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The Headmaster’s Wager
A superbly crafted, highly suspenseful, and deeply affecting debut novel about one man’s loyalty to his country, his family and his heritage
Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon, and he is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of his school. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country, though he also harbors a weakness for gambling haunts and the women who frequent them. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, but when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away.
In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage whom he is able to confide in. But Percival's new-found happiness is precarious, and as the complexities of war encroach further into his world, he must confront the tragedy of all he has refused to see.
Graced with intriguingly flawed but wonderfully human characters moving through a richly drawn historical landscape, The Headmaster's Wager is an unforgettable story of love, betrayal and sacrifice.
Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon, and he is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of his school. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country, though he also harbors a weakness for gambling haunts and the women who frequent them. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, but when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away.
In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage whom he is able to confide in. But Percival's new-found happiness is precarious, and as the complexities of war encroach further into his world, he must confront the tragedy of all he has refused to see.
Graced with intriguingly flawed but wonderfully human characters moving through a richly drawn historical landscape, The Headmaster's Wager is an unforgettable story of love, betrayal and sacrifice.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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4822 people want to read
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November 7, 2016
”The soil in this country is red from all the blood that is soaked into the earth. When each war ends, another soon begins. The Japanese, the French, the Americans, someone else in the future, so what does it matter what they say in Paris? The land itself bleeds.”
World War Two came early to Shanghai. In 1937, during the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese invade and occupy Shanghai. They stay until the end of the war. Percival Chen A.K.A. Chen Pie Sou made his way to Hong Kong where he could have some semblance of a normal life until the Japanese invade there as well in 1941.
The Japanese prove to be brutal conquerors.
He and his young bride, the lovely, spoiled, ambitious Cecilia escape to his father’s rice trading firm in Vietnam. The Japanese are there as well, but kept the Vichy French in place as a puppet government. Things are marginally better. The Japanese execute people on a routine basis, food is scarce, and the country is fracturing into all kinds of splinter groups with differing political objectives. One thing that everyone agrees on, they hate the money grubbing, arrogant Chinese.
In 1946 the Viet Minh go to war with France in what is called The First Indochina War. Non-communists fought with communists. Stalinists purge Trotskyists. Every time one of the political factions gain control tens of thousands of people die. New alliances are formed and finally it becomes the Viet Cong and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam fighting for power.
Here come the Americans. It is 1965.
The Soviet Union, The Chinese, and now The Americans are all now adding fuel to the fire in Vietnam. There are victims, so many victims. There are plenty of deaths, but some die fast and some die slow.
”The car’s headlights arced over the flashing legs of the fragile street girls, their bright-colored butterfly dresses,lipstick slashes on their tired grandmother mouths.”
Through all this Percival has dicey moments, after all he is a foreigner in the middle of conflict and is suspected by everyone. He decides to open a school and when the Americans arrive he decides that school needs to focus on teaching Vietnamese English. His son Dai Jai, in a moment of youthful indiscretion, holds a protest that puts him on a dangerous list. Percival enlists the help of the diabolically well connected Mak (a teacher at his school) to spirit his son out of the country to China.
The book explores the difficulties of parents in a time of war. The world has been torn apart leaving very few untouched by the detrimental effects of all out war. Many parents all across Europe and Asia, from the 1930s on, have had to make difficult decisions about their children. Are they safer with us or are they safer elsewhere and where is safe? It nearly kills Percival to be separated from his son, but he convinces himself that he has a better chance in China than in jail or in a uniform in Vietnam. The climate in Vietnam is not safe for anyone.
An Ancient Chinese tradition for giving gifts that work equally well for passing bribes.
Percival has become an expert at bribing (special red envelopes) to an ever changing revolving door of government officials. As the Americans need more and more translators he begins to routinely double the tuition for his school. He needs the money to support not only the bribes, but his growing gambling habit and his insatiable desire for young women. ”Although a man could be selfish in seduction, he must be considerate in pleasure.”
And then he wins Jacqueline in a game of Mahjong.
”He had only sought a girl for a night.”
She was intoxicating. Her smell. The way she looked at him.
”There was the rising scent of wilted jasmine flowers and burned rice in the bottom of pots. A flashbulb of lightning burst close by, and thunder chased it. Rain surged through tree leaves, reddened the roof tiles like fresh blood. Water rippled over the curved clay, spilled to the terrace below, flooded the gutters and coursed along the street of men and women huddled in thin plastic ponchos. It fell from the top of the window and splashed on the sill, sprinkling Percival and Jacqueline.”
For the moment it was as if they had been anointed by the universe.
It is always amazing the number of obstacles that are flung in the path of love. There are the normal difficulties, but for Percival there seem to be a growing number of issues that threaten to separate him from what he is beginning to believe may very well be the love of his life. His wife Cecilia is chasing after wealthy men and long ago divorced him to facility the chasing. The problem is Percival is doing business with those pesky, moralistic, Americans. He has started to rely more and more on his friend Wak to manage the school as he spends more and more time pursuing his pleasures. Now it is fine for the headmaster of a prestigious English School (he did oversell his qualification and his education level) to gamble, to drink too much, to fornicate with young ladies at a nightly rate, but for him to take such a young mistress, well that is going over the line.
Love equals risk. Love in a war zone equals megaton risk.
Percival is first and foremost a gambler, a gambler that has relied on a abundance of good luck his whole life. He will make a wager with the universe once again and hope that the right Mahjong tiles continue to find his fingers.
Pre-1960s mahjong tiles.
Monks are lighting themselves on fire.
”He did not cry out at first, but only hunched forward, the contours of his body and robe all softened by the violent caress of undulating fire. Flame dances as if part of the saffron garment, and the seated man’s mouth was a black hole within his melting face. Somewhere within, the throat shrieked, gave agonized testimony. The color of the fire and the fabric were one, until the fabric darkened to char. The voice was silenced and then there was only the sound of fire like water, like lapping waves.”
Things get much more complicated as he finds out that people he trusts aren’t exactly who he thought they were. He has been riding a board, standing up in fact, and been able to maneuver every new swell even with a constant changing of the political weather.
And then the Americans leave.
The Americans leave behind their allies, hundreds of half breed kids most of whom are slaughtered by the Communists or allowed to starve.
Percival’s ability to survive will be tested once again. He has a son with Jacqueline and once again he has to make a decision on how best to protect a son.
I’ve never read anything about Vietnam from such a unique perspective. A Chinese man equally discriminated against by everyone; and yet, able to become indispensable to each new administration running the country. There are certainly overtones of Graham Greene in this novel. The intrigue, the tribulations of a foreigner in a destabilizing country, the espionage, the lust/love of the exotic, and the well meaning, but clueless Americans reminded me of The Quiet American. Vincent Lam spins all of these aspects into such a delicate web of interlacing subterfuges that I found myself completely ensnared in his plot. I marvelled at the ability of anyone to survive under the constant threat of shifting alliances, the debilitating specter of paranoia, and the constant weighing of short term happiness against a life time of what ifs.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
World War Two came early to Shanghai. In 1937, during the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese invade and occupy Shanghai. They stay until the end of the war. Percival Chen A.K.A. Chen Pie Sou made his way to Hong Kong where he could have some semblance of a normal life until the Japanese invade there as well in 1941.
The Japanese prove to be brutal conquerors.
He and his young bride, the lovely, spoiled, ambitious Cecilia escape to his father’s rice trading firm in Vietnam. The Japanese are there as well, but kept the Vichy French in place as a puppet government. Things are marginally better. The Japanese execute people on a routine basis, food is scarce, and the country is fracturing into all kinds of splinter groups with differing political objectives. One thing that everyone agrees on, they hate the money grubbing, arrogant Chinese.
In 1946 the Viet Minh go to war with France in what is called The First Indochina War. Non-communists fought with communists. Stalinists purge Trotskyists. Every time one of the political factions gain control tens of thousands of people die. New alliances are formed and finally it becomes the Viet Cong and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam fighting for power.
Here come the Americans. It is 1965.
The Soviet Union, The Chinese, and now The Americans are all now adding fuel to the fire in Vietnam. There are victims, so many victims. There are plenty of deaths, but some die fast and some die slow.
”The car’s headlights arced over the flashing legs of the fragile street girls, their bright-colored butterfly dresses,lipstick slashes on their tired grandmother mouths.”
Through all this Percival has dicey moments, after all he is a foreigner in the middle of conflict and is suspected by everyone. He decides to open a school and when the Americans arrive he decides that school needs to focus on teaching Vietnamese English. His son Dai Jai, in a moment of youthful indiscretion, holds a protest that puts him on a dangerous list. Percival enlists the help of the diabolically well connected Mak (a teacher at his school) to spirit his son out of the country to China.
The book explores the difficulties of parents in a time of war. The world has been torn apart leaving very few untouched by the detrimental effects of all out war. Many parents all across Europe and Asia, from the 1930s on, have had to make difficult decisions about their children. Are they safer with us or are they safer elsewhere and where is safe? It nearly kills Percival to be separated from his son, but he convinces himself that he has a better chance in China than in jail or in a uniform in Vietnam. The climate in Vietnam is not safe for anyone.
An Ancient Chinese tradition for giving gifts that work equally well for passing bribes.
Percival has become an expert at bribing (special red envelopes) to an ever changing revolving door of government officials. As the Americans need more and more translators he begins to routinely double the tuition for his school. He needs the money to support not only the bribes, but his growing gambling habit and his insatiable desire for young women. ”Although a man could be selfish in seduction, he must be considerate in pleasure.”
And then he wins Jacqueline in a game of Mahjong.
”He had only sought a girl for a night.”
She was intoxicating. Her smell. The way she looked at him.
”There was the rising scent of wilted jasmine flowers and burned rice in the bottom of pots. A flashbulb of lightning burst close by, and thunder chased it. Rain surged through tree leaves, reddened the roof tiles like fresh blood. Water rippled over the curved clay, spilled to the terrace below, flooded the gutters and coursed along the street of men and women huddled in thin plastic ponchos. It fell from the top of the window and splashed on the sill, sprinkling Percival and Jacqueline.”
For the moment it was as if they had been anointed by the universe.
It is always amazing the number of obstacles that are flung in the path of love. There are the normal difficulties, but for Percival there seem to be a growing number of issues that threaten to separate him from what he is beginning to believe may very well be the love of his life. His wife Cecilia is chasing after wealthy men and long ago divorced him to facility the chasing. The problem is Percival is doing business with those pesky, moralistic, Americans. He has started to rely more and more on his friend Wak to manage the school as he spends more and more time pursuing his pleasures. Now it is fine for the headmaster of a prestigious English School (he did oversell his qualification and his education level) to gamble, to drink too much, to fornicate with young ladies at a nightly rate, but for him to take such a young mistress, well that is going over the line.
Love equals risk. Love in a war zone equals megaton risk.
Percival is first and foremost a gambler, a gambler that has relied on a abundance of good luck his whole life. He will make a wager with the universe once again and hope that the right Mahjong tiles continue to find his fingers.
Pre-1960s mahjong tiles.
Monks are lighting themselves on fire.
”He did not cry out at first, but only hunched forward, the contours of his body and robe all softened by the violent caress of undulating fire. Flame dances as if part of the saffron garment, and the seated man’s mouth was a black hole within his melting face. Somewhere within, the throat shrieked, gave agonized testimony. The color of the fire and the fabric were one, until the fabric darkened to char. The voice was silenced and then there was only the sound of fire like water, like lapping waves.”
Things get much more complicated as he finds out that people he trusts aren’t exactly who he thought they were. He has been riding a board, standing up in fact, and been able to maneuver every new swell even with a constant changing of the political weather.
And then the Americans leave.
The Americans leave behind their allies, hundreds of half breed kids most of whom are slaughtered by the Communists or allowed to starve.
Percival’s ability to survive will be tested once again. He has a son with Jacqueline and once again he has to make a decision on how best to protect a son.
I’ve never read anything about Vietnam from such a unique perspective. A Chinese man equally discriminated against by everyone; and yet, able to become indispensable to each new administration running the country. There are certainly overtones of Graham Greene in this novel. The intrigue, the tribulations of a foreigner in a destabilizing country, the espionage, the lust/love of the exotic, and the well meaning, but clueless Americans reminded me of The Quiet American. Vincent Lam spins all of these aspects into such a delicate web of interlacing subterfuges that I found myself completely ensnared in his plot. I marvelled at the ability of anyone to survive under the constant threat of shifting alliances, the debilitating specter of paranoia, and the constant weighing of short term happiness against a life time of what ifs.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
May 7, 2012
Sometimes in his dreams Chen Pie Sou returns to his childhood in Shantou, China, and to the day of his father's first departure for the "Gold Mountain" in Indochina. His father, Chen Kai, had tied a small good luck charm around his neck: a tiny rough lump of gold, found long ago by an ancestor. It symbolizes the promise of wealth and good fortune, left without inscription because the fortunes can take different forms for each wearer. Several times over the years the father returns with more money; the growing Chen Pie Sou ponders: "... Chen Kai had an empty space [within him] that needed to be filled, but [he] could not understand what must be obtained to satisfy that void and bring his father home [for good]." The grown Chen Pie Sou, now known as Percival Chen, having followed his father to Saigon and living more than comfortably in Cholon, the Chinese part of town, "felt the same void, all money and distractions, could not fill it..." His position as Headmaster of the Percival Chen English Academy, the prestigious English Language School he established in his father's house, seems to be a part-time distraction at best; his main occupation being that of a wheeler and dealer par excellence, a bon-vivant, a gambler, womanizer, and a powerful representative of Vietnam's wealthy Chinese minority. His good luck charm that has served him well is now tied around the neck of Dai Jai, his beloved son... With it Chen not only passes on a family symbol he instils in his son the pride he holds for their Chinese heritage and traditions.
THE HEADMASTER'S WAGER is Canadian Vincent Lam's eagerly awaited first novel, following the author's 2006 Scotia Bank Giller Prize for his story collection Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures. Inspired by his own family background and, in particular, his grandfather's life in Vietnam, Lam has created a powerful and absorbing story of love, loyalty and betrayal, violence and tenderness, self-importance and naïveté and, eventually, hope and redemption. Set against the politically turbulent times in nineteen sixties and seventies divided Vietnam , Lam confidently balances the private and intimate sphere of one man's family story with the depiction of changing realities affecting them. At one level, Chen, like others in the Chinese community, shows a somewhat naïve belief that his influence will ensure successful negotiations with any new political power players, on another his unwavering belief in the influence in the family's ancestors on his and his son's behalf when Dai Jai attracts the attention of the Vietnamese "quiet police". More often than not, however, Chen relies on his colleague and friend, the teacher Mak, who, while Chinese but raised in Vietnam, is the complete opposite to Chen: quiet, reserved, without apparent vices. We learn about Chen's background and his friendship to Mak, in flashbacks. Lam gives us enough context to understand how events have shaped the two friends over time and opens a perspective on the Vietnam of the time that we have rarely seen or read about.
Lam always provides just enough detail to set the scene or build the drama to place events, such as the day of the first TET Offensive (1968), without moving outside of his narrative stream or his characters. The portrayal of the effect on civilians during that night could not have been more affecting. In the Offensive's aftermath the powers have shifted in Saigon and Chen's kind of gambles and bribes are less than successful and even ineffective. When another crisis concerning his son throws him off his routines, Percival has to call in all his favours and wager even more. His father's motto: "... never wager more than you can afford to lose. Leave yourself room to recover..." is profoundly tested. Will the lump of gold, the voice of the ancestors save them?
Percival Chen is not an easy character to like. He gets away with too much in his dealings; he can be too casual and insensitive. His ancestor worship, while plausibly conveyed, seems somewhat naïve and at times like an excuse to stand on the sidelines of political and societal events, convinced that he can do business whatever the political system in Vietnam. At the same time, there is a kinder and gentler man underneath it all and this side of Percival is endearing and attracts sympathy when endangered. Lam touches on this side of Chen on and off in the earlier parts of the novel. Yet, it comes fully to light with the unexpected love for a beautiful woman and all that develops from then on in his life...
Vincent Lam's novel is written mostly in a detached tone, his protagonist's story told in the third person. The author also takes some time in the beginning, for some readers maybe too much, to carefully build his central characters and to describe the context in which Chen and they operate in Saigon. But once the scenarios are set and the primary characters have been fully introduced, the narrative tension rises and rises towards some extraordinary drama that remains unforgettable. I find it important not to even hint at some of its elements... other than to say, the patience in the beginning is richly rewarded as the story unfolds and moves towards a conclusion that is as logical within the story as it is likely surprising for the reader.
THE HEADMASTER'S WAGER is Canadian Vincent Lam's eagerly awaited first novel, following the author's 2006 Scotia Bank Giller Prize for his story collection Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures. Inspired by his own family background and, in particular, his grandfather's life in Vietnam, Lam has created a powerful and absorbing story of love, loyalty and betrayal, violence and tenderness, self-importance and naïveté and, eventually, hope and redemption. Set against the politically turbulent times in nineteen sixties and seventies divided Vietnam , Lam confidently balances the private and intimate sphere of one man's family story with the depiction of changing realities affecting them. At one level, Chen, like others in the Chinese community, shows a somewhat naïve belief that his influence will ensure successful negotiations with any new political power players, on another his unwavering belief in the influence in the family's ancestors on his and his son's behalf when Dai Jai attracts the attention of the Vietnamese "quiet police". More often than not, however, Chen relies on his colleague and friend, the teacher Mak, who, while Chinese but raised in Vietnam, is the complete opposite to Chen: quiet, reserved, without apparent vices. We learn about Chen's background and his friendship to Mak, in flashbacks. Lam gives us enough context to understand how events have shaped the two friends over time and opens a perspective on the Vietnam of the time that we have rarely seen or read about.
Lam always provides just enough detail to set the scene or build the drama to place events, such as the day of the first TET Offensive (1968), without moving outside of his narrative stream or his characters. The portrayal of the effect on civilians during that night could not have been more affecting. In the Offensive's aftermath the powers have shifted in Saigon and Chen's kind of gambles and bribes are less than successful and even ineffective. When another crisis concerning his son throws him off his routines, Percival has to call in all his favours and wager even more. His father's motto: "... never wager more than you can afford to lose. Leave yourself room to recover..." is profoundly tested. Will the lump of gold, the voice of the ancestors save them?
Percival Chen is not an easy character to like. He gets away with too much in his dealings; he can be too casual and insensitive. His ancestor worship, while plausibly conveyed, seems somewhat naïve and at times like an excuse to stand on the sidelines of political and societal events, convinced that he can do business whatever the political system in Vietnam. At the same time, there is a kinder and gentler man underneath it all and this side of Percival is endearing and attracts sympathy when endangered. Lam touches on this side of Chen on and off in the earlier parts of the novel. Yet, it comes fully to light with the unexpected love for a beautiful woman and all that develops from then on in his life...
Vincent Lam's novel is written mostly in a detached tone, his protagonist's story told in the third person. The author also takes some time in the beginning, for some readers maybe too much, to carefully build his central characters and to describe the context in which Chen and they operate in Saigon. But once the scenarios are set and the primary characters have been fully introduced, the narrative tension rises and rises towards some extraordinary drama that remains unforgettable. I find it important not to even hint at some of its elements... other than to say, the patience in the beginning is richly rewarded as the story unfolds and moves towards a conclusion that is as logical within the story as it is likely surprising for the reader.
October 19, 2012
This was a new perspective for me on the Vietnam War. Most of what is on offer for us here in the U.S. is told from the perspective of Americans involved in that war. THE HEADMASTER'S WAGER gives us a picture of life for the common people in and around Saigon during the war. There was a lot of money to be made as a result of the war, but the stakes were high, and certain classes of people were destined to lose regardless of who won the war. I now have a much better understanding of why some people were so desperate to get out of Saigon when it fell to the communists in 1975.
If you're having trouble connecting with this story, stay with it for at least the first 120 pages. Part One can be a little confusing, and it's hard to figure out what the story is about and where it's going. Beginning with Part Two, it makes more sense, and it becomes quite suspenseful as you get closer to the end.
I was stuck between 3 and 4 stars with this book, largely because of my exasperation with the headmaster, Percival Chen. He lives in Vietnam, but he's so obstinately Chinese, and it costs him dearly on several occasions. He's a shrewd gambler, and quite proud of his ability to profit from the Vietnam War. And yet, when it comes to personal relationships, he's not smart at all. He is betrayed by every person he loves and trusts, and still he refuses to see what is before him. He believes in loyalty because he is loyal, and so he assumes that those who have hurt him really meant well and are still on his side.
As the story drew to a close I was able to find some respect for Percival when I could see into his heart rather than his head. Ultimately, "the headmaster's wager" is simply hope. No matter how many times he is betrayed, no matter how dire the circumstances, Percival is relentlessly hopeful. In the closing scene, when you know things cannot end well, he is still envisioning the best possible outcome. I couldn't help liking him a little more just for that.
If you're having trouble connecting with this story, stay with it for at least the first 120 pages. Part One can be a little confusing, and it's hard to figure out what the story is about and where it's going. Beginning with Part Two, it makes more sense, and it becomes quite suspenseful as you get closer to the end.
I was stuck between 3 and 4 stars with this book, largely because of my exasperation with the headmaster, Percival Chen. He lives in Vietnam, but he's so obstinately Chinese, and it costs him dearly on several occasions. He's a shrewd gambler, and quite proud of his ability to profit from the Vietnam War. And yet, when it comes to personal relationships, he's not smart at all. He is betrayed by every person he loves and trusts, and still he refuses to see what is before him. He believes in loyalty because he is loyal, and so he assumes that those who have hurt him really meant well and are still on his side.
As the story drew to a close I was able to find some respect for Percival when I could see into his heart rather than his head. Ultimately, "the headmaster's wager" is simply hope. No matter how many times he is betrayed, no matter how dire the circumstances, Percival is relentlessly hopeful. In the closing scene, when you know things cannot end well, he is still envisioning the best possible outcome. I couldn't help liking him a little more just for that.
September 8, 2012
For readers interested in recent Chinese and Vietnamese history and culture, this novel is an intensive course. The tale begins with a young boy born to Chinese parents in Shantou, China during a period of change (the 1930s). The story takes on epic proportions when he relocates first to Hong Kong and then to Cholon (near Saigon) in Vietnam during the tumultuous period when a series of foreign powers (the Japanese, the French, the Americans) fought wars over Vietnam’s governance and managed to turn a home-grown, bottom-up revolution into a full scale civil war.
Lam succeeds in showing us Vietnam in its blisteringly hot lush beauty, its violent history, and its complicated lines of distinction between natives and non-natives and skin colors: white, brown, yellow. The time period is recent and familiar, but the angle is unique. Events in Vietnam in the 1960s and ‘70s already familiar to readers are imagined from the point of view of residents on the ground and give us an eerie dislocation. We begin to perceive the difficult sets of choices people had for living with war and occupation.
We are also treated to remarkable insights into Chinese mores and mindset when this culture can be maddeningly difficult for Westerners to grasp. The backdrop of what we call the Vietnam War makes the story cinematic, particularly one scene when the Tet offensive hits Saigon and spills into Cholon during a celebratory and drunken banquet hosted by Chen Pie Sou, the Headmaster of the title.
There was one area, however, that I thought Lam didn’t get quite right as a novelist. Lam created a complicated and flawed main character in Chen Pie Sou, which should add to the drama of the unfolding story, and does…eventually. But I had difficulty liking Chen (or any of the characters) through Part I and felt dragged into Part II only by obligation. By Part III, I started to marvel at what Lam had managed to construct, and relished the details of Vietnamese life, and Chinese habits.
Vincent Lam is a doctor as well as a novelist, and he has written a couple of nonfiction medical-related books already, one of which is an info-book for the public on a possible flu pandemic. A nonfiction book of stories, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures: Stories, won many awards and was chosen as a Barnes & Noble Discover New Authors title. This is his first novel.
Lam succeeds in showing us Vietnam in its blisteringly hot lush beauty, its violent history, and its complicated lines of distinction between natives and non-natives and skin colors: white, brown, yellow. The time period is recent and familiar, but the angle is unique. Events in Vietnam in the 1960s and ‘70s already familiar to readers are imagined from the point of view of residents on the ground and give us an eerie dislocation. We begin to perceive the difficult sets of choices people had for living with war and occupation.
We are also treated to remarkable insights into Chinese mores and mindset when this culture can be maddeningly difficult for Westerners to grasp. The backdrop of what we call the Vietnam War makes the story cinematic, particularly one scene when the Tet offensive hits Saigon and spills into Cholon during a celebratory and drunken banquet hosted by Chen Pie Sou, the Headmaster of the title.
There was one area, however, that I thought Lam didn’t get quite right as a novelist. Lam created a complicated and flawed main character in Chen Pie Sou, which should add to the drama of the unfolding story, and does…eventually. But I had difficulty liking Chen (or any of the characters) through Part I and felt dragged into Part II only by obligation. By Part III, I started to marvel at what Lam had managed to construct, and relished the details of Vietnamese life, and Chinese habits.
Vincent Lam is a doctor as well as a novelist, and he has written a couple of nonfiction medical-related books already, one of which is an info-book for the public on a possible flu pandemic. A nonfiction book of stories, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures: Stories, won many awards and was chosen as a Barnes & Noble Discover New Authors title. This is his first novel.
November 26, 2012
It pains me to give a low rating to The Headmaster’s Wager. I was fully prepared to love it from beginning to end. I loved Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures: Stories (the C-section story will haunt me forever) and was thrilled when Vincent Lam published a full-length novel. I have great respect for Vincent Lam himself; to be a successful doctor and a successful writer simultaneously is something only someone very special can do.
And I liked the story of The Headmaster’s Wager very much. It had all the elements I love in good fiction – suspense, adversity, remorse, love, tragedy. The narrative was well-structured, the action kept up a good pace, and the ending was satisfying. I also learned from this story. I knew nothing of the Chinese diaspora, nor, for that matter, of life in Vietnam during the war, and now I feel somewhat educated in the period.
But I just didn’t feel emotionally connected to the story. It did keep me turning pages -- I wanted intellectually to know what happened next -- but I didn’t really care. Percival is the kind of complex, flawed character that I normally love, where you find yourself inexplicably rooting for someone you know you shouldn’t like one bit. But I didn’t root for him. And I didn’t hate him either. He was just there.
The disconnect for me came down to the voice, the writing itself. Another reviewer here said something like it sometimes felt like it was “just words on the page,” and I think that’s a great description. The wording is just kind of stilted. There’s hardly a contraction in the entire book, for example. At times, it almost felt like I was reading a translation. The words explained what Percival was thinking or feeling, but I found I never really felt it. I never got under his skin.
Lucky for Mr. Lam, I am just posting my first-ever Goodreads review for my nine friends, and everyone else (including those whose opinions matter) seems to love this book. So congratulations to him. I will definitely read his next one. But I would have put this one down after part 1 if I hadn’t had this book report due.
And I liked the story of The Headmaster’s Wager very much. It had all the elements I love in good fiction – suspense, adversity, remorse, love, tragedy. The narrative was well-structured, the action kept up a good pace, and the ending was satisfying. I also learned from this story. I knew nothing of the Chinese diaspora, nor, for that matter, of life in Vietnam during the war, and now I feel somewhat educated in the period.
But I just didn’t feel emotionally connected to the story. It did keep me turning pages -- I wanted intellectually to know what happened next -- but I didn’t really care. Percival is the kind of complex, flawed character that I normally love, where you find yourself inexplicably rooting for someone you know you shouldn’t like one bit. But I didn’t root for him. And I didn’t hate him either. He was just there.
The disconnect for me came down to the voice, the writing itself. Another reviewer here said something like it sometimes felt like it was “just words on the page,” and I think that’s a great description. The wording is just kind of stilted. There’s hardly a contraction in the entire book, for example. At times, it almost felt like I was reading a translation. The words explained what Percival was thinking or feeling, but I found I never really felt it. I never got under his skin.
Lucky for Mr. Lam, I am just posting my first-ever Goodreads review for my nine friends, and everyone else (including those whose opinions matter) seems to love this book. So congratulations to him. I will definitely read his next one. But I would have put this one down after part 1 if I hadn’t had this book report due.
July 9, 2012
An epic story of a Chinese man, the headmaster of an English school in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. A fascinating and horrifying snapshot of the life of a civilian in those years of war and turmoil, a man who is himself an immigrant in a country occupied by Americans. A complex love story, a heart-rending family saga ... all told in spare, perfect prose. Compelling: I lost sleep reading this novel. Highly, highly, highly recommended.
November 3, 2012
The guy can write, no denying that. The book follows the classic historical fiction arc of family events being dimly influenced by the society simmering with uncertainty in the background. Eventually, everything comes to a head and conflict forces characters to deal with what they have been trying to ignore when they can no longer separate their lives from the surrounding politics. The twists, surprises and eventual connecting of various narrative lines and well-constructed and the literary architecture of the book is undeniable.
However, I can't give it more than three stars because the characters didn't breathe for me. The main character is a collection of traits seemingly put together to create a flawed anti-hero. The secondary characters are mostly narrative vehicles rather than living beings, with the exception of the venomous first wife whose appearances are always highlights. It's not terrible but neither is it hugely compelling. It's worth reading if you're interested in the author or the various components of the story but I wouldn't enthusiastically recommend it to others.
However, I can't give it more than three stars because the characters didn't breathe for me. The main character is a collection of traits seemingly put together to create a flawed anti-hero. The secondary characters are mostly narrative vehicles rather than living beings, with the exception of the venomous first wife whose appearances are always highlights. It's not terrible but neither is it hugely compelling. It's worth reading if you're interested in the author or the various components of the story but I wouldn't enthusiastically recommend it to others.
September 13, 2012
“The world would be a faithful friend to anyone who could pay”
The Headmaster’s Wager possesses everything I look for in a book: intriguingly flawed characters, ambiguity, tightly-woven and suspenseful plot, page-turning revelations and a fresh perspective of an old plot theme – the Vietnam War.
Chen Pie Sou – renamed Percival Chen -- is the eponymous headmaster, in charge of the Percival Chen English Academy, which was formerly the rice warehouse of his father. He is a Chinese ex-patriot, a self-described businessman, a wheeler and a dealer, and a notorious gambler and frequenter of prostitution houses. He is also a devoted father to his son, Dai Jai, who in a teenage pique of acting-out, catches the attention of the Vietnamese quiet police who are able to make him “disappear.” His father uses his connections to send him away to China at the height of the Cultural Revolution.
The wager in the title initially refers to the lengths that Percival Chen will go to in order to get his son back to safety. But in even more important ways, Percival is a gambler with life. Throughout the book, Percival will resort to many high-stakes wagers as the rules change before his very eyes. In the words of his father, Chen Kai, whom we meet in flashbacks: “My son has excellent luck! Just remember, never wager more than you can afford to lose. Leave yourself room to recover. Have something for the next bet. That’s how you’ll come out ahead in the end.” Those words are increasingly prophetic as the stakes increase for Percival Chen and when love, safety, and life itself are at risk.
Dr. Lam infuses power into this epic of the Vietnam War with Percival Chen’s unique outsider perspective and his ability to play all the forces against each other through this morally ambiguous war. The secondary characters – his fiercely loyal Teacher Mak, surely one of the most mysterious and exotic characters of any novel in recent years – and Jacqueline, his racially-mixed lover whom he wins in a high-stake game of mah-jong – are beautifully realized.
The book explores complex themes: the complexity of allegiances and the limits of wealth, power and friendship. It is a tale of love and betrayal and corruption and bribery and provides a careful glimpse into the Vietnam War from the perspective of the Chinese and Vietnamese. It’s also an astonishingly good book that forced me to stay up way past my bedtime because I just had to know what was coming next. I will be surprised if this one isn’t on my Top Ten list at the end of the year.
The Headmaster’s Wager possesses everything I look for in a book: intriguingly flawed characters, ambiguity, tightly-woven and suspenseful plot, page-turning revelations and a fresh perspective of an old plot theme – the Vietnam War.
Chen Pie Sou – renamed Percival Chen -- is the eponymous headmaster, in charge of the Percival Chen English Academy, which was formerly the rice warehouse of his father. He is a Chinese ex-patriot, a self-described businessman, a wheeler and a dealer, and a notorious gambler and frequenter of prostitution houses. He is also a devoted father to his son, Dai Jai, who in a teenage pique of acting-out, catches the attention of the Vietnamese quiet police who are able to make him “disappear.” His father uses his connections to send him away to China at the height of the Cultural Revolution.
The wager in the title initially refers to the lengths that Percival Chen will go to in order to get his son back to safety. But in even more important ways, Percival is a gambler with life. Throughout the book, Percival will resort to many high-stakes wagers as the rules change before his very eyes. In the words of his father, Chen Kai, whom we meet in flashbacks: “My son has excellent luck! Just remember, never wager more than you can afford to lose. Leave yourself room to recover. Have something for the next bet. That’s how you’ll come out ahead in the end.” Those words are increasingly prophetic as the stakes increase for Percival Chen and when love, safety, and life itself are at risk.
Dr. Lam infuses power into this epic of the Vietnam War with Percival Chen’s unique outsider perspective and his ability to play all the forces against each other through this morally ambiguous war. The secondary characters – his fiercely loyal Teacher Mak, surely one of the most mysterious and exotic characters of any novel in recent years – and Jacqueline, his racially-mixed lover whom he wins in a high-stake game of mah-jong – are beautifully realized.
The book explores complex themes: the complexity of allegiances and the limits of wealth, power and friendship. It is a tale of love and betrayal and corruption and bribery and provides a careful glimpse into the Vietnam War from the perspective of the Chinese and Vietnamese. It’s also an astonishingly good book that forced me to stay up way past my bedtime because I just had to know what was coming next. I will be surprised if this one isn’t on my Top Ten list at the end of the year.
May 22, 2018
3.5 stars
Percival is a Chinese man living in Vietnam during the war. He runs an English school, and he longs to go home to China. When his son is arrested and later released, Percival arranges to have his son sent to China so that he’ll be safe. As Percival moves on with his life with Vietnemese-French woman Jacqueline, he worries about his son.
This one started really slowly for me. It went back and forth in time, and with a few characters having both Chinese and English names, I was slightly confused, initially. Once we got about a third of the way into the book (and mostly, those characters with multiple names were known by their English names), it picked up for me. This was about the time Percival’s son was son was sent away – or maybe when he was arrested. Anyway, it really picked up for me. There were some parts that were more political that I wasn’t as interested in. I know next-to-nothing about the Vietnam War, so initially I felt like that also made it a bit harder to follow the story, but again, it seemed to get clearer as the book went along. Overall, I’m rating it “good”.
Percival is a Chinese man living in Vietnam during the war. He runs an English school, and he longs to go home to China. When his son is arrested and later released, Percival arranges to have his son sent to China so that he’ll be safe. As Percival moves on with his life with Vietnemese-French woman Jacqueline, he worries about his son.
This one started really slowly for me. It went back and forth in time, and with a few characters having both Chinese and English names, I was slightly confused, initially. Once we got about a third of the way into the book (and mostly, those characters with multiple names were known by their English names), it picked up for me. This was about the time Percival’s son was son was sent away – or maybe when he was arrested. Anyway, it really picked up for me. There were some parts that were more political that I wasn’t as interested in. I know next-to-nothing about the Vietnam War, so initially I felt like that also made it a bit harder to follow the story, but again, it seemed to get clearer as the book went along. Overall, I’m rating it “good”.
August 26, 2012
Already reviewed by many others, here's my take on "The Headmaster's Wager."
I'm pretty familiar with the historical context of the book due to my having grown up in Canada during the Vietnam War. From that standpoint, the book provided an outstanding view of the experience of urban residents of Saigon and Cholon, the Chinese district of the city.
What I am unsure of is whether the book gives a good representation of Chinese culture, that is such things as Chinese family values, the role of fate and luck, ancestral spirits, etc. I admit to being quite ignorant of these things. Other reviewers have described Percival as 'flawed' but in my opinion he is worse that that: he is reprehensible. Percival is obviously a gambler and a womanizer, characteristics that the author bludgeons us with I think. These traits are not exclusive to the Chinese as we all know! What's much worse about Percival is that he is chauvinistically Chinese in the extreme, refusing to allow his son to marry an Annamese woman and gleefully exploiting the local population from a business perspective. The question I have, again being ignorant of Chinese culture, is whether these traits were typical among Chinese expatriates in Vietnam at the time or whether they are Percival's alone. Clearly, I hope it is the latter.
The author does a good job of keeping certain scenes suspenseful, if not too graphic in violence. The plot bends and twists very well I think, and doesn't rely on unrealistic contrivances or coincidences. Kudos to the author on that. Many will disagree, but I thought the ending was very well rendered.
I found the novel's voice a little flat from time to time, almost as if the language was dumbed down for a child's ears. Another reviewer here said that the writing seemed sometimes to be just words on a page and I have to agree.
Vincent Lam is well-known among Canadian readers because of his having hit a home run with his first novel "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" which I haven't read. Despite the accolades, there are some, other writers particularly, who think that his route to publication was made a bit too easy through his acquaintance with Canada's most famous author.
In summary, if you're the kind of reader who has to 'like' the characters, this novel probably isn't for you. I've suggested to my wife that she give this one a pass for this reason. So many fabulous books and so little time...
I'm pretty familiar with the historical context of the book due to my having grown up in Canada during the Vietnam War. From that standpoint, the book provided an outstanding view of the experience of urban residents of Saigon and Cholon, the Chinese district of the city.
What I am unsure of is whether the book gives a good representation of Chinese culture, that is such things as Chinese family values, the role of fate and luck, ancestral spirits, etc. I admit to being quite ignorant of these things. Other reviewers have described Percival as 'flawed' but in my opinion he is worse that that: he is reprehensible. Percival is obviously a gambler and a womanizer, characteristics that the author bludgeons us with I think. These traits are not exclusive to the Chinese as we all know! What's much worse about Percival is that he is chauvinistically Chinese in the extreme, refusing to allow his son to marry an Annamese woman and gleefully exploiting the local population from a business perspective. The question I have, again being ignorant of Chinese culture, is whether these traits were typical among Chinese expatriates in Vietnam at the time or whether they are Percival's alone. Clearly, I hope it is the latter.
The author does a good job of keeping certain scenes suspenseful, if not too graphic in violence. The plot bends and twists very well I think, and doesn't rely on unrealistic contrivances or coincidences. Kudos to the author on that. Many will disagree, but I thought the ending was very well rendered.
I found the novel's voice a little flat from time to time, almost as if the language was dumbed down for a child's ears. Another reviewer here said that the writing seemed sometimes to be just words on a page and I have to agree.
Vincent Lam is well-known among Canadian readers because of his having hit a home run with his first novel "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" which I haven't read. Despite the accolades, there are some, other writers particularly, who think that his route to publication was made a bit too easy through his acquaintance with Canada's most famous author.
In summary, if you're the kind of reader who has to 'like' the characters, this novel probably isn't for you. I've suggested to my wife that she give this one a pass for this reason. So many fabulous books and so little time...
September 22, 2025
Écrit par un membre de la faculté de médecine de l'Université de Toronto, "The Headmaster's Wager" décrit la vie et les attitudes chez les chinois de Saigon pendant la guerre de Viet Nam. Ce roman sera d'un très grand intérêt pour ceux qui ont des amis parmi les membres de cette communauté qui ont du se réfugier chez nous par la suite de la victoire des communistes au Viet Nam.
Parmi plusieurs autres membres de GR j'ai été frappé par les ressemblances entre ce roman et le "Quiet American" dont les événements se déroulent au Viet Nam pendant les dernières années du régime colonial français. Comme dans le roman de Greene, le protagoniste a des sérieuses faiblesses morales.
Percival Chen le héros de Lam est le propriétaire d'une école d'anglais à Cholon le quartier chinois de Saigon. Il s'enrichit car la demande des interprètes s'accroit rapidement avec l'augmentation des nombres d'américains dans le pays. Percival Chen se croit intelligent et rusé. Il croit fermement que l'on est toujours mieux de ne rien savoir et de ne jamais poser trop de questions. Il finit par faire des nombreuses erreurs. Il ne se demande pas pourquoi son école possède un statut spécial auprès des américains. Il ne se demande pas non plus ce qui seront les conséquences pour lui et ses diplômés une fois si le régime appuyé par les américains tombe. Il croit que la guerre entre le nord et le sud du Viet Nam ne lui regarde pas parce qu'il est chinois. Il est convaincu qu'il pourra vivre en paix en Chine si jamais il devra quitter le Viet Nam. Il n'est pas curieux de savoir pourquoi une très jeune et très jolie femme veut coucher avec lui. Bref il se trompe sur à peu près tout et finit par payer très cher.
Le lecteur s'apitoie sur le sort malheureux Chen. Cependant, Lam qui a fait ses études primaires et secondaires dans le système Catholique juge son protagoniste très sévèrement. Les grandes souffrances de Chen sont finalement sont au niveau de ses péchés. Le grand romancier catholique Graham Greene a un bon héritier dans Vincent Lam.
Parmi plusieurs autres membres de GR j'ai été frappé par les ressemblances entre ce roman et le "Quiet American" dont les événements se déroulent au Viet Nam pendant les dernières années du régime colonial français. Comme dans le roman de Greene, le protagoniste a des sérieuses faiblesses morales.
Percival Chen le héros de Lam est le propriétaire d'une école d'anglais à Cholon le quartier chinois de Saigon. Il s'enrichit car la demande des interprètes s'accroit rapidement avec l'augmentation des nombres d'américains dans le pays. Percival Chen se croit intelligent et rusé. Il croit fermement que l'on est toujours mieux de ne rien savoir et de ne jamais poser trop de questions. Il finit par faire des nombreuses erreurs. Il ne se demande pas pourquoi son école possède un statut spécial auprès des américains. Il ne se demande pas non plus ce qui seront les conséquences pour lui et ses diplômés une fois si le régime appuyé par les américains tombe. Il croit que la guerre entre le nord et le sud du Viet Nam ne lui regarde pas parce qu'il est chinois. Il est convaincu qu'il pourra vivre en paix en Chine si jamais il devra quitter le Viet Nam. Il n'est pas curieux de savoir pourquoi une très jeune et très jolie femme veut coucher avec lui. Bref il se trompe sur à peu près tout et finit par payer très cher.
Le lecteur s'apitoie sur le sort malheureux Chen. Cependant, Lam qui a fait ses études primaires et secondaires dans le système Catholique juge son protagoniste très sévèrement. Les grandes souffrances de Chen sont finalement sont au niveau de ses péchés. Le grand romancier catholique Graham Greene a un bon héritier dans Vincent Lam.
July 30, 2012
This was a new perspective for me on the Vietnam War. Most of what is on offer for us here in the U.S. is told from the perspective of Americans involved in that war. THE HEADMASTER'S WAGER gives us a picture of life for the common people in and around Saigon during the war. There was a lot of money to be made as a result of the war, but the stakes were high, and certain classes of people were destined to lose regardless of who won the war. I now have a much better understanding of why some people were so desperate to get out of Saigon when it fell to the communists in 1975.
If you're having trouble connecting with this story, stay with it for at least the first 120 pages. Part One can be a little confusing, and it's hard to figure out what the story is about and where it's going. Beginning with Part Two, it makes more sense, and it becomes quite suspenseful as you get closer to the end.
I was stuck between 3 and 4 stars with this book, largely because of my exasperation with the headmaster, Percival Chen. He lives in Vietnam, but he's so obstinately Chinese, and it costs him dearly on several occasions. He's a shrewd gambler, and quite proud of his ability to profit from the Vietnam War. And yet, when it comes to personal relationships, he's not smart at all. He is betrayed by every person he loves and trusts, and still he refuses to see what is before him. He believes in loyalty because he is loyal, and so he assumes that those who have hurt him really meant well and are still on his side.
As the story drew to a close I was able to find some respect for Percival when I could see into his heart rather than his head. Ultimately, "the headmaster's wager" is simply hope. No matter how many times he is betrayed, no matter how dire the circumstances, Percival is relentlessly hopeful. In the closing scene, when you know things cannot end well, he is still envisioning the best possible outcome. I couldn't help liking him a little more just for that.
If you're having trouble connecting with this story, stay with it for at least the first 120 pages. Part One can be a little confusing, and it's hard to figure out what the story is about and where it's going. Beginning with Part Two, it makes more sense, and it becomes quite suspenseful as you get closer to the end.
I was stuck between 3 and 4 stars with this book, largely because of my exasperation with the headmaster, Percival Chen. He lives in Vietnam, but he's so obstinately Chinese, and it costs him dearly on several occasions. He's a shrewd gambler, and quite proud of his ability to profit from the Vietnam War. And yet, when it comes to personal relationships, he's not smart at all. He is betrayed by every person he loves and trusts, and still he refuses to see what is before him. He believes in loyalty because he is loyal, and so he assumes that those who have hurt him really meant well and are still on his side.
As the story drew to a close I was able to find some respect for Percival when I could see into his heart rather than his head. Ultimately, "the headmaster's wager" is simply hope. No matter how many times he is betrayed, no matter how dire the circumstances, Percival is relentlessly hopeful. In the closing scene, when you know things cannot end well, he is still envisioning the best possible outcome. I couldn't help liking him a little more just for that.
April 14, 2016
BEWARE OF SPOILERS. I DON'T HIDE OR PROMOTE MY REVIEWS.
This book is powerful. Twice I had to put down the book, because the author had created such tension that I couldn't immediately go forward, out of anxiety for the characters.
And those two points came fairly early in the story, which takes place mostly in southern Vietnam, in the era surrounding the 1975 fall of Saigon.
Later I learned to discipline myself to keep reading, as those two early pivotal points are mild compared to the some of the key events that ensue.
Vincent Lam tells the story from the vantage of Percival Chen, an ethnic Chinese businessman who founded and runs an English language school in a town outside Saigon.
Chen, who was born in China, runs his school in a grand, converted rice trading house that his father had built a generation earlier, during an extended solo stay in Vietnam. For years the father had sent payments back to China without visiting, to support his wife and their only child (who goes by Chen Pie Sou within the family, rather than Percival).
Gold itself and the proverbial "Gold Mountain" (for the Chinese, a faraway place of wealth and prosperity) are concepts here that collide with the realities of separation, loss and loneliness, which must emerge when a loved one moves to a foreign country and lives there, solitary, for years in pursuit of "Gold Mountain."
When Percival arrived in Vietnam in his 20s to locate his long-lost dad, he finds the man wealthy but chained to an opium pipe and an opportunistic Vietnamese second wife. The heart of the book covers Percival Chen in his 40s, starting several years before Saigon's fall.
Thia is indeed a book of wagers.
As head master, Percival Chen not only plays mahjong to excess. The politics of the unstable era (in addition to his personal flaws) cause him to also take huge risks with the well-being of his teen-age son, his business, and the "half-breed" young woman (half Vietnamese, half French, but zero part Chinese) whom he acquires for sexual pleasure, but eventually becomes a fixture in his emotional life.
Percival Chen also risks his own life, and that of his best friend, to save the lives of the two he loves most: his grown son and the kindergarten-age son of his lover.
Human frailty -- when a son disappoints a father, and vice versa -- is a central theme. Friendship and betrayal reverberate throughout.
The book is gripping, at times breath-stopping. One hopes for a happy ending, despite the odds.
I was startled to read, in the author's afterword, that he incorporated into this story several real-life incidents and memories experienced by older relatives who were living as ethnic Chinese in that same turbulent wartime Vietnam.
Lam, who today lives in Canada, has an incredible sense of human nature and great command of the language. And for him, writing is just a sideline?! -- Book jacket says he's also an ER physician in Toronto.
I hereby promise to read more Lam!
This book is powerful. Twice I had to put down the book, because the author had created such tension that I couldn't immediately go forward, out of anxiety for the characters.
And those two points came fairly early in the story, which takes place mostly in southern Vietnam, in the era surrounding the 1975 fall of Saigon.
Later I learned to discipline myself to keep reading, as those two early pivotal points are mild compared to the some of the key events that ensue.
Vincent Lam tells the story from the vantage of Percival Chen, an ethnic Chinese businessman who founded and runs an English language school in a town outside Saigon.
Chen, who was born in China, runs his school in a grand, converted rice trading house that his father had built a generation earlier, during an extended solo stay in Vietnam. For years the father had sent payments back to China without visiting, to support his wife and their only child (who goes by Chen Pie Sou within the family, rather than Percival).
Gold itself and the proverbial "Gold Mountain" (for the Chinese, a faraway place of wealth and prosperity) are concepts here that collide with the realities of separation, loss and loneliness, which must emerge when a loved one moves to a foreign country and lives there, solitary, for years in pursuit of "Gold Mountain."
When Percival arrived in Vietnam in his 20s to locate his long-lost dad, he finds the man wealthy but chained to an opium pipe and an opportunistic Vietnamese second wife. The heart of the book covers Percival Chen in his 40s, starting several years before Saigon's fall.
Thia is indeed a book of wagers.
As head master, Percival Chen not only plays mahjong to excess. The politics of the unstable era (in addition to his personal flaws) cause him to also take huge risks with the well-being of his teen-age son, his business, and the "half-breed" young woman (half Vietnamese, half French, but zero part Chinese) whom he acquires for sexual pleasure, but eventually becomes a fixture in his emotional life.
Percival Chen also risks his own life, and that of his best friend, to save the lives of the two he loves most: his grown son and the kindergarten-age son of his lover.
Human frailty -- when a son disappoints a father, and vice versa -- is a central theme. Friendship and betrayal reverberate throughout.
The book is gripping, at times breath-stopping. One hopes for a happy ending, despite the odds.
I was startled to read, in the author's afterword, that he incorporated into this story several real-life incidents and memories experienced by older relatives who were living as ethnic Chinese in that same turbulent wartime Vietnam.
Lam, who today lives in Canada, has an incredible sense of human nature and great command of the language. And for him, writing is just a sideline?! -- Book jacket says he's also an ER physician in Toronto.
I hereby promise to read more Lam!
October 4, 2012
Rating: 4.5 stars, but worthy of rounding to 5
Beautifully written, the words like paint strokes on a detailed painting. Percival Chan appears to have a life many would envy, especially in the midst of war and poverty. He has accumulated wealth and good standing as the Headmaster of an English-teaching academy. But his former wife never cared for him, and his son's moment of defiance creates devastating long-term problems. For all his failings, including gambling and prostitutes, he loves his son and will stop at nothing to keep him safe.
Percival nearly loses everything to get his son to safety. In the process of rebuilding and paying off debts after, he falls in love in the most unexpected place and embraces fatherhood yet again. Nothing is simple, however, in a complicated web of war, alliances, and basic survival.
Forgive me for simplifying, because this novel is a gorgeous and intricate story of a flawed but good man trying to find his place in Vietnam. His heart and loyalty remain in China, but his view of it was formed in childhood ideology. Percival places his trust in his friend and teacher at the Academy, Mak. Even when he senses his friend's nefarious connections, he ignores them in the guise of brotherhood. All he cares about is that Mak has always helped him; he turns a blind eye to the details. Those details later came back to both haunt him and save him.
That's just what Percival is... a haunted man. Haunted by constant nightmares, the past, and his own mistakes. Yet through it all, he is a character you can't shake. For all his flaws, he is devoted and loving. His focus on wealth drives him, but love is what he truly craves. Yet, it's what alludes him for so long. Later in the novel, when he attempts to cover his pain with drugs, he realizes, "Drifting from pill to pill was to live underwater, a false life beneath the surface of the real one, intruded upon by distant words and colored shadows."
The Headmaster's Wager is an intense historical course with equal parts action and emotion. Although a bit slow to start, thanks to the author's intricately laid background, it's a ride worth taking. I highly recommend.
Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not guaranteed or requested; the views expressed are my own.
Beautifully written, the words like paint strokes on a detailed painting. Percival Chan appears to have a life many would envy, especially in the midst of war and poverty. He has accumulated wealth and good standing as the Headmaster of an English-teaching academy. But his former wife never cared for him, and his son's moment of defiance creates devastating long-term problems. For all his failings, including gambling and prostitutes, he loves his son and will stop at nothing to keep him safe.
Percival nearly loses everything to get his son to safety. In the process of rebuilding and paying off debts after, he falls in love in the most unexpected place and embraces fatherhood yet again. Nothing is simple, however, in a complicated web of war, alliances, and basic survival.
Forgive me for simplifying, because this novel is a gorgeous and intricate story of a flawed but good man trying to find his place in Vietnam. His heart and loyalty remain in China, but his view of it was formed in childhood ideology. Percival places his trust in his friend and teacher at the Academy, Mak. Even when he senses his friend's nefarious connections, he ignores them in the guise of brotherhood. All he cares about is that Mak has always helped him; he turns a blind eye to the details. Those details later came back to both haunt him and save him.
That's just what Percival is... a haunted man. Haunted by constant nightmares, the past, and his own mistakes. Yet through it all, he is a character you can't shake. For all his flaws, he is devoted and loving. His focus on wealth drives him, but love is what he truly craves. Yet, it's what alludes him for so long. Later in the novel, when he attempts to cover his pain with drugs, he realizes, "Drifting from pill to pill was to live underwater, a false life beneath the surface of the real one, intruded upon by distant words and colored shadows."
The Headmaster's Wager is an intense historical course with equal parts action and emotion. Although a bit slow to start, thanks to the author's intricately laid background, it's a ride worth taking. I highly recommend.
Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not guaranteed or requested; the views expressed are my own.
April 16, 2016
This is beautifully written. However, as much as I wished to follow the subterfuge and circuitous thinking, planning and emotional discordance in the upheaval of this family against the background of conflict-ridden Vietnam, I just pooped out and couldn't force myself through the dream state memories and terrifying present accompanying them.
I read voraciously and have now for half a century. My dearest friends adore marvellous literature. However, it seems that we have quite independently come to the conclusion that we no longer will endure dragging beginnings, fragmented plot devices further slowing down what beckoned us to our books in the first place, and, BOOK SIN OF ALL BOOK SINS, WE DISCARD THE BOOK to move onto one of the many more gloriously reviewed delights available to us. We have decided that we have earned that right, after conscientiously finishing every literary piece until now, in our history of reading.
So, for me this book dragged....YAWN... and I couldn't find myself picking the book up for all but small bits of time before looking longingly at the pile of new books on my bookshelves. I guess that THE HEADMASTER'S WAGER and I were not meant for each other and I don't think I'll be back for another try.
I read voraciously and have now for half a century. My dearest friends adore marvellous literature. However, it seems that we have quite independently come to the conclusion that we no longer will endure dragging beginnings, fragmented plot devices further slowing down what beckoned us to our books in the first place, and, BOOK SIN OF ALL BOOK SINS, WE DISCARD THE BOOK to move onto one of the many more gloriously reviewed delights available to us. We have decided that we have earned that right, after conscientiously finishing every literary piece until now, in our history of reading.
So, for me this book dragged....YAWN... and I couldn't find myself picking the book up for all but small bits of time before looking longingly at the pile of new books on my bookshelves. I guess that THE HEADMASTER'S WAGER and I were not meant for each other and I don't think I'll be back for another try.
October 20, 2014
I couldn't decide whether to give this 3 or 4 stars..Percival's story is very tragic. Trouble is, he's an unlikely tragic hero, as his habitual greed, self-absorption, denial, lying, rigidity, self deception, and hedonism bring a lot of his troubles on himself. It is difficult to to care about him although that changed towards the novel's end. Also, the book is too long. A lot of repetitious and unnecessary scenes could have been cut and the book would have benefitted. Certain key scenes are very intense, but then we are back to the endless dull stories of P's gambling, drinking, whoring, etc. Feodor Chin's singsong reading of the audiobook didn't help. I did have a sense towards the end of the book, perhaps Percival had changed, at long last jarred awake by his suffering and a sense of purpose.
However, regardless of the characters, the book does show a fascinating and unusual glimpse of the Vietnam war (and the preceding Japanese and French occupations) from a non-American point of view, specifically from a Chinese and Vietnamese viewpoint. The one American character is an oaf--loud, arrogant, dishonest, and blind to cultural nuances.
The story was incredible, and just fell short of a 4 rating because of its failings.
However, regardless of the characters, the book does show a fascinating and unusual glimpse of the Vietnam war (and the preceding Japanese and French occupations) from a non-American point of view, specifically from a Chinese and Vietnamese viewpoint. The one American character is an oaf--loud, arrogant, dishonest, and blind to cultural nuances.
The story was incredible, and just fell short of a 4 rating because of its failings.
December 16, 2012
A well crafted story and solidly-written book. It had my attention and I felt compelled to find out what happened along its twists and turns...(believe me, the headmaster does not EVER have it easy)[There were points when I wanted to tell the author, give the man a break]. The tone and mood were constructed so that I wanted to keep reading.
I won't recount the amply-available storyline here. The historical contexts, circa Japanese occupation and then the Vietnam war, were intriguing and added to the story. I learned a lot or was reminded of much about that part of Vietnam.
I will say this: ALl the women characters are weak or not likeable. And while the male characters are not much better, the men had a voice and drove the action--this makes a huge difference. The women, in contrast, are pawns of the men or they are trying to use the men. I couldn't shake this very disturbing realization about the female characters.
I won't recount the amply-available storyline here. The historical contexts, circa Japanese occupation and then the Vietnam war, were intriguing and added to the story. I learned a lot or was reminded of much about that part of Vietnam.
I will say this: ALl the women characters are weak or not likeable. And while the male characters are not much better, the men had a voice and drove the action--this makes a huge difference. The women, in contrast, are pawns of the men or they are trying to use the men. I couldn't shake this very disturbing realization about the female characters.
July 16, 2012
Vincent Lam's THE HEADMASTER'S WAGER is a suspenseful character study set mainly in Vietnam during the civil war, told from a perspective that is unfamiliar to most Americans, that of a Chinese expat, Perceval Chen, who has lived in Vietnam for decades. Perceval still considers himself Chinese and has no real interest in assimilating to the culture of his adopted home. In reality, he is a man with no country—he just doesn’t know it yet. The suspense comes in the slow building of the disaster that will overtake him and those he loves, a disaster which is largely of his own making. It isn't the Vietnam War that threatens him so much as his own deeply flawed character and unwillingness to see the truths that are right in front of him.
August 14, 2012
I liked parts of this book but found at times that it was a bit of a slog to get through. I also -- probably naively -- had not appreciated that there was an underlying mystery with a serious denouement to come around three quarters of the way through. I may have read it differently had I picked up on this aspect of the plot earlier. Also I enjoyed the last quarter of the book far more than the earlier part. In any event, with some distance it was an interesting perspective on Vietnam in the late sixties and early seventies.
January 18, 2023
A beautiful work of historical fiction! Dr. Lam describes the relations between Chinese, Vietnamese, and Americans during the Vietnam war utilizing language, culture, and politics. Second read through and I have a completely different perspective on the novel. Can strongly say I’d read again.
June 5, 2021
3.5 stars.
This novel has a solid storyline. Set in Vietnam in the 1950-1970s, the protagonist Percival is a man of Chinese background, who has left China, travelled to Hong Kong and set up an English language school in Cholon on the outskirts of Saigon city. Percival identifies strongly with his Chinese heritage, impressing his ancestral roots to his only son. His wife, Cecilia is a Hong Kong native and status conscious and their relationship is doomed from the beginning.
Percival and his right hand man, Mak run the school, gaining much fame and cultivating useful contacts. Amidst the political upheavals in Indochina and China, Percival and his assistant navigate through a minefield of obstacles. Percival’s love-hate relationship with the gambling dens and bars of Saigon bring him peril and heartache.
The story was well crafted and reminiscent of a bygone era of seedy bars, mahjong tables and seductive women. Percival is caught up in his loyalty to China, ignoring the political changes around him, so caught up in gambling and paying his debts. His greatest love is his son but the relationship is rocky.
This story reminded me of Pachinko, although that novel was about South Korean people living in Japan. It had the similar edginess and sense of an immigrant people trying to find their place in their adopted home.
This novel has a solid storyline. Set in Vietnam in the 1950-1970s, the protagonist Percival is a man of Chinese background, who has left China, travelled to Hong Kong and set up an English language school in Cholon on the outskirts of Saigon city. Percival identifies strongly with his Chinese heritage, impressing his ancestral roots to his only son. His wife, Cecilia is a Hong Kong native and status conscious and their relationship is doomed from the beginning.
Percival and his right hand man, Mak run the school, gaining much fame and cultivating useful contacts. Amidst the political upheavals in Indochina and China, Percival and his assistant navigate through a minefield of obstacles. Percival’s love-hate relationship with the gambling dens and bars of Saigon bring him peril and heartache.
The story was well crafted and reminiscent of a bygone era of seedy bars, mahjong tables and seductive women. Percival is caught up in his loyalty to China, ignoring the political changes around him, so caught up in gambling and paying his debts. His greatest love is his son but the relationship is rocky.
This story reminded me of Pachinko, although that novel was about South Korean people living in Japan. It had the similar edginess and sense of an immigrant people trying to find their place in their adopted home.
March 30, 2023
"One never knows what form wealth will take"
One can hope, though. One of my most imprinted memories is the first time I held my daughter. I was the first to have this honor, and I was transfixed. I knew in that moment that my life was forfeit if I could lay it down on her behalf. There was no resource at my disposal that I would not exhaust to protect her or punish those who would bring her harm.
In this I take Vincent Lam's lesson. Percival was a flawed man. He brought many misfortunes on himself, even as he also brought fortune on himself. But when faced with what counted as true wealth, he made the right wager.
"The people who love you, and whom you love, remain always. Everything else vanishes"
Notes:
“How much is enough?” (85)
one never knows what form wealth will take (352)
“Once you have left a place, you can never go back. I made that mistake. I thought it was possible. If you come back here one day, that house will be changed, or it may be gone. The place of your memories will have vanished, and you will have new memories. They will make the old ones feel different.” (353)
The people who love you, and whom you love, remain always. Everything else vanishes (353)
One can hope, though. One of my most imprinted memories is the first time I held my daughter. I was the first to have this honor, and I was transfixed. I knew in that moment that my life was forfeit if I could lay it down on her behalf. There was no resource at my disposal that I would not exhaust to protect her or punish those who would bring her harm.
In this I take Vincent Lam's lesson. Percival was a flawed man. He brought many misfortunes on himself, even as he also brought fortune on himself. But when faced with what counted as true wealth, he made the right wager.
"The people who love you, and whom you love, remain always. Everything else vanishes"
Notes:
“How much is enough?” (85)
one never knows what form wealth will take (352)
“Once you have left a place, you can never go back. I made that mistake. I thought it was possible. If you come back here one day, that house will be changed, or it may be gone. The place of your memories will have vanished, and you will have new memories. They will make the old ones feel different.” (353)
The people who love you, and whom you love, remain always. Everything else vanishes (353)
May 6, 2021
This was such a well-written book. I'm not sure I would have liked it as much if it hadn't been for the quality of the writing. Overall this was a such a sad story - and this has always been one of my issues with literary fiction - it always seems to be so depressing. I wanted to shake the stuffing out of the main character, Percival/ Chen Pie Sou so many times - it was frustrating, and I didn't love one of the twists, but overall I was glad this was chosen for our little book club as I probably wouldn't have tried it out otherwise.
May 6, 2021
Well written characters kept me reading, the history intrigue me and of course Percival’s pride and prejudices which are ingrained in his character just as much as the traditions of his culture.
December 15, 2012
Stayed up tonight finishing this book. Lam's masterpiece weaves a narrative arch from the perspective of its protagonist, Percival Chen, beginning in pre-Revolutionary mainland China continuing to Hong Kong in the face of Japanese imperialism, to Vietnam under the French and Japanese, through the American occupation and finally to the North Vietnamese victory. Through this narrative we are introduced lovingly to the traditions of Chinese culture through the experiences of an expatriate whose father had adapted to Western influences, and schooled him early on the ways of making profits from calculated wagers. The protagonist payed the price of these wagers in his very early life, and continues to do so throughout the novel. Percival has a foil in his compatriot Mak, who receives Percival's blind trust, but calculates his wagers on the side of communism. The duality of these character's reflects the duality of the Chinese spirit and the brutal battle that raged for the soul of South East Asia and the Chinese mainland. Percival is a gambler and a womanizer, who is also a humble and genuine soul, an unlikely character that Lam develops convincingly and powerfully in this novel. The protagonist struggles to do better by his son than his father did by him, but tragically fails, only to be redeemed in his sacrifice for his grandson. The novel takes an unblinking look at the cruelly of the conflict, the realpolitik of political corruption and the lost souls that exist on all sides of the political and cultural divisions. It is also a reflection on the clash of civilizations in South East Asia that is highly relevant in our modern world as we adapt to a changing political and cultural landscape.
October 1, 2012
Spanning the full duration of the Vietnam War, this novel is the saga of a Chinese man who immigrated to Cholon, near Saigon, became headmaster of a school for the English language, and tried desperately not to repeat the mistakes that his father made; however, as history is apt to do, the Headmaster, Percival, seems to get stuck in a cycle of wagers that parallel his father's fatal choices. Percival gambles with fate, tempting pleasure, excess, pride, lust, when all he truly desires is honour for his son. Unfortunately, with a war raging all around him, the Headmaster finds little opportunity to break-even. This is a classically written novel, comparable to Dostoevsky, Dickens and the like. The author takes his time to FULLY develop all the characters and their relations; nothing is left unexplored. The tone and atmosphere, symbols and themes, none of it is sacrificed to simply tell a story. The plot meanders, but always with purpose and meaning. It is a true work of literature. As an added bonus, as the back-drop of the story, this novel chronicles the events of the Vietnam War with stunning accuracy. Lam weaves in and out of a political landscape that even history books can't explain, and he does it in a way that is at once understanding and critical of the conflict. This was a near perfect novel; I would like to rate this 4.5/5, but can not do so with Goodread's rating system.
December 16, 2012
This strange book took awhile to catch my interest but when it was over I was really sad to leave the characters and the setting. This is an historical fiction set in Vietnam during the 60's and 70's, and because you know how certain things turned out, there is quite a bit of situational irony. I found myself gripping the edge of my chair, saying, "get out now while you can!"
Chan is the owner/headmaster of a prestigious English school in Saigon. He happens to be Chinese and this heritage alone causes him all kinds of problems in the increasingly Communist country. While he is making money hand over fist by dealing with the American demand for good translators, he is also losing his hold on his precious only son. His adolescent son is in love with a Vietnamese girl and Chan is adamant that he should only marry Chinese. When the son is drafted by the Vietnamese army, Chen makes plans to send him back to China for safety, totally unaware of the growing cultural revolution in that country. So he goes from the frying pan into the fire.
There is so much in this book: love, romance, gambling, violence, war, peace, racial disparity, historical satire and political retrospective. I can only wish for a sequel.
Chan is the owner/headmaster of a prestigious English school in Saigon. He happens to be Chinese and this heritage alone causes him all kinds of problems in the increasingly Communist country. While he is making money hand over fist by dealing with the American demand for good translators, he is also losing his hold on his precious only son. His adolescent son is in love with a Vietnamese girl and Chan is adamant that he should only marry Chinese. When the son is drafted by the Vietnamese army, Chen makes plans to send him back to China for safety, totally unaware of the growing cultural revolution in that country. So he goes from the frying pan into the fire.
There is so much in this book: love, romance, gambling, violence, war, peace, racial disparity, historical satire and political retrospective. I can only wish for a sequel.
October 16, 2014
This was a 4.5 star book for me.
In this magnificently ambition tale a politically naïve Percival Chen, the headmaster of a successful English academy in 1960s Saigon believes in the superiority of his Chinese heritage and the value bribes are the keys to his success. After all this has worked with past conquerors, the Japanese, the French and the Americans–no matter how temporary their stay but being oblivious to the newest player for control will challenge Percival beyond his nightmares.
I was captivated by this book from the beginning and held spellbound to the last paragraph by the Lam’s storytelling ability to intertwine the history/connection of Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and the foreigners. This was an audio book for me and the narrator effectively conveyed the tension, arrogance, love, and betrayals.
I believe part of the appeal of this book for me can also be contributed to my recent trip to China and Hong Kong and reading the wonderful book, “Ghost Month” by Ed Lin helping me to appreciate the complexly layered history of this region.
Lam has crafted a gripping masterpiece that captures a street-level view of the complexity of a world where one misstep can lead to an unraveling of all that you hold dear. I recommend this book to readers of historical fiction.
In this magnificently ambition tale a politically naïve Percival Chen, the headmaster of a successful English academy in 1960s Saigon believes in the superiority of his Chinese heritage and the value bribes are the keys to his success. After all this has worked with past conquerors, the Japanese, the French and the Americans–no matter how temporary their stay but being oblivious to the newest player for control will challenge Percival beyond his nightmares.
I was captivated by this book from the beginning and held spellbound to the last paragraph by the Lam’s storytelling ability to intertwine the history/connection of Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and the foreigners. This was an audio book for me and the narrator effectively conveyed the tension, arrogance, love, and betrayals.
I believe part of the appeal of this book for me can also be contributed to my recent trip to China and Hong Kong and reading the wonderful book, “Ghost Month” by Ed Lin helping me to appreciate the complexly layered history of this region.
Lam has crafted a gripping masterpiece that captures a street-level view of the complexity of a world where one misstep can lead to an unraveling of all that you hold dear. I recommend this book to readers of historical fiction.
September 7, 2012
The Headmaster of an English school in Saigon is the key figure in this novel. I found the central character to be quiet shallow, materialistic and frankly not very bright. He was needless to say, a difficult character to like. We follow his actions from 1966 to the fall of Saigon in the mid 1970’s.
Unbeknown to the Headmaster, his most trusted friend and the school’s second in command is placing the school’s graduates as spies. The graduates are placed with all facets of the American military and the findings are reported back to the Viet Cong.
This book did provide the reader with an excellent view of life in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In my opinion, this book may be more popular with men than women.
Unbeknown to the Headmaster, his most trusted friend and the school’s second in command is placing the school’s graduates as spies. The graduates are placed with all facets of the American military and the findings are reported back to the Viet Cong.
This book did provide the reader with an excellent view of life in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In my opinion, this book may be more popular with men than women.
September 27, 2016
Last year I discussed this book with four book groups, with varying results. One, a group of old friends who had lived through the Vietnam War years (or as they say in Vietnam, the American War) found it very dark and troubling.
They're right. The moral ambiguity of the headmaster, Percival, is the least of
They're right. The moral ambiguity of the headmaster, Percival, is the least of
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