All the Wrong Places: Adrift in the Politics of the Pacific Rim

by James Fenton

James Fenton is the right man in the wrong place in dangerous times. This journalist, poet, and critic is almost always at the center of a revolution. Fenton was one of the last journalists in Saigon, and his reporting from the abandoned American embassy, “where the looting had just begun,” is unlike any Vietnam coverage you’ve ever read. “Some people gave me suspicious looks; I was after all the only one there with a white face—so I began to do a little looting myself . . . .Two things I could not take were reproduction of an 1873 map of Hanoi and a framed quotation by Lawrence of Arabia, which read ‘Better to let them do it imperfectly than do it perfectly yourself, for it is their country, their way, and your time is short.’”

Reporting from war-ravaged Cambodia, Fenton lived for a while in a monastery, where the monks, certain he was a CIA agent, were fixated with his bout of constipation. In “The Snap Revolution,” Fenton chronicles Corazon Aquino's assumption of power in the Philippines, from a vantage point so close “I could even tell you what perfume Imelda Marcos was wearing.” Fenton's most recent posting is Korea, where he reports, in his inimitable fashion, on the recent riots and election in that complex country on the brink of civil convulsion. All the Wrong Places is a visceral and unforgettable view from the Pacific Rim.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Poetry, Asia, War, Journalism

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 21, 1994

About the author

James Fenton was born in Lincoln in 1949 and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford where he won the Newdigate Prize for poetry. He has worked as political journalist, drama critic, book reviewer, war correspondent, foreign correspondent and columnist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was Oxford Professor of Poetry for the period 1994-99. In 2007, Fenton was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains Fenton's classic "The Fall of Saigon," which is one of the best literary reporting pieces around.

[Martine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book is a bit facetious. Far from always being in the wrong places, James Fenton (a South East Asia correspondent for several major British and American publications) seems always to be in the right places for some good reportage literature. He was in Saigon when it fell (one of the last journalists to remain in the city when the North Vietnamese army pulled closer) and in the Philippines when an angry mob forced the Marcoses out of power. In between, he got a taste of the Khmer Rouge (only just avoiding a potentially lethal run-in), make trips into enemy-occupied territory in Vietnam, see Imelda Marcos play-act faith in her soon-to-be-deposed husband, and hang out with monks and die-hard Marxist guerrillas in the middle of a revolution. In other words, Fenton saw history being made, and he describes it in a way that makes you feel like you are witnessing it for yourself. His reports of rebellion and looting are powerful and evocative; so are his descriptions of 'quieter' episodes, such as the time he spends at a Cambodian monastery, or the eerie peace that ensues after the apparently ferociously well-behaved North Vietnamese soldiers take Saigon. He has quite a gift for setting a scene and adding humorous touches, capturing the atmosphere of the events he witnessed like a well-shot film. So as a first-hand account of some major episodes in twentieth-century South East Asian history, All the Wrong Places is very successful.

Sadly, the book has its flaws. The one that bothered me most was the near-total failure to place the major events in a historic context or background. In the Vietnam part of the book, Fenton drops a lot of names without any attempt at explaining who these people were or what role they played in the conflict. Written nearly two decades after the end of the Vietnam War, this part of the book really could have done with some background information for the benefit of those of us who were too young to follow the war when it was being fought -- or even those who did pay attention at the time. I doubt many people now recall the minor players in the conflict.

It could also be pointed out here that Fenton is a little too self-indulgent for his own good. Thankfully, his self-indulgence is of the wry British variety which I don't mind too much. There's a fair bit of humour in his writing, but slightly greater objectivity would not have gone amiss.

Finally, I felt the various parts of the book ended too abruptly. I would have liked to hear more about what happened after the events described, both to Fenton himself and to the people he meets on his travels. A greater attempt at proper introductions and endings and smoother transitions would have been much appreciated.

All in all, I give the book three and a half stars, rounded down to three.

(And for those of you who are wondering why I'm not referring to the South Korean part of the book: I can't comment on it because it wasn't included in the (very bad) Dutch translation I read. Note to any prospective Dutch readers of this book: steer clear of the translation, which is so literal it will make your eyes bleed. Stick to the original instead and I daresay you'll find it an enjoyable read.)

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with Fenton's voice and attention to detail way back when I was in high school and stumbled across a volume of his poetry (which is, incidentally, still one of my favorite poetry collections of all time), so this has been on my reading list for quite some time--I'm glad I finally got around to it.

Each of the essays here details Fenton's wanderings and adventures through revolutions, giving detailed pictures into rarely seen moments along the Pacific Rim--back and forth across enemy lines in Korea, Saigon just after its official fall, etc. Some of the moments are heartbreaking, and more of them than you'd expect are humorous, but Fenton's wry care with people and with expectations makes each piece a striking commentary on not just unfolding events, but humanity, politics, and journalism.

I'd absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in world events or history, or in revolution or journalism. Although it's true that the pieces are located in specific times and moments, it's terrifying how relevant some of them are to just this moment in time, and sort of wonderful to read about them in a way that is not just carefully observant and honest, as if one were reading Fenton's journal rather than essays, but also told with both intelligence and a tempered optimism that, one way or another, things keep going on, and people survive.

Absolutely recommended.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invents a new school of journalism, the Crepuscular School, based on the observation that people tell you more after dark. When I was stalking the revolutions of Southeast Asia, I certainly found that to be true.

Revealing without being self-important.

[Brian Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an important book and it should not be read only by those with interest in the practice of journalism or the history of the Pacific rim. It should be read by policymakers and our elected representatives. In All the Wrong Places: Adrift in the Politics of the Pacific Rim, James Fenton offers cogent observations and analyses of the political situations in Vietnam following the American pull-out, the Philippines during the abdication of Marcos, and Korea during the violent student pro-democracy demonstrations. Fenton omits his observations of Cambodia, noting, “I found it too painful, during the years of the Khmer Rouge regime, to touch that subject….” (p. xiv) Otherwise, you may read of Fenton riding on the back of the first NVA tank entering the U. S. embassy compound in Saigon (“Indeed, in one Western account of these events, I noticed that the tank that I have just described knocks the palace gate to the ground ‘like a wooden twig.’ The man who opened the gate, a civilian guard who had been specially placed, has been subbed out in this account.”) (p. 86); or of Fenton being the first to enter the Marcos’ private quarters (where he scored a monogrammed towel). The experience in Korea was a little more orderly, “In the mornings, I relaxed in my room, reading Wordsworth. The students normally began rioting after lunch.” (p. 261) but still dangerous, “I thought: This is the first time in my life I have literally been stoned; I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, but I don’t want it to ever happen ever, ever again.” (p. 266)

Fenton offers a few comments about journalism that still ring true: “I developed a theory of journalism on which I hoped to build a school. It was to be called the Crepuscular School and the rules were simple: Believe nothing that you are told before dusk.” (p. 46) and, “The first two laws of stringing are: (1) The more you file the more you earn; (2) The more you file the less you learn.” (p. 83)

In the end, the lesson for today’s leaders of this 1988 memoir is about truly understanding the political & social complexities in foreign societies before trying to shape outcomes imposing Western expectations. It’s a lesson that could well apply to our current government’s meddling in foreign affairs.

[Tunde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good on the ground “reportage”. Real conversations with people in the places was particularly interesting because of the coverage of people power in the Philippines lots of insights and nuances, but would be quite hard to follow if you don’t have some background or experience.

[Steven-John Tait · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Rebecca Haslam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had hoped to even remotely like this book having studied a little about politics and war as part of my journalism degree, and I picked this book up from outside a tutors office (he was having a clear out) with that in mind. The first few chapters were easy going enough but by a good half way through the book, I found myself just wanting to be done with it. I've no doubt that Fenton is/was a great reporter, but a lot of what he wrote about hardly seemed relevant to the story he was trying to tell - or at least that's what I felt and thought. As a result, I was extremely glad to be done with this book and have no intentions of reading it again or recommending it to anyone.

[Feathzzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

read while in jail. Actual rating: 3

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic reportage.