Treasure of Khan, by Clive Cussler, Reviewed

Cover of Treasure of Khan (Dirk Pitt)

As a writer, I don’t read in the same way as a general reader, so my comments here may not be as helpful as they might otherwise be. Clive Cussler is, of course, a well-known thriller writer with a large number of sales to his name. If Treasure of Khan is representative of his style, however, I have to ask the simple question; why?

In common with most people these days, I have a limited amount of time, and my reading choices are therefore important: I’ve no desire to spend time reading something which is poorly written, when there’s such a wealth of well-written work out there. This book is supposed to be a thriller. The genre has the reputation of racing the reader through events, using action to drive interest. Character is, understandably, a less vital part of such books and I took up this book knowing such would be the case.

The story starts in 13th century Japan, moves in the next chapter to China during its war with Japan and then travels to Siberia in 2007. In 3 chapters we have travelled a vast region of an area with which most readers have no connection and little knowledge. There’s no apparent link between the events described in these opening chapters, but, hey, this is supposed to be an adventure story and, eventually, the back story will hopefully appear relevant. I’ll never know, however, because, although the action has already started by this point, I’ve lost all interest. I’m not hooked. I don’t care about what might or might not happen next. I have better things to do than invest more time in this particular pot-boiler.

There will be Cussler fans who will, no doubt, accuse me of blindness or some unspecified bias. But the simple fact is that this thriller failed to thrill, in any sense of the word. I was bored by the multitude of apparently unlinked facts, uninterested in any of the characters, confused by the apparent lack of any actual story thread and unmoved by the action scenes. These, the very essence of the thriller, were tedious and written in a style more suited to a factual report than to the presentation of exciting fiction.

I expected the characters to be two-dimensional, but not as cardboard as I found them. I expected to be moved to the edge of my seat and not bored into lethargy and total indifference, as I was. In defence of Cussler, I gather this is the umpteenth volume in a series starring the same major character; that, however, doesn’t excuse inadequate characterisation for those new to the series. Certainly, on the evidence of this book, I shan’t waste my time picking up another by the same author.

Ironically, this was one of four novels enclosed in a single volume I received free as a sampler from a book club. The other three books were excellent, so this piece stood out like the proverbial thumb; sore and in need of amputation.

So, sorry Cussler fans, I shan’t be joining your ranks. I hope you enjoy your fiction by this author but I seriously hope he, in turn, rewards your devotion by producing books of a far better quality than I found in Treasure of Khan. Unless someone tells me, I shall never know what that treasure was, and, to tell the truth, I really couldn’t care less. Need I say more?

Related articles

• The Jungle by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul
• Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum Weekend Festival

The Analects, Confucius, Reviewed

Disappointing. That's a bald statement and perhaps not the most expected, considering the reputation of this Chinese man of…wisdom? I didn't find that, to be honest. From several hundred short passages of supposed erudition I listed ten I thought worthy of spreading to the wider world.

All the Confucianists will, of course be screaming abuse and possibly foaming at the mouth, because Confucius, rather like other famed wise men, has taken a role close to that of a god for many.

I found him conservative, unimaginative, intolerant and a man who seemed to express a singular self-preservationist philosophy, no doubt intended to keep him alive in what was a very violent society. I gleaned this, by the way, from this book, not from a reading of history.

It's clear that his insistence on the 'Way' is a plea to men (he has no time for women, who were clearly no more than playthings and servants in his time) to be of good character. By which he appears to mean, obey those set above you socially and politically. That a man so revered could be such a supporter of the tyranny of his time and yet accrue disciples merely serves to underline my own impression that there are those in society who'll accept leadership and direction regardless of its merit or otherwise. Faith, in general, is an illustration of this.

It's likely that, in common with Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed, his actual words have been usurped and deliberately distorted to suit the ends of those who wished to make capital from his aura of celebrity. I found little to admire in the words I was offered here. Much, rather like the Qur'an, is banal, repetitive and uninspiring. There is a deal of meaningless, to the modern western mind, ceremonial and social reportage that would require a deep knowledge of Chinese history to appreciate. I felt disinclined to spend the time and effort necessary to extract any worthwhile meaning from these passages, since the rest of the supposed words of wisdom were, in fact, anything but.

So, it was, for me, a disappointing read. I can't recommend it. There are, however, a round ten short sayings that carry some resonance in the modern world and I'll happily spread those, in the hope that the reputation of the originator will, at least, lend some authority to these aphorisms for those who might otherwise discount them out of hand.

5 May: The Vote; Alternative or Otherwise.

Image via Wikipedia

Today, in UK, we vote, some of us in local council elections, all of us in the referendum on alternative voting. Some, of course, won’t bother with either. Whether this is idleness, indifference, cynicism, boredom or an underlying distrust of the political system, it’s a sad outcome when you consider that people suffered and died so we would have the right to make our feelings known. In many Arab countries, in China, in African states, people are being killed, incarcerated, beaten and tortured simply for expressing views at variance with the current voice of power. It does us little credit to allow laziness or petty reasoning to prevent us exercising those hard-won rights and freedoms. I hope as many as possible will go out there and vote today.

As for the Alternative Vote referendum; the ‘No’ camp has put out some pretty scary propaganda; the vast majority of it untrue, of course, since it is the current powers that most fear change.

A ‘No’ vote will mean a continuation of the status quo; the seesaw between selfish conservatism and ideologically outdated socialism will carry on, with little positive effect on the vast majority of the electorate as those MPs, certain of a job for life, settle back into the trough and get on with their other jobs at the expense of the country.

A ‘Yes’ vote will probably mean a change, and a change that may possibly be for the better. I’m not suggesting there will be an overnight or even a noticeable change to begin with. But, the alternative voting system, flawed as it is, will at least mean that your MP will have to take your concerns into account, if he or she is to rely on your vote next time round.

At present, we can have a government voted in by 23% of the electorate, but the ‘No’ camp appear to believe it’s perfectly acceptable for the country to be run by people who 77% of the country didn’t want in power and want to see such inequity continue forever. My own view is that my MP should become the representative he/she is supposed to be; I want this public servant, who is paid a large salary to work for me and you, to do just that: work for me and you. Don’t you? 
I hold no brief for any political party; in fact, I believe that party politics is not good democracy. A group of independents would serve us better, in my opinion.
If you'd like to know a little more about this issue, try the following links:
An organisation of activists for change in many areas - http://38degrees.org.uk/
You might find these articles by the BBC helpful:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/13112302
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11243595

Or you could have a look at what the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns for the referendum have to say:
Yes Campaign: http://www.yestofairervotes.org/
No Campaign: http://www.no2av.org/ 


But, whatever else you decide, please do make the effort to actually go out there and place your vote. There are millions in the rest of the world risking their lives to take freedoms we take for granted.


My apologies to my international readers, for whom this post is likely to be of little interest.