MAP OF the Invisible World, Malaysian author Tash Aw's latest novel, is set in Indonesia during the political and social upheaval of the 1960s.

This is not the first novel written about this period in Indonesia's history, but Aw's angle is a more personal tale and shadows the lives of a number of characters with different points of view.

The story follows the lives of two orphaned brothers – Adam and Johan – as they experience various historical events from two different perspectives.

Adam, the younger brother, was adopted by a Dutch Indonesian man – an awkward situation during this time of repatriation and anti-Western feeling. They live on a small island, isolated from the rest of the country.

His brother, Johan, is living the high-life in Jakarta as the adopted son of a rich businessman; he is a wastrel, flitting from fast cars and nightclubs to drugs and prostitutes.

The tie that binds the stories together is the character of Margaret – an American born in Papua New Guinea to anthropologist parents. She is a university lecturer and a former friend and lover to Karl, Adam's adoptive father.

When Karl is arrested by soldiers on the tiny island he and Adam share with local fisher families, Adam goes through his papers, finally tracking down Margaret and making his way to the big smoke.

Map of the Invisible World is Aw's attempt to track a human thread of emotion through a tumultuous political period.

Unfortunately for Aw, there already exists an classic novel written about this period of Indonesian history – The Year Of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch.

Adapted into a film of the same name by Australian director Peter Weir, the story follows a group of Expat journalists before and during a supposed coup attempt by the Communist Party of Indonesia in 1965.

Aw echoes these events in Map of the Invisible World with the character of Din, supposedly Margaret's assistant but secretly a revolutionary.

Map of the Invisible World even has a journalist in the story – Margaret's mate Mick, an Australian reporter working for a second-rate newspaper and in love with French poetry.

Comparisons between the two books are naturally going to be drawn.

The Year of Living Dangerously won an Age Book of the Year award and the film won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Linda Hunt.

Staring Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver, the film is a perennial favourite for people interested in this region.

Map of the Invisible World, however, does look at the events from the perspective of actual Indonesians, unlike The Year of Living Dangerously.

Aw's saving grace, the point of difference so to speak, is that he focuses more on the emotional journeys of his characters rather than on the historical events going on around them.

There is an intrinsic love of the region, detailed images of isolated island living are superseded by the chaos of Jakarta, the sheer press of humanity crammed into a clearly developing, but not yet developed, city.

Of all Aw's characters Johan is the least developed in many ways, perhaps echoing the the 'what might have been' of the brothers' history. He is also the least likable; readers will just want to slap him and tell him to grow up; his life could have been so much worse.

But it is identity and the search for it that is the central premise of Map of the Invisible World.

Adam doesn't really know who he is. He's not 'Dutch' like Karl, he's not really 'Indonesian' like Din either. Margaret is definitely not American, but she's certainly not Indonesian either.

Din is an educated, politicised Indonesian who has spent time in Holland; he is an enigma in a way. Is he or isn't he a communist? What is the trauma in his past that makes him so volatile? Is it real or only a self-indulgent distaste for his own people covered by political rhetoric?

Like Year of Living Dangerously, this novel is complicated, but unlike the first story, Map of the Invisible World is not fast-paced.

It would be extremely difficult to adapt Aw's work into a film – the nuances of identity and emotion, of isolation both physical and psychological would be hard to translate onto the big screen.

Is this a successful novel? Mostly. In its own way Map of the Invisible World asks some interesting questions about race, family, identity and place. Aw answers some and allows the reader to answer others.

Is Map of the Invisible World as good as Aw's first work, the award-winning The Harmony Silk Factory? It depends on your perspective. Those who enjoyed the first book will find similar things to like about this one.

However, if you want to read about this particular period of time in Indonesia's history, The Year of Living Dangerously is the one to grab for its sheer drama, tension and punch.

Probably the best thing to do is read both – two versions of the same thing will give the reader a better understanding of what really happened during this time and offer a number of perspectives.

The 20th century has seen a burgeoning indigenous literary scene in Southeast Asia, authors like Aw prove that post-colonial literature offers a valid perspective on history.

The Year of Living Dangerously is written from the perspective of the West, and although Map of the Invisible World includes numerous 'Western' characters, it is a more inclusive vision of the same period.

At the end of the day it is up to the reader to create their own version of history from whichever source they prefer.

Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw is published by Fourth Estate, an imprint of Harper Collins, and is available from good book stores and online.