Many years ago I was chatting with an accountant friend who was of Chinese heritage but who grew up in Indonesia. We were discussing racial stereotypes in the east and in the west. I remember his comment that "The Chinese are the Jews of the East." His point was that outside of China, the Chinese are viewed with suspicion and resentment, and that anytime a society faces a major tragedy or challenge, the Chinese are the first to be blamed. I was reminded of this reading The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam. Racism and racial stereotypes underlie much of the action in this serious novel. I emphasize serious because this is not a happy novel. Lam's protagonist, Percival Chen, is an ex patriot Chinese living outside of Saigon in the cruel years of WWII up until the American withdrawal in the 1970's. The Japanese invaders ruled with legendary brutality. Life in South Vietnam after the Japanese improved, but the regime's sponsors often looked the other way to corruption, violence, and cruelty. And political killings continued after the unification of Communist Vietnam. Chen is a great mirror for events of the time specifically because he is an outsider. Vietnamese usually show him the worst side of themselves, and people see him as just another money grubbing Chinese. He gambles. He whores. He eats sumptuous meals. I think the meals are probably the most appetizing part of the story, an offset to the gross beatings, and disembowelments, and suicide. I'm sure there was something nice about living in Vietnam during this period. The American occupation seems to have brought out the worst and sometimes the best in the very nationalistic Vietnamese. I recommend this story to readers. But be prepared for the worst...and sometimes the best in human ingenuity. ( )

I don't know if it is social commentary, stereotype, or simply characterization that led Lam to make his title character a Chinese ex-pat with such stereotype values, that of making money and love for his son, but that is what propels this story.
The setting is primarily Vietnam, from Japanese occupation to Northern Viet Cong "liberation." Percival is headmaster at an English school. He has the benefit of befriending someone who is very well connected and crafty to make the impossible happen. Good thing, because while Percival can gamble and pick up prostitutes, he is rather single-mindedly focussed on his son, his money, and his selfish desires.
I expected the book to be a typical tragedy in which the protagonist is at the top of his world only to be brought down low on a rollercoster ride, but that is not quite how the story progresses. Percival has a lot of luck (he does like to wager, a theme that carries throughout the story). The question sits with the reader: should Percival be making all these wagers or is he foolish to do so, even though he wins often enough? When should a person go "all in" for something they feel strongly about? Set in the historical period and setting it is makes this question more interesting than if it was in Las Vegas, for example.
It's a long story, sometimes frustrating because I did not 'care' for the headmaster, as I often prefer to feel for the protagonist. I was frustrated by his obsession with his son, but I was still pulled through the novel.
Not a top ten for me, but certainly interesting particularly because of its context.

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”. ( )

Mom suggested - grat for book swap. Like Lisa See books, a Vietnam based

Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam is a plot-driven, cultural, and generational story of the father-and-son relationship as represented in the characters Chen Kai and Chen Pie Sou (or as he is better known by his English name in the novel, Percival Chen); and Percival Chen and Dai Jai.

And amidst the father-and-son archetypal quest for vulnerable and honest communication, understanding, and connection, is the ambition for wealth and success, and the competitive obstacles and vices of gambling, womanizing, and drug addiction.

The violent backdrop of the Vietnam War is the pathetic fallacy that accompanies the repression of turbulent feelings found in the main character of Percival Chen, respectfully, affectionately, and sometimes mockingly referred to as hou jeung—Headmaster.

There is the yearning that began as a young boy for physical and emotional closeness to his father, Chen Kai, who leaves both his mother and himself in pursuit of wealth promised in the distant land of Indochina.

That continues in his wrongly placed affection for the cruel and wealthy socialite, Cecilia, with whom he is both unloved and abused.

---To read more of this review, please visit my blog, The Bibliotaphe's Closet: http://zaraalexis.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/the-headmasters-wager-a-review/

Thanks,
Zara Garcia-Alvarez ( )