Book Review: by Lang Reid
Pool and its role in Asian Communism
As
I sat down to re-read Pool and its role in Asian Communism, various noisy
minority groups were running amok in Bangkok, attempting to pressurize the
fall of the government. I was immediately reminded of a statement in the
author’s notes which went, “War is not a natural last resort of conflict. It
is merely the evidence that man is not intelligent enough to solve problems
through dialogue and reason.” Sadly, so true.
Colin Cotterill’s work has much depth and Pool and its role in Asian
Communism (ISBN 974-8303-76-4, Asia Books 2005) is back on the Bookazine
shelves at B. 450.
It begins in a billiard ball factory, with an aging Waldo, the black quality
control officer training his replacement, a young Asian girl named Saifon.
The opening chapters build up the characters into very believable people,
with author Cotterill ‘narrating’ in a “deep south” style which fits the
characterizations, and does not appear forced.
During the first half of the book, you will be beginning to wonder just
where “pool” and “Asian communism” comes in, other than in the billiard ball
factory, but this very quickly becomes obvious as the action picks up and
Waldo and Saifon come to Thailand and then on to Laos.
Laos, because that was Saifon’s home originally, a country being torn in
every direction politically, as the “phony war” (now conveniently forgotten)
was held on the Laotian soil. When political ideology is replaced by common
sense, the true suffering of the ordinary Laotian can begin to be
appreciated. For the children, displaced and abused, political ideology has
much to answer for.
The crux of the story comes in Saifon’s dealing with her own psyche, damaged
from having been a trafficked child too, when she was eight years old. At
first she thinks she is crusading for the groups of children who had also
suffered, and were still suffering, but finally at one point, she realizes
that getting the traffickers identified was actually her own catharsis.
The identification of one and the resulting Thai trial, marred by corruption
(not unknown in Thailand even today) is pure theatre, but the way the truth
comes out later brings a smile to the reader.
However, with two main characters, Aldo too had his story and his background
that was there to haunt him, and his catharsis come out as he and Saifon
discuss their lives. Aldo may not have been trafficked, but he had no less
of a psychological scar that needed to be healed.
What starts off as a very “simple” book, ends up as one of the deepest and
darkest books you can read. Whilst it is a work of fiction, there are real
people on whom the book’s characters are based, including one in particular
mentioned in the author’s note at the end of the book.
For B. 450, this book is worth it, even if just for that first quotation
alone. It is a disturbing book that will move you to tears. An excellent
read from a highly skilled author. If you missed it first time, get it now.
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