Norman Lewis (2) (1908–2003)

Published in 1951 this is the story of British novelist and travel writer Norman Lewis' journeys through Vietnam and French Indo-China made in 1950. Lewis realised that French colonial power was being challenged and was under no illusion that he was heading to a war zone and that there was no time to lose before travel became impossible. In the middle of January 1950 deciding to risk no further delays he caught an Air France plane from Paris to Saigon.

This is not a guide book; it is a narrative of Lewis' travels. It is also a socio-political account of the situation that he found in the countries that he visited. Travel writing of this kind treads a line between either giving too much information so that the reader becomes bogged down in facts or not enough information so that the reader cannot appreciate the situation that is being described. In my opinion Lewis gets the balance just right and he does this within his narrative so that the reader does not lose sight of the story, but can also appreciate, just what is going on, for example, the dangers, the cultural differences, the military situation, and the geography. In other words Lewis is a very good travel writer.

Starting off in Saigon and a relative newcomer to Asian culture Lewis expects to find difficulties. He says the difficulties and frustrations usually turn out to be worse than one has feared, especially a traveller like Lewis who wants to visit tribal areas which are increasingly becoming a battleground. Lewis was armed with letters of introduction and a journalist pass, but found himself reliant on individual French colonial administrators to find means of travel. At this time Saigon was suffering terrorist attacks and military convoys were the only means of travel into the interior. The administrators were a mottley crew, some were enthusiastic, but had little knowledge of the situation, others were more cautious, but Lewis paints a portrait of individuals who were doing their best to adapt to an ever changing situation and probably welcomed the distraction of someone like Lewis, who was quite happy to risk his life and was prepared to suffer periods of a military existence.

Lewis describes difficult journeys to the tribal area, he was lucky his convoys saw a minimum of military action. He got to stay in very remote villages where Europeans had hardly ever ventured. He describes the life and culture in these remote places never looking down on their ways of life, and having enough knowledge of their culture to explain why they act in the way that they do. Travelling in this fashion where transport is difficult always means that where you can go, who you can see and what you can do is never clear with the likelihood that you can become stranded in dangerous situations. This all makes for an exciting account.

He travels through Cochin-China into Cambodia getting to Pnom-Penh. When he gets out of the big towns and into the villages he is amazed by the way of life of many of the people he comes across;

Cambodia the descendents of the Khmers are without a care in the world and wear wonderfully well. There are times when one feels that perhaps it would be even better to be a little poorer, if at the same it could be a little freer.

He came across French administrators in various stages of 'going native.' becoming enchanted with the culture, inspite of the atrocities of war being carried out by both sides. When he gets to Laos with its unexplored valleys he finds a land full of enchantment on the edge of being destroyed. He manages to wangle a ride in an aeroplane to Vientiane where he makes contact with a repesentative of the insurgents: the Viet-Minh and crosses over the shifting lines of engagement to spend an exciting evening with one of their small military groups, who are carrying out a raid on a temporary French fort.

Lewis although describing the situations in which he finds himself never strays into talking up his own exploits. He is intent on describing what he sees, giving a balanced view but veers towards the indigenous people, especially where they are in opposition to the missionaries. He reports gleefully that the missionaries are spectacularly unsuccessful in making converts. Lewis provides a first hand account of an area of the world that is about to undergo considerable change. He writes about what he sees without having any noticeable agenda (apart from the missionaries). His book is a valuable document and for me an exciting read 5 stars.… (mais)

Brilliant memories of a Brit dropped in the middle of mafia land, and a mafia land that had just finished being ruled by fascists and occupied by national-socialists (or as one of the Italians in the book put it by "barbarians").

And in this case, saying a Brit is pretty much saying a protestant-values-infused northern European who is also a realist and adapts to the daily work with the Mediterranean spirit, that crazy half catholic, half moor, and half rundown-aristocratic blend that produces people seemingly pre-prepared for the hardships of wartimes but at the same time makes building any semblance of a society ruled by law&order extremely hard.

Again, the author is brilliant at writing the vignettes (orphan kids fighting for survival, the various approaches to sex for pay, the rarity of a good meal, ...) paint that quaint society pushed to the limits of survival, and how the efforts to police it could only go so far.… (mais)