The
Black Gentlemen of Trong Suan is an intriguing title for this
self-published book written by John McMahon, about whom the book gives the
reader no clues. Again intriguing.
It begins with the diary entries of a retired British
manager, and a bachelor. On a previous trip he meets the girl of his dreams.
Young, university trained and one that our expat is sure he will happily
live with forever after.
In his diary he wonders at the other expats he meets who
seem to hate the Thais, start drinking at 8 a.m. and generally despise the
native life and customs. He is the opposite, revelling in the unspoiled
jungle and the sea where he shows his complete metamorphosis by skinny
dipping.
However, that idyllic metamorphosis does not last, and he
assumes a new persona where he drinks at 8 a.m. and learns to hate the
native population and joins the loose group of mainly British expats that
meets every two weeks. These settlers call themselves the Black Gentlemen,
feeling that they are similar to the black population in the British Isles -
aliens and outnumbered.
As the degradation of the expat continues unabated, the
reader is left thinking, “There but for the grace of God go I”. In some ways
quite terrifying in the accuracy of his thumbnail sketches.
This diary ends one quarter of the way through the book,
and it then becomes more of a narrative, still with the Black Gentlemen and
their adopted home as the central characters.
Into this outpost of expat misfits comes the mysterious
newcomer called Crispas, a young man skilled in physical pursuits, handy
with spanners and with a beautiful girlfriend in tow. He does not fit the
mold of the Black Gentlemen.
The plot is wonderfully detailed. Author McMahon
obviously understanding and recording all the subtle nuances of village
life, as well as those of the expat society. You will find that you can
relate to all these Black Gentlemen, even if the reader does not necessarily
sympathize with them. However, the proof reader was not as eagle-eyed, with
several literals in the book, “insuring” and “ensuring” being confused.
The back cover proclaims, “A diary changes hands at a dog
fight in Burma enticing a young man to the south of Thailand in order to
mimic the life of the diarist who retired to Trong Suan in the romance novel
fashion with his young fianc้e only to be beaten, robbed, debased and sent
off like a leprous pervert. The young man who comes into possession of the
diary having talent, strength, money and charisma comes to the town and
disrupts the delicate balance between the ex patriots and local population
causing in the end an orgy of violence and death among over flowing drink,
greed-mad looting and charred dog skewers at his own wedding party.”
I enjoyed this book, and the difference between this and others set in
rural Thailand is enormous. This may be fiction, but it is no flattering
tale. In some ways it reminds me of Dan Dorothy’s Mango Rains with its
brutal reality.
