THE MALAYAN TRILOGY BY ANTHONY BURGESS

There are really two different novels in THE MALAYAN TRILOGY by Anthony Burgess (which encompasses three books that were originally released separately – TIME FOR A TIGER, THE ENEMY IN THE BLANKET, and BEDS IN THE EAST).

One is about the inherent inequalities, contradictions, and tensions in the multi-ethnic society that will become Malaysia (The book is set in the 1950’s right before Malayan independence from the British and ends with the first Merdeka day celebration)….This is shown through the characters who are so well-constructed I know they must be based on real people that Anthony Burgess met when he worked in Malaya.

The other is about the main character (he is the only character who appears in all three volumes) Victor Crabbe a man obsessed with his late wife who died in a car crash he survived….Now, teaching in Malaya at three different jobs he drifts apart from his second wife and has a number of odd, frustrating, and humorous encounters with locals until the surprise ending (which felt a bit rushed to me) where he finds out a shocking truth that renders his life meaningless.

The setting of each book is different….TIME FOR A TIGER takes place in Perak (called by the fictional name of Langchap in the book) where Anthony Burgess really did teach (at Kuala Kangsar boys school)….THE ENEMY IN THE BLANKET is set on the East Coast of Malaysia….BEDS IN THE EAST is set near Penang.

The thing that surprises me the most about THE MALAYAN TRILOGY is despite being set and written 60 years in the past, many of the observations about Malaysian life (particularly about the racial component and race relations in general) still seem extremely relevant….I don’t know if this is necessarily a good thing.

Anyway, this is a fantastic read if for one reason….Detail after detail is piled on top of each other….It’s done in such an effortless way and written so cleanly that one not only never loses track of what is happening but can picture all of the events in one’s head….I also find elements of humor are mingled well with the small tragedies and unlucky twists of fate….

Reading this book is almost like a college course on good writing….

Now, I want to find out if the book is really banned in Malaysia ( as I’ve read online and heard a number of times) due to its portrayal of Muslim Malays drinking and having sex outside of marriage or even while married to someone else or if that is an urban legend….While I’ve never seen the book for sale in Malaysia, I did find at my local library in Ipoh (which is run by the government after all)….If in fact the book is banned in Malaysia then that is a comment on life here so perfect, a writer could never dream it up in a thousand years.