The Last Gods of Indochine- Samuel Ferrer
Great writing, and an interesting use of historical fiction
with two separate but ultimately connected storylines from the past. The first
story is set in the 13th Century reign of the Khmer King Jayavarman
VIII and the second between the 1860s and1920s. This is a well written quality
read. I found every chapter to be entertaining in of itself and so maintaining
a strong desire to read on. I would have liked an ending with a few less swirling
dreams and rather more ‘facts’. Most of the characters names are borrowed from
history but precious little that is actually known about them. With such a thin
veneer of known history perhaps the ending had to be mysterious and ephemeral, leaving
a host of possible paths along with the unsubstantiated assertion that science and
not religions’ unprovable possibilities dictates our fate.
I am critical of historical fiction that use long dead names
but so little of the admittedly thin history. I can forgive such a high degree
of storytelling in the ancient plot, but the use of real people from modern
history with the employment of so little factual information about them is hard
to accept. Nevertheless, I can’t imagine that many living relatives will find
much to question. Ferrer avoids deformation of character and we are already a
century away from their variously esteemed lives. The broad-brush strokes all
feel to accurately reflect the periods, and magic aside, are very believable.
Perhaps I am allowing my love of history to make me over critical of this
historical fiction, and certainly many reviews suggest that I am.
Ferrer’s descriptive writing is first class. I can imagine
that all his readers entertain the same picture and social interactions almost
exactly as I do. I could easily imagine myself to be an observer on the ’passenger’
boat, in the biplane, or climbing the walls of Angkor Wat. I could smell the
gangrene, feel the shacking earth, hear the booming shells, recalled in the
mind of the volunteer auxiliary nurse, from the front-line hospital wards of
WWI. I could feel that I was amongst elephants, monkeys and exotic people in
two distinctly woven times in Indochina.
Why does the title use the word Indochine rather than Indochina,
when it is written in English? I have no idea. I see no sign of a French
language version of this book. And why the last gods, when that certainly isn’t
in any way the case? Perhaps, once more my concern is isolated and obtuse.
This is a very enjoyable read, especially for those that
like to set their minds on travels through distant times and civilisations.
Five stars, where those stupidly uninformative and variably indicative ‘likes’
are required. This book is strong on description that drives it plot rather
than plot that needs description between its scaffolding. Good writers can take
one anywhere in time, real or imaginary, Ferrer can do that with aplomb.
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