Sunday, June 1, 2008
Manila, in Theroux’s Kowloon Tong
Have you read any Paul Theroux? One of the American writer’s more recent novels is Kowloon Tong, a story about a forty-something Brit who has lived all his life in Hong Kong, and whose escapades include being “entertained” in dark clubs by a Filipina from Manila named Baby.
Following is a passage from the novel, chosen for its description of Manila:
Luz (Baby’s friend) was from Manila, city of bangers and jitneys. They were single-minded, and credulous, and you could never please them, and that was why a million was meaningless, just funny money.
Here’s another:
He considered this (going to Manila) in an idle way, inventing a life, hypothesizing his moves, from arriving there and meeting someone like Baby, to raising children and perhaps starting a business. He got that far and then became obscurely anxious – was it the children or was it everything he had heard about the Philippines
, the danger and dog-eating and disorder?
I do not know what to think. What do you? Mr. Theroux’s image of Manila is not inaccurate, but it certainly isn’t complete. I, for one, have not eaten and will never eat my Japanese Spitz. So I do hope that any one of our realist fictionists would soon offer a magnified glimpse of our city, its sights and sounds: from the enchanted, to the ugly, both the beautiful and the honest. Just like how Lino Brocka depicted old Manila in his films.
By the way, Mr. Theroux kind of looks like Orhan Pamuk, don’t you think?
Related Posts:
About Migs BassigA Sunny Introduction to Manila
Cheap Thrills Away From Manila
Instant Pleasure
Look Closer
# 1 Jim Cunningham said:
Hi Migs - Sometimes peoples descriptions are dependant on what they have been told rather than what they have personally experianced.
Just maybe its the case on this ocassion.
# 2 Chas said:
Hi Migs,I was just laughing reading your article,it reminded me of something a china man once told me “We chinese eat anything with legs except a table,we eat anything that flies except an aeroplane”.I think maybe Theroux was getting a little mixed up with his thoughts
Regards Chas.
# 3 macky said:
we sell our kids, eat dogs & become sea pirates. and that’s just before turning 30.
but ya know, there is also that mindanao typecasting that we hear from ye northerners too
# 4 Klaus Doring said:
Hi Migs, the comments of Jim, Chas and Macky summed it up…
# 5 Migs said:
Hi Jim: You are right. I hope that it’s the same case with the author, and if it is, I’ll be glad to help him experience Manila in a new light.
Hi Chas: Isn’t it funny? I don’t wish to judge the author’s intentions, though, as it’s only a work of fiction. But I didn’t know the Chinese were that adventurous!
Hi Macky: Ha! I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been guilty of typecasting myself, but no longer after having been to beautiful Mindanao.
Hi Klaus: Yes, indeed. That’s what I love about LiP, I learn a lot from the readers!
Cheers to you all!
# 6 rick b said:
Migs
sorry about this but paul theroux is one of my favourite writers, i think i have read all his books, Kowloon Tong, is not one of my favourite and it did not make him popular in hong kong, it was not a flattering portrait, but….
he is a writer and travel writer and he writes with poetic brilliance at times i so admire, but he is famous for his caustic generalisations and i guess manila came off badly here, but Manila is big enough to take it
a lot of his work is semi-autobigraphical and he has been through some tough times, many of the tough times, self imposed i think
he has a son, (louis theroux) who makes documentaries, usually shown on the bbc, (”you tube” them you can find him there) and he is as crazy as his father, it does take all sorts and these intellectual guys do think differently to us normal folk
sorry Migs, i like him, but i also like you too
# 7 MarcelinaWW said:
Hi Migs,
Confucius says, “Everything has beauty, not everyone sees it.” Obviously, this author had not seen it in the Philippines, poor soul! He needs an experienced tour guide and leave Baby and her friend Luz alone to their small world. l
Takce care!
# 8 Migs said:
Hi Rick: Thanks for clearing that up. I do understand that Theroux’s job is not to paint a flattering portrait of places. His intentions are best described as literary, for which I also admire him. He’s a very good writer, although of course my favorite English author still has to be Evelyn Waugh.
Hi Marcelina: Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. I hope that the author gets the chance to visit the Philippines soon, and write a novel out of his experience. I’m sure he’ll find more positives than negatives from a potential stay here.
Cheers!
# 9 Trevor Davies said:
Hi Migs,
First time visiting your page, although I’ve been looking around Mindanao Bob’s blogs for about a month now. Planning on making my first trip to the Phils. just after Christmas so that I can experience your beautiful country first hand.
Regarding Theroux’s novel, he is obviously a man that hasn’t made the effort to visit the Phils. or even do his homework on it. It’s been my experience, that these are the type of comments that you get from people that have no first hand knowledge of the country they are talking about. If it’s true that “ignorance is bliss” then these people must be close to acheiving nirvana.
By the way, loved the article on your trip with Bob and John, makes me look forward to my trip even more.
Trevor
# 10 rick b said:
Trevor
sorry my friend but you are wrong, Theroux has been to the philippines, he paints a different picture than those often expected by the politically correct and that makes him controversial, but he is most “un-complimentary” to those nations he is closer to (usa-he is american) and the uk, he was married to an english woman and lived there for a while.
he is also a travel writer and has written about his experiences in the philippines, his style is controversial but his english is fantastic and this makes his writing very readable, try it, not always comfortable as Migs has pointed out here
# 11 rick b said:
Migs
my favopurite american (english authors) are hemmingway and more recently John Updike, he can write like an angel, a grubby angel that is
english authors are graham greene and thomas hardy
but i read and loved waugh’s brideshead re-visited and deline and fall, so i can’t fault your choice, i think we are close here….
you like classic literature (from your waugh choice) do you like modern stuff as well?
best regards
# 12 MarcelinaWW said:
Migs,
Speaking of english authors… Jane Austen’s classic novels Pride and Prejudice, Senses and Sensibility, and Persuasion are among my favorites. Can you recommend a couple titles of Waugh’s for me to start?
Thanks!
# 13 Migs said:
Hi Trevor: Thanks for your kind words. I am absolutely sure that you will love your first trip to the Philippines! I’m glad you will finally set foot on our blessed islands. BTW, I E-mailed you back on the info you were looking for. Cheers!
Hi Rick: Thanks for clearing that up. I didn’t know that Theroux has been to the Philippines! On the subject of other authors (American or English), my favorite contemporary ones are Kazuo Ishiguro, Colm Toibin, Kent Haruf, and maybe Ian McEwan, among others. And you’re right: Brideshead Revisited is a classic!
Hi Marcelina: I haven’t read as much Jane Austen as Evelyn Waugh. As for Waugh titles with which you can start, maybe you can read Brideshead Revisited or The Loved One? Rick, I hope, wouldn’t disagree.
Thanks very much!
# 14 rick b said:
Migs
i think i read a couple of ishiguru his best seller was (i think) “at the end of the day” (i could have googled that but just shot it off, so, maybe wrong), anyway that and another book of his, i read, obviously a talented author BUT he is / was a bit abstract for me similar to another writer, Paul Auster talented but in a way disturbing……….have you heard of auster?
McEwan, liked him at first (very talented he can write like a ….well like a very talented author) but read most of his and after reading his latest i think attonement, felt like throwing the book into the bin, so, bloody slow but so well written i had to finish it, recently made into a film, couldn’t bear to watch it, book so bloody frustrating….get on with it man…..etc etc
anyway rant over….i will try the other 2 authors you mention who i haven’t tried i respect your choices, you know more than me, reading is just a hobby for me
heard of Peter Carey? an australian writer, who can’t write a bad book, some gems, try “oscar and lucinda” its a gem
haven’t read Waugh’s the loved one, will put it on my list (your recommendation for marcelina above)
see ya Migs