In the course of a year I will read and review more than 50 books. Some
never become reviews as they are simply not good enough in the literary
sense. It is rare for a book to be outstanding.
However, is it perhaps a judge of excellence that I would
pull down one book from the shelves, read it again, and thoroughly enjoy it
once more? If so, then The Cultural Detective by Christopher G. Moore
(ISBN 978-616-90393-8-9, Heaven Lake Press, 2011) is an excellent book. Not
only a good book, but for me, the best book reviewed in 2011.
Forget Moore’s Calvino series, this is a completely new
genre and is a collection of essays in four broad parts commencing with
Perspectives on Crime Fiction Writing, followed by Clues to Solving
Cultural Mysteries, then Observations from the Front Lines and
finally Outside the Southeast Asia Comfort Zone.
The subtitle to The Cultural Detective, is
“Reflections on the Writing Life in Thailand”. Author Moore manages to look
at the reflections without becoming introspective, but has the ability to
dissect concepts and customs with a very equal handedness. This is not a
farang blindly reporting the ways of the Thais, but has genuine explanations
given by someone who does not let his own culture and customs impinge on the
details.
An example of this is, “In Thailand the deference culture
is largely built around age, rank, family and wealth. The Thai expression is
kreng jai, and that term underpins the social, political and economic system
and has done so for centuries.”
The essays do cover Moore’s methods in writing fiction.
“Writing blends death and sex into myth, folktale, legend and serving up a
strong brew turns us into addicts.” He explains the pitfalls. “Writing a
book takes long hours of focused attention. You can’t multi-task and write a
novel. Because you have to keep the whole story, plots and sub-plots,
characters, their connections and motivations inside your head as a unified
whole. This is fragile territory. One that is easily distracted.”
Moore looks dispassionately at some of the reasons the
youth of the world is resorting to anarchy. “…who have no job and turn to
crime as the only available option. This new army of angry young recruits
may not be fuelled by the hatred of a jihad. The fuel of despair and
hopelessness are the precursors to hatred, and you don’t need a religion to
motivate such young men. Wanting status and the material stuff that a
material society proclaims is essential for your manhood is the new
scripture.”
Christopher G. Moore is an excellent writer, and his
style in this collection of essays reminds me of Bill Bryson (A Short
History of Nearly Everything) and Dave Barry (I’ll Mature When I’m
Dead), though Moore’s subject matter remains more deeply thought
provoking than the other two, in my opinion.
I have enjoyed the Calvino escapades, plus his other
books, but for me this collection of essays stands out as offering a glimpse
of the ‘real’ Christopher G. Moore. The RRP in Bookazine is B. 385 - a
literary bargain.