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Pure
Timothy Mo doesn't hang about. His new novel – his first for more than a decade – dumps the reader straight into the world of Snooky, a Muslim born in "198-" and named Ahmed, now a Thai ladyboy and award-winning film critic for the Siam New Sentinel, who refers to herself in the third person, a habit that she brought to English from Siamese. It's one of the novel's innumerable instances of east-west imbrication and exchange. In Mo's analysis, there's no such thing as racial or ideological purity. As Snooky points out, even the western is pretty eastern.
- GenresFictionLiterary Fiction
388 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
2 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Mo
12 books63 followersTimothy Peter Mo is an Anglo-Chinese novelist. He is the son of a British mother and a Hong Kong Chinese father. He came to Britain as a 10-year-old.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 24, 2012
This is a fabulous book, a story of 9/11 as told from deep within a provincial terrorist enclave in the Muslim south of Thailand, with side trips to Singapore, Bangkok, and Mindanao. The protagonists are: a transgender Thai who is inveigled into a role as mole only to be captured by Stockholm syndrome and self-elect to betray his minders; a pyscho Pakistani "sheikh" and terrorist guru who is completely uncomplicated in his world view; and a British spymaster and Oxford professor living in a bygone era. The syntax of the three is complicated, and only Snooky the transgender hero is completely appealing, but he/she is incandescent. There is no one like Timothy Mo writing in English about this part of the world as deeply and as well, pace Amitav Ghosh.
Of equal interest is what has happened to Mo as a writer as a result of his war against mainstream publishers. Sometime in the last 20 years, he decided to have no more truck with them, and has been self-publishing ever since. This accounts directly for the lack of distribution and difficulty of obtaining his recent books, since he moved from London to the Philippines. A mutual friend claims that publishers have returned the favor and refused to do him any. There are no Kindle versions of his books, and the recent ones are small print ones to start out with. Turnaround Books, which published Pure, is Mo's own imprint. I for one wish him luck.
Of equal interest is what has happened to Mo as a writer as a result of his war against mainstream publishers. Sometime in the last 20 years, he decided to have no more truck with them, and has been self-publishing ever since. This accounts directly for the lack of distribution and difficulty of obtaining his recent books, since he moved from London to the Philippines. A mutual friend claims that publishers have returned the favor and refused to do him any. There are no Kindle versions of his books, and the recent ones are small print ones to start out with. Turnaround Books, which published Pure, is Mo's own imprint. I for one wish him luck.
May 13, 2012
It is over 10 years since Timothy Mo’s last novel, but Pure has been worth the wait. Mo has written an effervescent novel overflowing with verbal ticks and tricks, addressing some serious topics in a most unusual way. The book is set in southern Thailand, where a small but vigourous Islamic insurgency, vaguely linked with global backers, dreams of a South Asian caliphate and embarks on a campaign of terrorism. In an effort to infiltrate one of the Islamic cells, the police recruit a most unlikely double agent, Snooky - a Thai ladyboy of Islamic origin working as a film critic in the city. Against all expectations, Snooky proves to be a very effective terrorist and a somewhat less effective informant for the authorities.
Pure is told mainly in the first person, with several key voices alternating their stories. Snooky is the most important and most entertaining, displaying all of the characteristic traits of the unreliable narrator. Beginning with vivid descriptions of the life of a ladyboy, moving through police brutality to life as part of an Islamic cell in the jungle, Snooky observes all that is happening and increasingly participates, maintaining a constant commentary on events and the people she meets. She has a tendency to refer to herself in the third person, and peppers her narration with cultural, and in particular cinematic, references. Snooky is highly intelligent, a trait which she continually underplays and uses to her advantage.
The second main narrator is Victor, a Church of England clergyman in a high academic position in an Oxford college, who for many years has acted as a recruiter for the security services. Because of his connections with the Far East, Victor becomes involved in an electronic correspondence with Snooky the double agent, and eventually visits Thailand to make contact with her.
Much of the novel is concerned with the clash between fundamentalist Islam and Western (and Eastern) democratic values. All battle for control of Snooky’s heart and mind, while she deteriorates physically and metamorphoses mentally. Pure contains serious philosophical discussion, historical review, theological musings, fantastic pen portraits and sketches of minor characters, surreal interludes, and above all a torrent of words, puns and verbal pyrotechnics. It is at times a challenging read, and perhaps fades a little in the latter third, but it is certainly one of the most interesting and innovative books I have read this year.
There is a danger that Pure may pass most readers by, which would be shame. Mo fell out with mainstream publishers in the 1990’s and his last couple of novels have been published independently. Pure is published by Turnaround Books, but lacks the benefits which come from a major publicity machine and promotion behind it. It is a book which deserves to do very well in the literary prizes. If this does happen, it will hopefully attract more attention. However, in the meantime it is well worth seeking out.
Pure is told mainly in the first person, with several key voices alternating their stories. Snooky is the most important and most entertaining, displaying all of the characteristic traits of the unreliable narrator. Beginning with vivid descriptions of the life of a ladyboy, moving through police brutality to life as part of an Islamic cell in the jungle, Snooky observes all that is happening and increasingly participates, maintaining a constant commentary on events and the people she meets. She has a tendency to refer to herself in the third person, and peppers her narration with cultural, and in particular cinematic, references. Snooky is highly intelligent, a trait which she continually underplays and uses to her advantage.
The second main narrator is Victor, a Church of England clergyman in a high academic position in an Oxford college, who for many years has acted as a recruiter for the security services. Because of his connections with the Far East, Victor becomes involved in an electronic correspondence with Snooky the double agent, and eventually visits Thailand to make contact with her.
Much of the novel is concerned with the clash between fundamentalist Islam and Western (and Eastern) democratic values. All battle for control of Snooky’s heart and mind, while she deteriorates physically and metamorphoses mentally. Pure contains serious philosophical discussion, historical review, theological musings, fantastic pen portraits and sketches of minor characters, surreal interludes, and above all a torrent of words, puns and verbal pyrotechnics. It is at times a challenging read, and perhaps fades a little in the latter third, but it is certainly one of the most interesting and innovative books I have read this year.
There is a danger that Pure may pass most readers by, which would be shame. Mo fell out with mainstream publishers in the 1990’s and his last couple of novels have been published independently. Pure is published by Turnaround Books, but lacks the benefits which come from a major publicity machine and promotion behind it. It is a book which deserves to do very well in the literary prizes. If this does happen, it will hopefully attract more attention. However, in the meantime it is well worth seeking out.
Want to read
December 8, 2015This was discussed on Episode 045 of the Reading Envy Podcast.
July 28, 2023
Having now finished all his books (at least published to date), this is my ranking of all Timothy Mo's novels - from the glorious to the grim:
(1) An Insular Possession (1986)
(2) Sour Sweet (1982)
(3) The Monkey King (1978)
(4) The Redundancy of Courage (1991)
(5) Pure (2012)
(6) Renegade or Halo2 (2000)
(7) Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard (1995)
While I have found the latter four books hard work at time, I am still a little surprised to find only 61 people have reviewed 'Pure' on Goodreads. Yes it is long, but it is not unwieldy, and certainly a league better than 'Renegade' placed just below it. Queer identities and religious radicalisation make this very much a book of its time (2012), with a TV series just begging to be made of it. With themes like these, as well as all those Booker nominations to his name, it seems surprising that Mo seems to have faded so far from view by the 2010s and 2020s.
True: I didn't love it, but nor did I do anywhere near as much speed reading as Mo's other 21stC efforts. It didn't come with as many experimental novel drawbacks as the previous two, in particular. The other books felt showing off to the art school kids and to hell with the reader; with 'Pure' the plot takes centre stage, along with some thoughtful (and thought-provoking) ideas on the parallels between Christianity and Islam. 'Pure' is a culture war novel that wages battle on multiple intersectional fronts: class, sexuality, gender, religion, and more.
As I've said before, Mo's longest book is my favourite - 'An Insular Possession '. However, with the later novels, less could have been more.
(1) An Insular Possession (1986)
(2) Sour Sweet (1982)
(3) The Monkey King (1978)
(4) The Redundancy of Courage (1991)
(5) Pure (2012)
(6) Renegade or Halo2 (2000)
(7) Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard (1995)
While I have found the latter four books hard work at time, I am still a little surprised to find only 61 people have reviewed 'Pure' on Goodreads. Yes it is long, but it is not unwieldy, and certainly a league better than 'Renegade' placed just below it. Queer identities and religious radicalisation make this very much a book of its time (2012), with a TV series just begging to be made of it. With themes like these, as well as all those Booker nominations to his name, it seems surprising that Mo seems to have faded so far from view by the 2010s and 2020s.
True: I didn't love it, but nor did I do anywhere near as much speed reading as Mo's other 21stC efforts. It didn't come with as many experimental novel drawbacks as the previous two, in particular. The other books felt showing off to the art school kids and to hell with the reader; with 'Pure' the plot takes centre stage, along with some thoughtful (and thought-provoking) ideas on the parallels between Christianity and Islam. 'Pure' is a culture war novel that wages battle on multiple intersectional fronts: class, sexuality, gender, religion, and more.
As I've said before, Mo's longest book is my favourite - 'An Insular Possession '. However, with the later novels, less could have been more.
October 19, 2020
It is a shame that Timothy Mo’s fiction is less celebrated than many of his contemporaries. Where most novels written in English feel parochial and clunky, Mo seems truly international, showing a very modern clash of cultures in a critical light. His originality is perhaps due to his being born in the aggressively international city of Hong Kong and later having decided to live across Asia, unlike many successful English novelists who inevitably hole up in North London when the advances and royalties start coming in. Mo is therefore able to write critically on the subject of race and culture in a way in which others might struggle.
Mo’s work can possibly be split into two periods. The early books started with the Hong Kong novel The Monkey King and went on to chronicle Chinese immigrants in London with Sour Sweet. An Insular Possession seems to be the last of this first period, set amidst the Opium Wars of the 19th Century. They are either set in Hong Kong or have characters who have a strong connection to that city. Even more international, the second period appears to be concentrated more in South East Asia, such as in The Redundancy of Courage, which takes place in a stand-in for East Timor.
Pure is Mo’s most recent novel to date, now eight years old. As with other novels in the latter period, it takes place in South East Asia, this time in Thailand. Mo introduces us to the brilliantly drawn Snooky, an HIV positive transgender film critic recruited by the Thai authorities and the British SIS to infiltrate a group of Islamists who are intent on establishing a Caliphate in South East Asia. Snooky’s narration takes up most of the book. The other narrator is Victor, a Christian Oxford academic and spy, based on a well-known real-life character from the university. Both show Mo’s real strength of characterisation, their very different voices both convincingly wrought. I would say that the most striking to the reader is Snooky, who demonstrates Mo’s facility with languages, and with humorous word play and amusing juxtapositions of traits and assumptions.
Snooky’s character arc is one of the more convincing elements of the novel. Snooky, transgender and from a Muslim background, still has an identity rooted in Islam, and ends up almost reconciling the two in a strange way by the end of the novel. It is difficult to surmise quite where Snooky’s loyalties lie, and that must be part of the point.
I have noticed that some commentators seem to put Mo in with post-colonial writers, and it is true that the books do charter the aftereffects of the decline of the British Empire and the mass movement of peoples since the post-war era. I would, however, say that Mo seems less concerned with many of the preoccupations of the post-colonialists and less keen to attack the conduct of the British or the West. Indeed, it seems that Mo writes with affection about Oxonian life and the Victor is by no means a cad or a complete fool in Pure. Perhaps because of his background, Mo sees the misapprehensions on all sides. His subject is the way cultures and identities clash. Most of the characters, other than perhaps Snooky, seem to have certainties about people, places and systems of thought that are more combustible the more they encounter the other side.
Pure followed Mo’s previous novel Renegade or Halo2 by over ten years. Let us hope that he brings out another of his curious, funny and challenging works of fiction in the near future.
Mo’s work can possibly be split into two periods. The early books started with the Hong Kong novel The Monkey King and went on to chronicle Chinese immigrants in London with Sour Sweet. An Insular Possession seems to be the last of this first period, set amidst the Opium Wars of the 19th Century. They are either set in Hong Kong or have characters who have a strong connection to that city. Even more international, the second period appears to be concentrated more in South East Asia, such as in The Redundancy of Courage, which takes place in a stand-in for East Timor.
Pure is Mo’s most recent novel to date, now eight years old. As with other novels in the latter period, it takes place in South East Asia, this time in Thailand. Mo introduces us to the brilliantly drawn Snooky, an HIV positive transgender film critic recruited by the Thai authorities and the British SIS to infiltrate a group of Islamists who are intent on establishing a Caliphate in South East Asia. Snooky’s narration takes up most of the book. The other narrator is Victor, a Christian Oxford academic and spy, based on a well-known real-life character from the university. Both show Mo’s real strength of characterisation, their very different voices both convincingly wrought. I would say that the most striking to the reader is Snooky, who demonstrates Mo’s facility with languages, and with humorous word play and amusing juxtapositions of traits and assumptions.
Snooky’s character arc is one of the more convincing elements of the novel. Snooky, transgender and from a Muslim background, still has an identity rooted in Islam, and ends up almost reconciling the two in a strange way by the end of the novel. It is difficult to surmise quite where Snooky’s loyalties lie, and that must be part of the point.
I have noticed that some commentators seem to put Mo in with post-colonial writers, and it is true that the books do charter the aftereffects of the decline of the British Empire and the mass movement of peoples since the post-war era. I would, however, say that Mo seems less concerned with many of the preoccupations of the post-colonialists and less keen to attack the conduct of the British or the West. Indeed, it seems that Mo writes with affection about Oxonian life and the Victor is by no means a cad or a complete fool in Pure. Perhaps because of his background, Mo sees the misapprehensions on all sides. His subject is the way cultures and identities clash. Most of the characters, other than perhaps Snooky, seem to have certainties about people, places and systems of thought that are more combustible the more they encounter the other side.
Pure followed Mo’s previous novel Renegade or Halo2 by over ten years. Let us hope that he brings out another of his curious, funny and challenging works of fiction in the near future.
July 8, 2012
The first novel to be written by Timothy Mo in over 10 years is set in contemporary Thailand, and the main character is Ahmed, who prefers to be called Snooky, a narcissistic ladyboy (transvestite) from a Muslim family in southern Thailand who does drugs on a regular basis and steals from upscale stores and his her straight male clients to support her decidedly non-Islamic lifestyle in the heart of Bangkok. She and her fellow katoeys are caught by vice squad officers in flagrante delicto during a drug fueled orgy, and Snooky is beaten and imprisoned after she taunts them. In exchange for her release from charges that could send her to prison for decades, she provides the vice squad with valuable information and agrees to work as an undercover agent for a local Islamic school that is suspected of carrying out acts of terror.
The novel consists of chapters narrated by the key characters: Snooky; Victor, a pompous Oxbridge professor and former British intelligence agent in Southeast Asia; Shakyh, the Pakistani mastermind of the Islamic school; and Umar, the school's spiritual leader, who secretly despises Shakyh and Snooky Ahmed. Victor's main purpose is to provide a historical backdrop for the rise of Muslim extremism in southeast Asia; Shakyh also serves in that role in addition to planning the group's increasingly more violent acts. Snooky becomes more radicalized, while she hides but doesn't disavow her ladyboy identity or her drug habit, and walks a dangerous tightrope as she provides the police with information about the group, knowing that she will meet a painful death if she is uncovered.
Pure is an interesting novel about the political history of Thailand and the rise of Islamic activity in southeast Asia. However, I found the novel to be overly clever and rather unfocused, one which would have benefitted from an experienced editor, which this book apparently didn't have. It has received rare reviews, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was selected for the upcoming Booker Prize longlist, but I would be disappointed if it did.
The novel consists of chapters narrated by the key characters: Snooky; Victor, a pompous Oxbridge professor and former British intelligence agent in Southeast Asia; Shakyh, the Pakistani mastermind of the Islamic school; and Umar, the school's spiritual leader, who secretly despises Shakyh and Snooky Ahmed. Victor's main purpose is to provide a historical backdrop for the rise of Muslim extremism in southeast Asia; Shakyh also serves in that role in addition to planning the group's increasingly more violent acts. Snooky becomes more radicalized, while she hides but doesn't disavow her ladyboy identity or her drug habit, and walks a dangerous tightrope as she provides the police with information about the group, knowing that she will meet a painful death if she is uncovered.
Pure is an interesting novel about the political history of Thailand and the rise of Islamic activity in southeast Asia. However, I found the novel to be overly clever and rather unfocused, one which would have benefitted from an experienced editor, which this book apparently didn't have. It has received rare reviews, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was selected for the upcoming Booker Prize longlist, but I would be disappointed if it did.
March 9, 2013
When I picked this book up and read the inside cover, I would have never guessed that this book was about (I really want to say what it's about but here's a spoiler alert anyway) . Needless to say, that pretty much hooked me to the book as the protagonist is usually not one that we (or maybe it's just me) usually see in fiction. It's not really one of those things you wonder about. Definitely an interesting combination.
While the book was absolutely wonderful, it was a hard read. It took me more than a couple of days to read it. The book is written in different point of views, and the transition was sometimes jarring. I have to say that I did not care for one of them at all, and was tempted to skip that whole chapter.
But all in all, a really interesting book. Mo is just oh so daring and oh so witty. I'm ashamed that I haven't heard of him until now!
While the book was absolutely wonderful, it was a hard read. It took me more than a couple of days to read it. The book is written in different point of views, and the transition was sometimes jarring. I have to say that I did not care for one of them at all, and was tempted to skip that whole chapter.
But all in all, a really interesting book. Mo is just oh so daring and oh so witty. I'm ashamed that I haven't heard of him until now!
November 17, 2013
This is such an inventive, word-play, kinetic book which seems to bounce from idea to idea, from paragraph to paragraph. It almost reads like a book on drugs. It will not be a book for those used to well-mannered chick lit with parasols and martha's vineyard or whatever US coastline is trendy at the moment.
This is very much in your face, grab you by your shoulders and shake shake shake till you drop all those senseless sequel novels with multiple authors (you know who) and then show you what a true author does with words.
Adult themes/mature contents.
This is very much in your face, grab you by your shoulders and shake shake shake till you drop all those senseless sequel novels with multiple authors (you know who) and then show you what a true author does with words.
Adult themes/mature contents.
January 23, 2013
a very clever, innovative idea...twisted but somehow it got plausible... Mo is witty-- had me laugh out loud. I think Mo had the characterizations right...each "felt" different as well as "true."
structurally the book needed to be tightened up and there are times when a point seems drawn out longer. I learned a lot and I enjoyed it.
Mo does a very good post-colonial critique, showing the arrogance and ineptitude of the British.
structurally the book needed to be tightened up and there are times when a point seems drawn out longer. I learned a lot and I enjoyed it.
Mo does a very good post-colonial critique, showing the arrogance and ineptitude of the British.
May 8, 2014
Very interesting book about southern Thailand and Muslim activist, great to read a book from their perspective. Perhaps a bit too clever at time and certainly better on e reader so you can easily find the meaning of words through the dictionary function.
August 1, 2012
This is a wonderful book,genuinely thought-provoking but full of very dark, and in some ways dangerous, humour.
August 10, 2013
Try as I might I just can't get into this book, I picked it up as the plain white cover grabbed my attention. I really hoped I would love it, but alas I just can't get into it.
August 15, 2014
A ladyboy jihadi, mujahideen, old Oxonians and spycraft. A masterpiece.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews