Boyd Anderson

In the late 1940′s, having successfully resisted Japanese occupation during WW2 with Britain’s clandestine assistance, groups of Malayan nationalists began to object to Britain’s administration of the country’s assets. In the eyes of the MNLA (Malayan National Liberation Army) and associated organisations, the country had simply exchanged one oppressor for another. With Malaysia’s industries essential for the repair of post war Britain, any rebellion was quickly quashed by the administrators but in 1948, sparked by the execution style murder of three European plantation owners, an ‘Emergency’ was declared outlawing any rebellion. Determined to fight for Malayan independence, the MNLA retreated into the jungle from which they planned and launched guerrilla attacks aimed to destabilise the government.

Knowledge about the The Malayan Emergency is not widely held in the present day but Boyd Anderson recreates the tumultuous period of history, blending fact with fiction, to create an interesting and poignant tale of love, conflict, culture and faith in The Heart Radical.

The three part structure unfolds mainly through the reminisces of Su-Lin Tan, and her reading of Dr Anna Thumboo’s journal.
Su-Lin was a child at the time of The Emergency, her father a well respected barrister who would eventually defended a leader of the MNLA, Toh Kei, against murder charges. Su-Lin recalls herself as a bright and curious eight year old trying to make sense of Malaysia’s upheaval.
Dr Anna Thumboo was a young woman, a widow and mother, who provided medical aid to the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) later known as the MNLA firstly during the ‘Japanese Time’ and then The Emergency. Battling recurrent illness Toh Kei spent several periods under the care of Anna and the two fell in love. Her journal is essentially a letter to her son, Paris, written shortly before her death, sharing her experience of the times and an explanation of sorts for the choices she made.

I found I was sometimes unsure about the timeline, which is complicated by memories within memories, but the perspectives of Su-Lin and Anna were compelling enough to dismiss any brief periods of disorientation. In contrast, I found the scenes in the present day intrusive, Paris Thumboo’s character seemed irrelevant and I think a direct link between Su-Lin and the manuscript could have easily been established without him. Similarly the contemporary love story that develops between the two characters is a distraction that I wasn’t interested in.

Though I rarely comment on a book’s title I have to mention how apt I found this one. Within the novel’s context it has dual meanings, as both a root character of the Chinese written language and as an explanation of the radical actions of Dr Anna Thumboo and Toh Kei.

Though some elements didn’t quite work for me, overall I found The Heart Radical to be an engaging read. Anderson’s well researched historical detail is interesting and the voices of Su-Lin and Anna are compelling.… (más)

Heck...where do I start with this little gem?

As a random pick out from the library's new books offerings the title had three things that I could be interested in; Errol Flynn, a Tasmanian-born actor whom I knew little about but had seen a couple of his movies, Fidel Castro, the man responsible for green fatigues, beards, and cigars becoming fashion accessories, and Cuban Rebel Girls, although I have never seen one, but sounded kinda saucy.

So to reading it...I'm not sure what point it was in the book but I found myself desperate to get access to Wikipedia as I had crossed some sort of threshold where I wasn't sure what was fiction, what was stark reality, and buggar me if there isn't some truth to this book. Of course Errol Flynn was such a man but his philandering, rooting and a tooting ways (and with some rather young girls it would seem) was all true. And of course we all know about Fidel, the man who made revolution such a sexy word, but the fact that these two actually knew each other was now something beyond comprehension...and here's the twist...it was in fact Cuban Rebel Girls that brought this whole thing together...really. But maybe not in the way you may think...

This was a great read which took fact and used some poetic license to narrate a story which takes you on a great trip into the life of one of Hollywood's superstars, one of America's most hated, and the Cuban Revolution (even Che Guevara pops into the script).

Yep, Mr Anderson this is a great read and at times a hell of a funny story, and though we all know how it ended, it still came as a shock.

I don't want to give too much away...get it out and enjoy...… (más)

Jockey McAuley is 15 years old, with no idea what he's going to do with his life, when he somehow or other ends up working for Mr Hardaker at Paton Electrical. His job - well it's odd. It's mostly to shadow Mr Hardaker and watch / listen and remember everything that happens. Somewhere in the background there's something going on at Paton Electrical though. There's reference to "the Phoenix affair", there's police, there's the owner of the factory in his wheelchair, there's great big cars, a secretary, canteen gossip and Ludo. Ludo is Fred Paton's nurse or companion, or something. Something a 15 year old boy with a good Catholic mother can't quite get a handle on.

LUDO (the book) is told entirely in Jockey's voice. It's written as a reminiscence, Jockey looking back at his role in the lives of Hardaker, Paton and Ludo (the woman). It was a very short episode in his life, but it has obviously had a very profound effect - although the full extent of that effect isn't revealed until right at the end of the book. Nothing much is fully revealed until the end of the book mind you - it's in the last few chapters that the full extent of the Phoenix Affair (for that matter what the Phoenix Affair actually is) is fully revealed.

Reading LUDO I have to confess to frequently feeling a distinct sense of frustration. There's a lot of Jockey and Hardaker running around, and because the book is told completely from Jockey's point of view, there's a sense of repetitiveness, a certain floating feeling filled in by a lot of chat to cover the nothingness of the action. Which isn't quite true - there's something going on always, but it's bubbling away under the surface, hidden within the detritus of people seeming to go about their daily lives, just a little bit on edge. I suspect what the author is aiming for is to give the reader some sense of Jockey's own confusion - even his own frustration at sitting, and listening and watching and not really knowing why or even what's going to come of all of this. It's all a bit mysterious - both to Jockey and the reader. The book is set in the 1960's and the terminology and setting, seemingly accurate, does help to put the reader very much in the same position as Jockey. Watching, listening, remembering, not quite getting the whole picture, wondering what the hell is going on here.

LUDO isn't exactly a gentle reading experience, there are points at which you just want something, anything, to happen. Just something to break up the waiting and watching and wondering. There are points at which you'd really swear you'd missed something - just as Jockey obviously thought he'd missed something. It's an interesting book LUDO, undoubtedly one of those books that will divide readers, and whilst I found myself squirming with frustration whilst I was reading it, something definitely kept me with the story right to the end.… (más)