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Figurehead
What if you saved a man's life and he went on to play a leading role in one of the bloodiest revolutions of modern times? Ted Whittlemore, a radical Australian journalist, does just that. In the late '60s, he saves Nhem Kiry, soon to become known as 'Pol Pot's mouthpiece'. The consequences haunt him for the rest of his days. When the Khmer Rouge take power in Cambodia, Whittlemore watches, fascinated and horrified, as the ideals he holds dear are translated into unfathomable violence. In the intervening decades, as he tries to make sense of what went wrong, it is as if Kiry's life has become intertwined with his own. In this gripping novel, Patrick Allington takes readers deep into the world of power politics and agents of influence. He enters the worlds of Nhem Kiry and Ted Whittlemore, and with humour, intelligence and an unfailing moral sense, brings them to life. Figurehead is about guilt and memory, and the awful distance that separates dreams from reality. It is about those people who, as George Orwell said, are 'always somewhere else when the trigger is pulled'.
- GenresAustralia
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 22, 2017
A fascinating book about ideology and power, regrets and memories, but mostly about the way the world failed Cambodia through the second half of the twentieth century.
February 13, 2013
A really interesting first novel by a young Australian author (who was mentored by the always wonderful JM Coetze). Figurehead is a satire which fictionalises recent Cambodian history (the rise of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian genocide, the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, and the response of the West) as experienced by the two main protagonists; a senior Khmer Rouge official and a radical Australian journalist. The novel acknowledges the incredibly complex geopolitical situation and appalling legacy of the Khmer Rouge without necessarily seeking to provide answers or explanations.
The novel was well written and thought provoking. I liked that the author clearly abhorred the violence and cruelty of the Khmer Rouge regime but avoided demonising the perpetrators. It made me think a lot about why people act the way they do and how they justify their decisions and behaviour.
The novel was well written and thought provoking. I liked that the author clearly abhorred the violence and cruelty of the Khmer Rouge regime but avoided demonising the perpetrators. It made me think a lot about why people act the way they do and how they justify their decisions and behaviour.
November 25, 2014
I really like Cambodia, and I really like books about Cambodia (I set my own there then pretended it was in Melbourne), so there was a fair chance I was going to like Figurehead. More interesting than the question of what happens when you unwittingly save the life of an evil man was the unpicking of foreign policy, of Cambodia's never-ending pawn status, and of the horrible self-centredness of those with high ideals. I'd love to see a similarly absurdist novel about the reign of Hun Sen, who is delightfully skewered in the few brief appearances he makes in Figurehead. Will Cambodia ever get a lucky break?
Looking forward to the next Patrick Allington.
Looking forward to the next Patrick Allington.
December 14, 2024
An examination of the geopolitical machinations of war, genocide, and the players that are part of it. A view into framing a story, chasing the story, telling the story, and living the story.
Following an ambitious, cynical, self-serving, well connected Australian journalist through the years of Cambodia's fall to the Khmer Rouge, and beyond. Alongside one of the main players in the Cambodian hierarchy of evil, through all the justifications, and manipulations, and rewrites of history and truth.
I actually spent some time checking these timelines, because surely the perpetrators of genocide were not left to their own ways for so long by the world powers - but, alas, the timeline is horrifying accurate. As history repeats in real time today.
A fictional version of some real relationships at the time, to make us consider the how, and the why, and the bigger powers at play, in one of the world's saddest, and most unforgivable chapters. An uncomfortable look at a nation's demise to pawn in a much bigger game, with such devastating outcomes.
Following an ambitious, cynical, self-serving, well connected Australian journalist through the years of Cambodia's fall to the Khmer Rouge, and beyond. Alongside one of the main players in the Cambodian hierarchy of evil, through all the justifications, and manipulations, and rewrites of history and truth.
I actually spent some time checking these timelines, because surely the perpetrators of genocide were not left to their own ways for so long by the world powers - but, alas, the timeline is horrifying accurate. As history repeats in real time today.
A fictional version of some real relationships at the time, to make us consider the how, and the why, and the bigger powers at play, in one of the world's saddest, and most unforgivable chapters. An uncomfortable look at a nation's demise to pawn in a much bigger game, with such devastating outcomes.
March 6, 2025
A challenging book. The concept is brilliant (regret over saving an affiliate of Pol Pot). And it is very well written. But the middle section reads more like a text book on the Cambodian conflict than a novel. It introduces so many real life characters I struggled to keep track and they didn't really add to the development of the central theme. In the end the two main protagonists felt well described in actions, but still a little remote in terms of motivations. A bit disappointing.
January 17, 2020
Found this really confusing but was good looking at its history
December 6, 2015
In 1967, Australian journalist Ted Whittlemore - "agent of influence" in Cambodia - warns a staunchly Communist member of Parliament - Nhem Kiry - that the army is gunning for him. Nhem Kiry flees Phnom Penh and, over the course of the next three decades, becomes a key figure in the Khmer Rouge - the maniacal force behind the genocide of over a million Cambodians. For the rest of his life, Ted Whittlemore is haunted by the consequences of his actions and obsessed with how it went wrong: how Nhem Kiry was supposed to be the leader to merge radicalism with compassion and decency but, instead, emptied his country of people.
Moving between events in the 1960s through to the 1990s, the genius of "Figurehead" is Allington's ability to give idiosyncratic voice to characters real (King Sihanouk, Pol Pot, Prince Ranariddh, Hun Sen, Henry Kissinger) and imagined (Ted, based on real "agent of influence" Wilfred Burchett, and Kiry, based on Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan).
It all reads as if this is exactly how it went down: right down to Sihanouk's habit of saying "tee hee" at the end of things that aren't remotely funny and Kissinger trying to explain how, in "pursuing a morally upright and honourable solution in Vietnam" he and Richard Nixon are "the strongest two anti-war Americans you will ever find."
The shifts in loyalty, political posturing, tone and time frames, are absolutely breathtaking. And the writing is illuminated by this dry, caustic sensibility and intelligence that shows how in control Allington is of the absolute mountain of research that must have gone into this novel. There's a lightness of touch that brings the horror even more sharply into focus, giving a human face to an unimaginable tragedy measured now only in bones and nameless photographs.
Moving between events in the 1960s through to the 1990s, the genius of "Figurehead" is Allington's ability to give idiosyncratic voice to characters real (King Sihanouk, Pol Pot, Prince Ranariddh, Hun Sen, Henry Kissinger) and imagined (Ted, based on real "agent of influence" Wilfred Burchett, and Kiry, based on Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan).
It all reads as if this is exactly how it went down: right down to Sihanouk's habit of saying "tee hee" at the end of things that aren't remotely funny and Kissinger trying to explain how, in "pursuing a morally upright and honourable solution in Vietnam" he and Richard Nixon are "the strongest two anti-war Americans you will ever find."
The shifts in loyalty, political posturing, tone and time frames, are absolutely breathtaking. And the writing is illuminated by this dry, caustic sensibility and intelligence that shows how in control Allington is of the absolute mountain of research that must have gone into this novel. There's a lightness of touch that brings the horror even more sharply into focus, giving a human face to an unimaginable tragedy measured now only in bones and nameless photographs.
March 31, 2010
Figurehead is a cleverly executed account of the political play taking place around one of history’s worse atrocities, and how such an atrocity is effectively removed from collective memory. Its impact is rooted not in gruesome depiction of the atrocity itself, but explorations of the psyches of those directly involved with it. It is absurdist, but manages to be believable as well.
What kept me from giving this novel 5 stars is having to be around Nhhem Kiry so much. He is so incomprehensibly evil it becomes increasingly uncomfortable to be in his company. This discomfort, for some readers, may be a cause to discontinue reading the book.
Although this novel at several points did not engage me, I respect it immensely.
What kept me from giving this novel 5 stars is having to be around Nhhem Kiry so much. He is so incomprehensibly evil it becomes increasingly uncomfortable to be in his company. This discomfort, for some readers, may be a cause to discontinue reading the book.
Although this novel at several points did not engage me, I respect it immensely.
October 20, 2010
The plot sounded fine but then I found while reading it, it was a bit scatty especially the parts that were written by the journalist Ted Whittlemore. He was a character I really did not like. To me he made Nhem Kiry and Pol Pot seem like reasonable people. True to reality Ted lied so a least the portrayal of a journalist is accurate.
July 28, 2011
A surprisingly light read for a heavy subject. Not sure it really gets to the heart of the question it purports to address - what happens when you save a man who then becomes tyrant - what seems to happen is that the person suddenly ends up a cot case! But still an interesting read for the historical detail and unusual context.
January 19, 2016
Longlisted for the Miles Franklin award, this is an intriguing moral dilemma: what do you do when you have helped to save the life of a truly evil man? See my review at http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
June 13, 2012
Great plot and some fine writing. Look forward to what Allington comes up with next.
May 12, 2019
The definitive fictional text on this fraught subject.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews