Kowloon Tong: A Novel by Theroux, Paul (1998) Paperback

by Paul Theroux

For Neville "Bunt" Mullard and his mother, Betty, Hong Kong is part of Britain - one of the pleasanter parts; it is also cozy, monotonous, profitable, and homely. Now ninety-nine years of colonial rule are about to end, and the British government is about to hand over Hong Kong to China. Betty and Bunt can see China from their parlor, but they have never been there. They detest Chinese food. "The Chinese take-away, " as they call the Hand-over, does not particularly concern them. When Bunt first meets Mr. Hung, a well-spoken gentleman from the Chinese mainland, he pays him little heed. And when Mr. Hung offers the Mullards a handsome sum for their family business - a fifty-year-old textile factory, Imperial Stitching, that was cofounded by Bunt's late father - Bunt refuses him out of hand. Yet it soon grows clear that Mr. Hung is different from the Chinese the Mullards have lived alongside for years. For Mr. Hung will accept no refusals. Then a young woman from the Mullards' factory vanishes, one of many disappearances. But this one is different. Ah Fu has last been seen in the company of Mr. Hung. And so Bunt is forced for the first time in his forty-three years to make decisions that matter. He even begins, maybe, to discover love. Yet against all of Bunt's good, if half-formed, intentions are pitted the will of Mr. Hung and the looming threat of the ultimate betrayal.

Genres: Fiction, China, Travel, Asia, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Contemporary

Paperback

First published May 28, 1997

About the author

Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work is The Great Railway Bazaar (1975), a travelogue about a trip he made by train from Great Britain through Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through South Asia, then South-East Asia, up through East Asia, as far east as Japan, and then back across Russia to his point of origin. Although perhaps best known as a travelogue writer, Theroux has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel The Mosquito Coast.

He is the father of Marcel and Louis Theroux, and the brother of Alexander and Peter. Justin Theroux is his nephew.

Reviews

[Kristie Helms · Rating 1 out of 5]

I normally wouldn't have finished a book as bad as this one. But I kept thinking that since it was an allegory that it would somehow wrap itself up into something satisfactory.

It didn't.

I'm a fairly dedicated reader. I adore reading. I've been reading my entire reading life. Still.... there really are only so many books that one can read in one's life. I can't believe I wasted one of those books on this one.

[Jason Wincuinas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambivalent. I know I gave it four stars and I stand by that; I throughly enjoyed the reading experience and I couldn't wait to find time on the train or lingering somewhere to catch up with the characters. But there's still issues. None of these people were at all likable, particularly the protagonist. But there in lies the joy as well as the ambivalence. Its all unsavory folks doing despicable things, bumping around with not much place to go. And in that context, it's all fun. If it weren't for Theroux's prose it could have been a simply horrible novel. But his type of emotional, textural reporting- a journalism not of the proceedings but of what it felt like to be there -is what make this a worthwhile read. The real Hong Kong is a beguiling, layered city and while the characters in Kowloon Tong often felt more like caricatures, there's a certain amount of truth in that kind of portrait. These people do exist in Hong Kong, I've met them all, but keep in mind that's just one strand in a huge, tangled bowl of noodles.

Still, some more sensitive readers may dismiss the whole thing as a racist, sexist and even misogynistic rant. If that's all you take away from it, then you'll totally miss the point. If you can't stand any of that kind of sentiment in your fiction then just give this book a pass. Theroux mostly exposes all of it for what it is and lets you have some amassment at the expense of the perpetrators.

So yes, 4-stars. It's not without flaws but it could be the flaws that make it so good.

[Boris Maksimovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Godina je 1996. i Hong Kong će uskoro iz britanskih ponovo doći u kineske ruke. Atmosferu iščekivanja tog prelaska pratimo kroz priču o Buntu Mullardu i njegovoj majci Betty. Ona se u HK doselila, on je tamo rođen, ni jedno ni drugo ne govore kantonski niti imaju želje da to promijene. Na početku romana on je suvlasnik da bi kasnije postao i jedini vlasnik tekstilne fabrike Imperial Stitching, koja proizvodi uniforme raznih vrsta. Bunt je 43-godišnji mamin sin koji i dalje živi s njom, a svoje seksualne potrebe zadovoljava ili tako što na pauzi svrati do nekog od bordela u Kowloon Tongu ili sa nekom od radnica iz svoje firme. Da, ne baš pretjerano dopadljiv lik. No, tu kolotečinu u kojoj on uživa bez trunke griže sasvjesti poremetiće dvije stvari. Prva je ulazak na scenu mefistofeleskog gospodina Hunga, koji za razliku od većine Kineza koje je upoznao govori savršen engleski i dolazi s ponudom koja se ne može odbiti. On želi otkupiti firmu za potrebe Narodnooslobodilačke armije Kine, čije interese zastupa i uzeće je na jedan ili drugi način. Druga je njegovo zaljubljivanje u Mei Ping, jednu od radnica koja mu je činila popodnevne posjete u kancelariju. U kombinaciji tog intimnog i istorijskog vrtloga on će izgubiti tlo pod nogama i shvatiti, ukratko, da je cijeli njegov život laž i da je sve ono čega se čvrsto držao zapravo jako daleko od čvrstog. Ovaj roman se može svrstati u trilere, ali one gdje je radnja prilično spora i nekima će zbog toga biti dosadan. Komentari na Goodreadsu su uglavnom razočarani, pretpostavljam da su ljudi očekivali nešto drugo, ali meni se roman zaista svidio. Atmosfera je ovdje ipak nešto posebno. Ovo je ogoljena priča o ogoljenim odnosima ogoljene moći u jednom svijetu koji nestaje da bi na njegovo mjesto došao drugi. O gajtanu koji nije svilen i za koji prekasno shvataš da ti se već stegao oko vrata. O ljudima koji ne pripadaju nigdje, a ni tu gdje se dobro osjećaju ne mogu da ostanu. O sudaru svjetova u kojem oni koji nisu u stanju da se prilagode naprosto nemaju nikakve šanse. Sve u svemu, od mene imate preporuku.

[Abed Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart, intriguing, and allegorical, Paul Theroux was able to impress me with the book's tiny details. In a sense, I felt that "Imperial Stitching" is definitely a miniature of an abandoned Hong Kong that is left to be devoured by the Chinese dragon. Masterfully, Theroux was able to draw fear and uncertainty in the residents of Hong Kong, who were originally Chinese themselves, from the Chinese takeover.

What a stroke of luck to read Kowloon Tong, that stressed mainly on the handover of Hong Kong to China (1997), at the same time as the handover of Afghanistan to Taliban, or to China as expressed by few analysts, was taking place in front of our own unbelieving eyes (2021).

Abandoned residents, fearful for their dismembered families and their lost future, want out in any way possible whereas some women were surrendering themselves in marriages in order to leave the place, and this specifically happened in Afghanistan and Hong Kong. This point was highlighted in the book where nearly all of the harlots, or Phoenixes according to Theroux, that Bunt met offered themselves as wives so they could leave Hong Kong with him to Great Britain.

The relationship between Bunt and his mother is a well-executed point in the book. The suffocating love and protection that the mother supplies to Bunt and this would stay with him until the end of the book is well developed by Theroux and it mirrors immeasurable mother-son relationships everywhere.

All in all it is a good book that clearly presents the hardships and anxiety of Hong Kong residents during a specific time and specific place of misery and catastrophe.

[Michael P.]

Story of a despicable man. I have no idea why Mr. Theroux thought his story was worth telling because I quit his company a quarter of the way through. It would be hard to describe how much I hate this book or all the reasons for hating it.

[Johnny G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short novel about the British hand-over of Hong Kong to the Chinese in the lat '90's. Admittedly, I had not known a lot about the history or the culture of the area, but I was enjoy how Theroux seems to intertwine an interesting story in a fascinating setting.

[Stephen Gallup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bunt's parents were British expatriates, and he has lived in Hong Kong all his life. It's the only place he knows, and yet it's "not really home." Incredibly, he can neither read Chinese nor understand the language when it's spoken; it's "just a grating noise that did not remotely resemble human speech." The nearby country, China, seems to him "a place of darkness and ambush," and in his 40-plus years he has never once ventured across the border.

Likewise, he's in complete denial about the impending handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China, insisting when the unwelcome subject comes up that as far as he's concerned "Nothing will change." That's because change always terrifies him.

"A sudden change of plans left Bunt in anguish, not merely confused, but in pain. He felt naked and unprepared. ... He needed to be prepared, he liked order, he loved the fantasies brought on by anticipation. An unexpected meal, even a great one, never tasted as good as one he had savored in advance."

Fantasies is a key word in the above passage, because although he likes being prepared, he does little or nothing actually to bring about outcomes he thinks are desirable. (His nickname seems appropriate.)

He still lives with his widowed mother, and has few if any friends. Life revolves around the garment factory he has inherited—and around various houses of prostitution that he frequents (partly because the mother would have disapproved of any proper young lady he might might have brought round). Outwardly, the mother knows very little, grudgingly accepting his brief summary of a busy day "doing the accounts" when in reality the day has included "lunch at the Pussy Cat, sex in his office with the blinds drawn, a pint of brain damage at the Cricket Club." Actually, her ignorance is a pretense. Bunt's father had kept the same habits, and she has banked up years of accumulated resentment.

One aspect of Chinese culture Bunt did absorb (or that meshes with his personality) is its traditional lack of directness. That becomes an obstacle when a particularly vulnerable girl (an employee) catches his fancy:

"It was Chinese for dull duty to separate you from pleasure. It was Chinese not to say the thing that was in your heart, Chinese to say 'I don't know' when you knew, Chinese to love in silence, Chinese to reveal nothing of your feelings ..."

But Mr. Hung shows up, and he is not that kind of Chinese. He is as implacable as a tsunami. Hung has the power of the Peoples Liberation Army behind him, and he is going to buy and dismantle Bunt's factory—whether Bunt likes it or not. The options are to take a fair price now, and exit the colony with his mother, or wait until after the handover and lose it all. Unnervingly, Hung also knows all about Bunt's personal finances, and his girlfriends, and pretty much everything.

Bunt's mother is perfectly happy with the idea of going home to England. And she too, it turns out, is not to be argued with—not in any event by the likes of Bunt.

"She was a pale woman with a fleshy face that in repose was a pudding, but her expressions of disapproval seemed to mimic many of the recent British prime ministers whom Bunt knew from their photographs. His mother had cold Thatcher eyes and a Harold Wilson pout, a jaunty Jim Callaghan jaw and Edward Heath's pink beaky nose. She was Churchill now as she shook her jowls and put out her lower lip, and Bunt knew she meant no. "

The tragedy here of course is not Bunt's. He has been content with a wholly unrealistic and unsustainable arrangement, and his reaction when it's taken away is utterly childlike. He deserves and likely will not greatly suffer in the empty future awaiting him. The tragedy remains in that bit of Hong Kong he might have at least tried to help, i.e., his employees, including the unfortunate Ah Fu and especially Mei-ping.

When signing the papers, Bunt does venture to ask the solicitor:

"What guarantees are we getting that the workforce will be looked after?"
"One would imagine the usual guarantees implicit in the sale of a company to a Chinese entity," Monty said.
"Does that mean none?"
"Did I say none?"

And Bunt drops it there, allowing his mother to steer him the rest of the way.

Literature has too many Mei-pings. Because, I suppose, life does.

This was my first exposure to Paul Theroux. I'd like to read more.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is set just before the handing back of Hong Kong to the Chinese and needs to be read in context. It gives a great insight into both the British and Chinese hopes and fears as well as prejudice and inherent racism on both sides. I found it a fascinating read despite the fact, or even because of the fact, that none of the main characters are particularly likeable. It is a novel of its time and does a good job describing the period.

[Mr Siegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A World In Transition

Paul Theroux’s ‘Kowloon Tong’ is about a British man in Hong Kong in 1996, a year prior to the hand-over (or take-away), whose hitherto orderly life begins to slowly unravel after the death of his colleague.

The ambiance of the time, the feeling that an era is coming to an end and the uncertainty that goes with it, resonates deeply. Reading this book in 2018, I was amazed at how many of the things that the author forecasted about the fate of Hong Kong under the Chinese came true. Besides providing an ambiance of how life must have been at that interesting point in time, Theroux also shows provides penetrating insights into the interwoven lives of the British and Chinese.

Most importantly however, I was amazed with the main character, a despicable person but whom I felt for deeply by the end. Being bombarded with a sense of superiority, his home (Hong Kong) never got to be his home even though he was born and lived there all his life; he is a prime example of a third culture person. Only when he let his guard down from the traditional English riff raff did he realise that people are not that different after all.

In conclusion, beside the odd repetitive parts (and thus 4 stars), this novel leaves you with a feeling of something that is no more. It offers the reader a glimpse into a world in transition and of the feelings of the people who are swept along with the currents of the time.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing I love about Paul Theroux is that as a travel writer, he really seems to dislike travelling. This is fiction of course, however the thoughts of the main character are exactly what I would expect him to be thinking in the context of a place like Hong Kong. I think fiction just gives him licence to be more bitter than he usually is. I was initially dissatisfied with the direction the story took, but the interview he gave in Atlantic magazine (see link below) helped me appreciate some of the narrative choices and is worth reading after you read the book. Still probably not one of his best unless you have a particular interest in the Hong Kong handover.
https://web.archive.org/web/202009151...

[F.E. Beyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Theroux creates some deliciously unlikable characters here but the plot meanders. Kowloon Tong is a study of the 90s paranoia about the handover of Hong Kong to the evil empire of China and a critique of British colonialists. It captures the unfriendly atmosphere of Hong Kong. Unfriendly compared with where? Compared with mainland China. I didn't make it Hong Kong until 2002 ... I remember being impressed by the skyscrapers and the neon. People didn't stare at me like in China. But they were often quite rude and dismissive. Whatever the drawbacks of Mainland China back then, it offered a lot in terms of human interaction.

[Netts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dripping with sombre, existential dread and understated panic. I can see why this book so perfectly captures the mood in Hong Kong just before the hand-over. There isn't a single sympathetic or even redeemable character - they range from tragic to pathetic to despicable to flat out repulsive - and that is exactly what allows the atmosphere to take the central role (in fact, the stifling weather is as much a character here as the people). It all slowly builds into something utterly suffocating, making this work for me as an emotional snapshot of a specific time in the collective Hong Kong consciousness.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Theroux's Kowloon Tong is a novel about the British handover of their Hong Kong Crown Colony to the Red Chinese in 1997. Born in Hong Kong, Bump is a Brit who owns a textile firm that the new owners of the colony have their eyes on as a possible Peoples Liberation Army center. A villainous Chinese representative, Mister Hung, who is said to be an army officer but who appears here in mufti, puts pressure on Bump and his mother Betty -- offering them a million pounds sterling, but otherwise levying pressures that make him hateful in the process.

Although living with his mother, Bump spends much of his time with bar girls and prostitutes. Hung makes it his responsibility to put pressure on Bump by knowing about his off-hour pleasures. Eventually, he disappears Ah Fu, the roommate of his mistress Mei-Ping; and Mei-Ping becomes frightened -- with good reason.

Ten years earlier, Theroux had written a book called Riding the Iron Rooster about his railway journeys in China, but during the intervening time, he had become much more leery about Red China. Mr Hung is a truly frightening villain, and the British in Hong Kong are at the mercy of sharpers like him.

[Marie-Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gelezen voor een Readingchallenge: "Een boek voor een voor jouw belangrijk jaar"

Paul Theroux – Kowloon Tong (1997) heb ik gekozen vanwege de bijzondere betekenis die het jaar 1997 voor mij heeft: het jaar waarin mijn liefde voor boeken echt begon. Als kind was ik gek op verhalen over avonturen, koloniale geschiedenis en Azië, dus dit boek paste perfect bij die jeugdliefde.

Theroux neemt je mee naar het Hongkong van vlak voor de overdracht aan China – een stad in overgang, met een onderhuidse spanning die voelbaar is door het hele verhaal. Zijn stijl is scherp, observerend en soms ook bijtend. De hoofdpersoon, Neville "Bunt" Mullard, is allesbehalve een held, wat het boek interessant maar ook soms frustrerend maakt. Hij is passief, wereldvreemd en zit vast in zijn koloniale comfortzone. Dat maakt hem geloofwaardig, maar ook moeilijk om je mee te identificeren.

Wat ik waardeerde was de sfeer: Theroux weet de broeierigheid van het eindtijdgevoel goed over te brengen. Hongkong voelt tegelijkertijd levend en bedreigend. Toch voelde het verhaal op sommige punten traag, en had ik soms het idee dat het meer een karakterstudie was dan een echte roman met vaart.

Al met al een fijn boek om te lezen, vooral als je interesse hebt in het koloniale verleden en het spanningsveld tussen Oost en West. Geen hoogvlieger, maar wel de moeite waard – zeker voor wie, zoals ik, terugkijkt op 1997 als een belangrijk boekenjaar.

[Jonathan Lerdau · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

i did not really enjoy this at all, and any goodwill/faith in the author i had to spare by the end of the book was dashed by his own afterword

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ultimately a disappointment, this novel started fast and petered out with an ending that challenged believability.

I rated it as high as I did because the writing and descriptions were up to Theroux's standards. The plot, however, leaves a lot to be desired.

The characters are somewhat stereotyped but not as badly as some other reviewers thought. They are more likely composites, created to emphasize their failings.

I have met ex-pats who refuse to eat Chinese food, who describe the Chinese negatively and who keep to their own community of other ex-pats. They aren't all British, either. I am sometimes embarrassed at the antics of some of my fellow Americans.

The story follows the struggles of Bunt Mullard, a Hong Kong born but stereotypically British factory owner and manager, as he deals with events leading up to the 1997 hand-over of Hong Kong to Chinese or as he describes it "the Take-away". He lives with his overbearing mother, Betty, and has little social life outside of the Cricket Club and the "Girlie Bars". The story basically recounts events precipitated by the death of his Chinese business partner and the subsequent problems he must deal with.

The major issue is whether to sell out to Mr. Hung, representing the PLA (Chinese army), who wants the factory building as part of a development plan. Bunt does not handle the negotiations very well and in fact does not deal with any of the situations he finds himself in, very well. He's pretty much a wuss and is dominated by his lower middle class mother.

The suspense aspects of the book have to do with hidden motives and missing people. I certainly would not characterize the story as a thriller. The story's conclusion is very unsatisfying, but I, perhaps, like Theroux, was happy to have the story end.

For me, one of the highlights of the book, perhaps because I live here, was the description of various venues and situations in Hong Kong. Without that, I'm not sure I would have been as complimentary of the book as I have been.

[Ameya Joshi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always had an impression of Paul Theroux as a literary and 'serious' kind of writer given the exalted company his name is mentioned in. So when I started reading Kowloon Tong, I was expecting something more in the Graham Greene category. Kowloon Tong is however more of an elevated airport paperback. Within that genre it is a good book to pick up - not pulpy sensationalism, but more a character study with pensive thoughts on relationships playing up on all kinds of stereotypes and generalizations.

Our protagonists are a very unlikeable British HK mother and son duo, who have lived in Hong Kong almost all their life in a bubble similar to the old colonialists - sneering at the ways of the locals and staying away from them. The antagonist is an equally unlikeable villainous Chinese tycoon - unlikeable in manner, in perspective and in action. Throw in a couple of damsels in distress, a sleazy lawyer and a looming threat of handover. Stir well for a shade over 200 pages in a quick read - and voila! Garnish with some anti-China and anti-British sentiment in general to be an equal opportunity offender.

The one thing the book does feel like it gets right is the atmosphere of Hong Kong (and Macau). I'm sure natives will be able to poke many a hole, but as someone who spent even a limited amount of time there I found it relatable and it made it easy for me to visualize HK in the late 90s - from Happy Valley to Kowloon, onwards to the misty cottage on the peak, the journey to Macau, the last vestiges of colonial clubs and so on. A good breezy read for anyone who's spent time in HK and a filmy window into the pre-handover period.

[Judy Mann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I keep waiting for a hook but it ain't coming. Nothing sticks. Nothing holds together. A whole lot of characters that don't stick to the page.They don't do anything, actually.For some reason - the pervert- the main character falls in love... yeah so? See what I mean? Everything about this book is just not there.
The one good thing- which is why it got the second star-is that we don't have to listen to Paul Theroux telling us what a brilliant writer he thinks Paul Theroux is.I mean give me a break- the guy's got an ego the size of the Empire State building and it gets bloody irritating-to have to wade thru his massive narcissism to get to the story. He'd be a much better writer if he'd just shut up.But instead he gets his characters to tell him what a brilliant writer they think he is..see that? He gets them to do his boasting for him-which is a royal pain in the ass. Whoever is doing this kind of sick boasting- whether it's him or one of his characters- it all comes down to the same thing. It's ridiculously tedious.Not to mention a trifle delusional. 2 stars and that's me being generous. JM

[Jessie Navarro-Parks · Rating 3 out of 5]

...I'll agree with most in that if it wasn't for Theroux's writing, I would've burned the sumbitch like 7 chapters in...even though the end had me all like "what the fuck, really dude?", I do appreciate him sparing us the Hollywood ending...while the characters do come off as borderline stereotypical, I feel they do give the novel a better sense of realism where they're not perfect..it sounds weird but I almost have an idea of how each character smells..the cinephile in me is screaming for Wes Anderson to make an adaptation of this...

[Holly Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNFed at about 1/3 of the way through. That’s saying quite a lot since I almost never quit books. I can deal with an unlikable character- which is what most of the reviewers seem to have complaints about. The reason I had to stop reading this book was because I was listening to the audiobook and it is awful. Not just the quality, but the fact that the narrator decides to make mock “Chinese sounding” voices for the Chinese characters in the novel. It’s beyond offensive and hard to listen to.

[Merridy Pugh · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was different to the other Theroux books I remember reading – it was very black. I didn't like the portrayal of characters, who were mostly incredibly unappealing, at times revolting. I appreciated the author's explanation of why he wrote the book this way and his own experience of the hand-over of Hong Kong to the Chinese government.

[Jacqueline Weston]

I repeatedly tried to get in to this book,
I hate not finishing a book!
I think I would prefer to watch paint dry than try and read another page

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glimpse of the end of an era without the sentimentality of likable protagonists who would have distracted from the gist of the story. Theroux has an understanding of the colonial mindset, particularly that of the British.
A quick read, somewhat predictable, but well worth it.

[Paul Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished this book. I loved it. I loved it for its bravery, for its honesty, for its insight and for the talent the author brought to telling this awful story.

I was in Hong Kong in 1979 and I loved it too. It was alien and exotic and chaotic and wonderful... everything this book is. I would spend my days shopping and eating with the locals, amazed at the food; then I would go back to my very English-y hotel and love the tidiness, the service the drinks, and especially the coffee, which you could not find outside of the hotel. I loved how Theroux brought that all back for me... the smells, good and bad, the Star Ferry, the people and images, the freedom...

After my week in Hong Kong, I went into Kowloon, and then into Communist China, a place that had only very recently been opened to foreigners, to a place called Canton, now known as Guangdong Province. It was a different world, like going back in time (which Paul Theroux successfully pulled off for this reader).

Getting back to the novel, this stark difference, two societies, one chaotic but free, and one totally organized but a police state, is what the Hong Kong Chinese KNEW. They knew what the 'hand over' would mean for them and their loved ones... unlike many ignorant Americans.

Yes, China was beautiful, but sad, very sad. Instead of the hustle and bustle of 1979 Hong Kong, it was quiet, too quiet, dirt poor, a 19th century throwback--they did not have electrification in many provinces and cities. Houses were cold, toilets outdoors. But worse than that, the people were like prisoners, astounded at the Guielos tourists. We tourists were dressed well, in multi-colored modern clothing, snapping pictures with our Polaroid cameras, white the Chinese, except for a few, wore the bright blue silk-padded jackets, a sea of look-alikes. The only vehicles you saw were expensive government limousines chauffeuring communist politicians around (Two legs good; four legs bad!) and drab green army trucks shuttling bored-looking, red star-capped soldiers here and there. The people were warm and curious, and I sometimes felt like I was a zoo creature as they scrutinized me, sometimes speaking, but from a distance, afraid to get too close... due to the ever-watching soldiers.

Unlike in British Hong Kong, in China we stayed in a hotel where the doors had no locks. You knew they were going through your things while you were out on your tour... with your 'minder.' You went nowhere unaccompanied (although me and a few British tourists did sneak away, only to be quickly found and escorted back to the hotel (not by the soldiers, but by our minder.) This experience is why I loved the dark awfulness of Theroux' portrayal of Hung and the PLA overlords. We now have a lot of people like Hung here in America--socialists or communist on the outside, but greedy and criminal on the inside. Washington is full of them. So, for these reason I was astounded and saddened by this book, because Theroux brings the reality of (Chinese) communism vs Liberty to life. And he spares no one, not the Hong Kong Chinese, nor the British Hong Kong residents.

I knew after finishing this book, even before I got here to post about it, that I would find many negative reviews by Americans who have been taught that being critical is 'not being nice.' I knew that this novel would garner a lot of one-star slams for its courage and truthfulness. Well, that just makes me love it even more. And based on what I see here, it is clear to me that what has happened to Hong Kong, can, and 'may be' happening here in America. We seem about to be ‘handed over’ to some Chinese communist-like government. We now have political leaders who not only kowtow to China, but regurgitate its propaganda, who laud its heavy-handedness and admire its ability to ‘get things done,’ while we, due to our (quickly dissipating) freedoms move too slowly for them into the brave new world of communism and consumerism. Just as Mister Hung showed up in the ‘end times’ of Hong Kong, we now have American leaders showing up, openly pushing China-style totalitarianism on us.

How wonderful that there is this book, Kowloon Tong, that could perhaps serve as a warning to Americans. And how sad that so many on here don’t seem to recognize that.

[Paul Westwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel about the hand-over of Hong Kong seen from the perspective of a Hong Kong born English man and his mother. It has a third person omniscient narrator that primarily follows the man, Bunt, with the occasional foray into other characters’ lives.
The story opens with Bunt’s Mum ruminating about the similarities between Hong Kong and London as a grey rain falls outside, and it shows how she’s never really distanced herself from England. This section introduces her as the racist ‘ex-pat’ that she is and does so quite cleverly with snide references to ‘stinky’ Chinese cushions and Monty the ‘trusted’ Londoner as well as an overtly racist nickname for Chinese people. Even though this section achieved the above purpose very well, I found it slow and not very engaging, so my initial impression of the novel was poor and it took a while to get over that.
It didn’t help that neither Bunt nor his mother are likeable characters. Despite being born in Hong Kong, Bunt barely knows any Cantonese, has a pathological aversion to all Chinese food, has never been to China and he harbours crude stereotypical ideas of Chinese people. This isn’t much different from his mum except she’s even worse, using racist slurs and showing contempt for everything Chinese.
Bunt’s world is very small. He lives with his mum, runs the family business and frequents the local strip clubs and brothels, but all this changes when a man turns up and makes an offer for his business on behalf of the Chinese government. Things become very sinister with the Chinese agent demonstrating an unhealthy interest in Bunt’s private life, seeming to know all his secrets.
Overall the writing is very good, effectively capturing the disintegration of Bunt’s world as the Chinese takeover becomes ever more real. Some sections are excellent. There was one scene that stuck out for me, which alluded to his strange relationship with his mum while describing the girl, Mei-Ping, who he’s having a sexual relationship with. It’s an obvious juxtaposition to make but it was really well done. Later on there’s a chapter where Bunt completely miss-reads Mei-Ping’s reactions, taking them as positive affirmations of her love for him rather than the ambivalence they actually reveal. She is in a deep grief and barely reacting to him but he interprets every tiny response as her ‘Chinese’ subtlety and takes her acquiescence as love rather than the total antipathy it really is. It tells us much more about his ignorance and narcissism than it does about her.
Another sign that this novel is well written is the simple fact that it drew me into Bunt’s narrow universe and I wanted to read on, even when the story was moving slowly.
Occasionally I came across a sentence that didn’t sit right with me, as if it was missing something to make it complete. This only happened a few times and I didn’t dwell on it long enough to identify what the issue was, so I don’t know whether it was stylistic, grammatical or thematic. It was just enough to break the flow of my reading for a brief moment.
I found the ending disappointing because of how sad it was, but it was entirely appropriate to the story and anything else would probably have felt contrived. Bunt’s character arc is very shallow and he never manages to break away from his mother’s negative influence. His cowardice and selfishness are what defines him in the end. His profession of love is worthless. We don’t know what happens to Mei-Ping but we don’t need to because it’s obvious that it’s bad and he did nothing to help her.
Overall, this is a really good book that manages to engage the reader despite having main characters who don’t elicit much sympathy. It’s scathing about the colonial attitude of the ex-pats but doesn’t offer Hong Kong much hope for the future either. The final chapter shows the destruction of Bunt’s legacy in Hong Kong and disperses any doubts about how the Chinese government will rule the province. In light of events there in recent years it all feels quite prescient.

[Margarita · Rating 3 out of 5]

“These chicken feet are first quality. You appreciate them?”

In “Kowloon Tong” Paul Theroux describes Hong Kong in 1996, just before “the Handover”, and it is a very disturbing description. Main characters provoke nothing but disgust and contempt: 43-year-old Bunt (a frequent visitor of “Pussy Cat” bar), his ill-educated vulgar mother, Mr. Hung “It was the desperate peasant who had been wrenched from his village and plonked down in luxury“ and poor, pathetic Mei-ping, a worker from Bunt's factory.
Even though written in 1996 the novel is quite accurate in its descriptions – there are still plenty of Bunts wandering streets of Wan Chai, and there are plenty of poor, hapless Mei-pings waiting for them, and for a passport of course. The way Theroux describes “love” of Bunt to Mei-ping is repulsing, it is not love at all: “she looked like a boy” “he made a suggestion using the pressure of his hand and helped her up” “he led her” , “she was gaunt and attractive, and haunted in a way that made Bunt want again to hold her, to possess her”, “pale, thin, with the large eyes of hunger or illness shining in her bony face”. The only reason Bunt wants her is because this young, inept girl is a complete opposite of his dominant mother; Bunt is a weak and spineless man who lets his mother make all the decisions. His desire to marry Mei-ping, his “love” is not a real a feeling, he just wants to have someone he can control “it made him feel powerful and dominant”. There is nothing more pathetic than men like Bunt, “men”.
The antagonist of the story is not less disgusting – Mr. Hung. Mr. Hung embodies China, totally opposite to Bunt, he is strong and powerful. Terrifying and intimidating.
“Bunt was disgustedly drinking a pint of beer, eyeing the table with resentment, the dishes of sticky pork and soggy and wilted lettuce, the black vegetables, the gray broth, the purple meat. On one dish of yellow meat was a severed chicken’s head, its eyes blinded, its scalloped comb torn like a red rag.”
“All the crockery in China had been smashed – flung over the years in all the periodic convulsions for which China was famous. All the blood-stained carpets had been tossed away. All the ancestors’ portraits had been destroyed. All the bodies had been buried. It was a country of bare rooms and empty shelves, like this apartment.”
Despite the characters being appalling, the book itself is not badly written and indeed it is an interesting view on Hong Kong and China just before the Handover.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main character is incredibly unlikable and kind of a pitiable creature, which is kind of why I love this book. For whatever he's to represent of Britain's fading influence (or maybe imposed impotence), he's just a guy being carried along the waves of history who can't find a reason to swim against the tide. The story that happens beside or somehow outside of him does a good job of capturing the strange underlying creeping influence of China, the fear or confusion of those slowly suffocating under it, and ultimately their helplessness. It's not a happy book, but I'm a sucker for the "bad" guy made human.

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because Theroux is a good writer and the book got a very good review when first published in 1998. And, because I had been to Hong Kong, I thought a book about the Chinese takeover, written as a mystery, would be great. But I hated this book--all of the characters are despicable, some outright racist. And the women factory workers (undocumented immigrants) are completely exploited for work and sex. I hated every minute of this book and threw it away when I finished it. I am even sorry I read it.

[Dionne H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always enjoyed Paul Theroux’s observations and insights of humans and places, and I think he does a commendable job with HK before the handover, if only from a very small sampling of the population and the dubious setting of a factory in Kowloon Tong (did he mean Kowloon East?).

Written in that time period, the ominous tone of not knowing what was in the horizon for HK was fitting. But I would have appreciated the story a bit more if there was some representation of the actual HK-ers who had to live through the handover.