ISBN-13: 9781534631892 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 330 str.
The westernised pursuit of wealth and status, or the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism - not that you would ever be given a choice from the womb, but where would you rather be? Han Sen is from a small village in 1970's Cambodia, bought up with Buddhist monks into the desperately horrifying Khmer Rouge period. Roger is from Surrey, England, the only child of a City of London financier. He eventually finds a form of contentedness at the local sailing club. This story of diverse parallel lives goes some way to addressing the West to East, money vs principle divide as it moves gradually and inexorably towards its catastrophic conclusion. On the way, it also shows: A world where taxi-drivers tip their passengers for the privilege of transporting them. What it's like to share a prison cell, in a mafia-run jail, with a violent murderer, on another continent. What it is, that makes a person dedicate their lives to making the perfect rotary salad-tosser? Introducing: - The Cambodian, whose Buddhist upbringing teaches him that being rich is not necessarily about having money, and that a strong love should be for sharing. The Englishman, a lone child abusing his doting parents and attempting to murder his relatives, discovers a love for boats which lands him in deep, deep trouble. Uncle Vern, supplies some very zany sexual knick-knacks. Notably the Genitalator, (the battery runs out before the Gentlemen does) and an even more wackily titled sex-chair with unlimited possibilities. Then, his modified Massageomatic - a fearsome device favoured by serious S&M enthusiasts and repressive governments. All made by an extremely clever Cambodian. An underestimation of the vast power unleashed prompts a massive business crisis followed by a meeting between the Buddhist and the Westerner in extreme circumstances. Perhaps one could learn from the other? There is just an outside chance."