react to it. It simply shows us the reality of the world we live it, leaving us to our own decisions on how we want to change things.
For a country with a colorful cultural climate that suffers occasionally from bouts of passiveness and ignorance, “Nazi Goreng” is great for any Malaysian to read. This novel is untraditional in every sense. From the superfluous narrative that switches effortlessly from the different points of view of each character, to taboo themes creeping their inexplicably dark powers over you, Marco Ferrarese has managed to pull readers into the dark and dangerous side of Malaysia. But despite its heavy and controversial subject matter, Ferrarese’s relentless debut novel manages to put the grueling reality of disenfranchised Malay youth and the short-sightedness of their naïve racism into a sympathetic light – giving the rest of us perspective and insight into why they did the things they did, the sympathy of it all taking us through an eye-opening journey of discovering how we all have a Malik, Asrul, corrupt law enforcer, naïve worker, and hopeful youngster in us, driven to either lie dormant or emerge by our actions and decisions.
“Nazi Goreng” is now available in digital and print copy. For more information, visit http://www.monsoonbooks.com.sg/nazi-g...
Marco Ferrarese can be found at his website: http://www.monkeyrockworld.com/ where he blogs about his music and travels.
Ferrarese's band Weot Skam's new album, Six Pack Tsunami Attack, was also reviewed by Metal-Temple here:
http://www.metal-temple.com/site/cata...
November 24, 2025
Started off strong but the last 40% is just...
Nazi Goreng is a book I've bought years ago but somehow never get to it. But now that I am determined to clear up my physical tbr as much as possible and I must say that I regret not getting to it sooner.
It tells the story of Asrul, a Malay Skinhead youth that got roped with the Malay supremacist, Malik. From there, he ended up entangled with drugs, sex, and a bunch of criminal shit that is justified by Malik.
This book is dark and to put it simply, everyone is terrible in this book. The only one I have a semblance of sympathy is Asrul, probably because this book is mostly from his perspective but it is because he is clearly a lost soul and someone is taking advantage of his lack of purpose and give it to him. This reminds me of a book I've read how ISIS roped youths into their cause and it is sad and terrifying.
If you think this book is trying to portray the Malays in terrible light: no. If anything it specifically highlights the dangers of supremacists akin to White Supremacy in America. As a Malay myself with conservative family, sometimes you can't help but see these among your own people and you know it is a spark of a dangerous thing because supremacists justify a lot of evil things in the name of their own cause.
The book is overall very well written. I'm surprised the author's first language isn't English but the opening chapter and the end of Asrul's life (oops spoilers) is a beautiful full circle. If you're worried this book is villainising Islam, also no. Because it actually highlights the hypocrisy of some Muslims through people like Malik and how they're misusing parts of religion that can easily be skewed to fit their perspective to influence people like Asrul. If anything, it make the effort that Asrul at the end finally realised how deep he has been used and he remembers how times were simple and right back then when he actually spend time at the mosque.
However, I think this book fell victim in trying to do too much. There are other POVs from other immigrants that barely contributes to Asrul's main storyline (and almost puts me to sleep as insightful as it is to know police corruption).
But damn if the writing isn't beautiful. I'm surprised and not surprised that this book was banned. I personally never trust the banning benchmark in Malaysia because I think the ban for this book is unwarranted. I think this book is highly misunderstood and shouldn't have been banned in the first place.
Nazi Goreng is a book I've bought years ago but somehow never get to it. But now that I am determined to clear up my physical tbr as much as possible and I must say that I regret not getting to it sooner.
It tells the story of Asrul, a Malay Skinhead youth that got roped with the Malay supremacist, Malik. From there, he ended up entangled with drugs, sex, and a bunch of criminal shit that is justified by Malik.
This book is dark and to put it simply, everyone is terrible in this book. The only one I have a semblance of sympathy is Asrul, probably because this book is mostly from his perspective but it is because he is clearly a lost soul and someone is taking advantage of his lack of purpose and give it to him. This reminds me of a book I've read how ISIS roped youths into their cause and it is sad and terrifying.
If you think this book is trying to portray the Malays in terrible light: no. If anything it specifically highlights the dangers of supremacists akin to White Supremacy in America. As a Malay myself with conservative family, sometimes you can't help but see these among your own people and you know it is a spark of a dangerous thing because supremacists justify a lot of evil things in the name of their own cause.
The book is overall very well written. I'm surprised the author's first language isn't English but the opening chapter and the end of Asrul's life (oops spoilers) is a beautiful full circle. If you're worried this book is villainising Islam, also no. Because it actually highlights the hypocrisy of some Muslims through people like Malik and how they're misusing parts of religion that can easily be skewed to fit their perspective to influence people like Asrul. If anything, it make the effort that Asrul at the end finally realised how deep he has been used and he remembers how times were simple and right back then when he actually spend time at the mosque.
However, I think this book fell victim in trying to do too much. There are other POVs from other immigrants that barely contributes to Asrul's main storyline (and almost puts me to sleep as insightful as it is to know police corruption).
But damn if the writing isn't beautiful. I'm surprised and not surprised that this book was banned. I personally never trust the banning benchmark in Malaysia because I think the ban for this book is unwarranted. I think this book is highly misunderstood and shouldn't have been banned in the first place.
October 21, 2020
Tak faham kenapa buku ni kena ban. I mean tak ada lah sensitif mana. Unless talking about reality is sensitive. But overall it was a good read. Ending dia agak ohhhkayyy i didnt expect that. But idk i was hoping for ending about the two men. But it will be lengthy kalau nak explain bout them more.
August 30, 2018
I read this looking for insight -I didn't find any. I finished because I was stuck somewhere with nothing else to do and I didn't want to bring it home.
March 25, 2025
took forever to get into and still was underwhelming. would def smoke this guy out 10/10
March 22, 2017
Nazi goreng
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