Southeast Asian Quartet Robbie Cutler Stories edition by William S Shepard Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : Southeast Asian Quartet Robbie Cutler Stories edition by William S Shepard Literature Fiction eBooks 
These four stories reflect the Southeast Asia of today, in the spirit of the earlier stories of W. Somerset Maugham. During a diplomatic dinner in Singapore, four young men from the diplomatic colony discover a common interest in storytelling. To pass the time, each tells a story of the region that fills in for readers facets of life in this exotic area. As the friends remember, their respective American, British, French and Russian nationalities are entirely appropriate, given the fact that O. Henry, Chekhov, Somerset Maugham and Guy de Maupassant are considered masters of the short story.
Robbie Cutler from the American Embassy has just arrived in Singapore that weekend, on his very first diplomatic assignment. His father had been assigned there many years previously, so Robbie is familiar with some of the background of the nation island. In the introduction, “Down The Rabbit Hole,” Robbie’s hectic weekend arrival is traced, as he settles into temporary quarters, and sees something of the island. Like Alice’s adventure, he discovers that it is another world, with its own rules and history. Robbie’s story, “Under The Durian Trees,” recalls the time of his father’s diplomatic assignment in Singapore, and the murder that took place at the residence of the Consul General.
At their next gathering, Basil Kamirkoff from the Russian Embassy relates the “Disappearance From Moonlight Cottage.” This tells about the celebrated disappearance in 1967 of Jim Thompson, the “Thai silk king,” during his visit to Moonlight Cottage in the Cameron Highlands in central Malaysia, a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. As the friends try to puzzle out what happened to Thompson, the history and atmospherics of the Malayan interior become vividly etched.
Next, James McLarty from the British Embassy tells his story, “Man Of The Forest,” about his trip to Sabah in East Malaysia, on the northeastern tip of the island of Borneo. His climb up Mount Kota Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, gives him a vivid view of the sunrise over the South China Sea, and the changing beauties of jungle, rain forest and alpine flowers and animals. A booming call from the jungle prompts his guide to tell McLarty about the Orang Utans and attempts to save them, which a visit to the Sepilok Refuge near Sandakan, Sabah, etches vividly in McLarty’s mind.
The fourth story, “Isabelle,” told by Etienne Marigot from the French Embassy, takes us back to the siege of Dien Bien Phu, and the war in what was French Indochina. A surprising and unexpected visitor to the Marigot home in the Dordogne region of southwestern France brings an eyewitness account of a French sergeant’s valiant struggle for survival after the battle.
Southeast Asia is a fascinating part of the world, remote, alien and exotic. See it in your imagination as this first collection of Robbie Cutler stories takes you to another time and place.
Southeast Asian Quartet Robbie Cutler Stories edition by William S Shepard Literature Fiction eBooks
Picture this: A dinner party at the residence of the American Deputy Chief of Mission in Singapore. Guests are Robbie Cutler, fresh from the basic diplomatic course at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia; James McLarty, Third Secretary from the British High Commission; French Vice Consul Etienne Marigot and his wife, Suzanne; Russian trade attaché Basil Kamirkoff; and Emily Brook, a teacher at the American International School.When talk turns to Singapore's wealth of material for writers and storytellers, Basil says: "After all, we are Russian, French, British (don't quibble McLarty!), and American. That covers the greats of short story writing ... Chekhov, Maupassant, Maugham and O.Henry. I propose we start a story club, here and now."
That's the setup for four intriguing stories that may be partly imaginary but are rooted in truth.
Robbie spins a tale of a love triangle and a murderous rage fueled by the fruit of the durian tree, a popular but ugly, foul-smelling fruit said to be a great aphrodisiac.
McLarty and Emily share the story of a climbing expedition up Mount Kinabulu in Borneo, and of exploring Kinabalu National Park. The park is home to the tree-dwelling great ape, the Orang Utan, "an animal that shares 97% of homo sapiens' DNA." The heart of McLarty's story is his dream of an encounter with a family of Orang Utans.
Marigot's story takes us back to 1954 and the fall of Dien Bien Phu, which sounds the death knell for French colonialism. Years later, when Marigot is about 10 years old, a T'ai woman shows up at his grandparents' house with personal items left by Marigot's grandfather when he escaped from VietNam. The family welcomes her. Grandfather Marigot's poignant story, which his family hears for the first time, reveals the utter madness of war.
Basil tells the legendary story of Jim Thompson, the "Thai silk king." Thompson was an OSS officer in World War II, later a CIA agent and finally a Bangkok businessman. In 1967 he went on holiday with friends to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. One afternoon he walked into the jungle to look for rare orchids and was never heard from again.
Basil takes the story that far, and leaves it up to the other storytellers to offer their opinions on what really happened to Jim Thompson. That's a real-life guessing game that still continues.
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Southeast Asian Quartet Robbie Cutler Stories edition by William S Shepard Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
if you have and hour or two and want to escape to another time and place, "Southeast Asian Quartet" is the passport you need. reading these highly original and enjoyable stories is time well spent. You will be transported to the Raffles Bar in Singapore of Somerset Maugham, and then, these four stories will take you to four exotic locales - Borneo, Malaya, Singapore and Indochina. You'll read about murder at the American Ambassador's residence in Singapore, and about the mysterious and still unsolved disappearance in the Malayan jungle of Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King, and the most famous American of the region. You'll climb the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, and reach the top, and an inspiring view of the South China Sea, just as dawn breaks. And is it really possible that a survivor of the French battle of DienBienPhu survived, after all these years?
I have to say William S. Shepard hasn't disappointed yet, and I don't anticipate he will. With a world (literally) of experience in exotic locations, like Singapore, Borneo, Malaysia, and French Indochina, he has a backlog of plots and themes that will fill many novels. They mesmerize for glamour alone. His sleuth is diplomat, Robbie Cutler (perhaps a double of himself?) Four diplomats gather to tell tales of adventure. My favorite is that of Robbie telling of murder at the Embassy in Singapore. Then there's the mysterious disappearance of a silk merchant from Malaysian that has never been solved. Maybe left for another book? Let's hope so.
Well-written, erudite and immensely entertaining. Highly Recommended.
I find all of Shepard's books entertaining in a light sort of way, without having to wallow in the gore of other popular authors and television.
The stories were a trifle convoluted by design but I found it a little forced.
In reading Southeast Asian Quartet, we become armchair travelers to four locales Borneo, Malaya, Singapore and Indochina. Diplomats sip cocktails and exchange tales of the exotic places they've served. My favorite is the unsolved mystery of the disappearance of Jim Thompson, a well-known merchant of Thai silks. These Westerners trace their Eastern experiences in language full of awe and appreciation, and the reader learns a great deal about these far-flung countries.
These four stories set in exotic Singapore, Borneo, Malaysia, and French Indochina capture the atmosphere of the tropics while also introducing the diplomatic sleuth, Robbie Cutler. The gathering of four young diplomats, each from a different country and each telling a story that reflects their experience rally grabs one's attention. Robbie, the American, tells the chilling tale of a murder at the American Ambassador's residence in Singapore. This is the precursor of his many diplomatic mystery adventures at future posts. The other stories range from historic, as in an escape attempt from the doomed French battlefield of Dien Bien Phu to the more current attempts to save Orang Utan. My favorite story though is the one about the mysterious disappearance of Jim Thompson, the American Thai Silk King, from the Malaysian Highlands. It has never been solved, but the reader is given clues that might suggest the answer.
The stories transported me to another time and place. Well written and enjoyable, I really did feel the atmosphere of Southeast Asia. Who can ask for more from an evening's reading entertainment?
Picture this A dinner party at the residence of the American Deputy Chief of Mission in Singapore. Guests are Robbie Cutler, fresh from the basic diplomatic course at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia; James McLarty, Third Secretary from the British High Commission; French Vice Consul Etienne Marigot and his wife, Suzanne; Russian trade attaché Basil Kamirkoff; and Emily Brook, a teacher at the American International School.
When talk turns to Singapore's wealth of material for writers and storytellers, Basil says "After all, we are Russian, French, British (don't quibble McLarty!), and American. That covers the greats of short story writing ... Chekhov, Maupassant, Maugham and O.Henry. I propose we start a story club, here and now."
That's the setup for four intriguing stories that may be partly imaginary but are rooted in truth.
Robbie spins a tale of a love triangle and a murderous rage fueled by the fruit of the durian tree, a popular but ugly, foul-smelling fruit said to be a great aphrodisiac.
McLarty and Emily share the story of a climbing expedition up Mount Kinabulu in Borneo, and of exploring Kinabalu National Park. The park is home to the tree-dwelling great ape, the Orang Utan, "an animal that shares 97% of homo sapiens' DNA." The heart of McLarty's story is his dream of an encounter with a family of Orang Utans.
Marigot's story takes us back to 1954 and the fall of Dien Bien Phu, which sounds the death knell for French colonialism. Years later, when Marigot is about 10 years old, a T'ai woman shows up at his grandparents' house with personal items left by Marigot's grandfather when he escaped from VietNam. The family welcomes her. Grandfather Marigot's poignant story, which his family hears for the first time, reveals the utter madness of war.
Basil tells the legendary story of Jim Thompson, the "Thai silk king." Thompson was an OSS officer in World War II, later a CIA agent and finally a Bangkok businessman. In 1967 he went on holiday with friends to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. One afternoon he walked into the jungle to look for rare orchids and was never heard from again.
Basil takes the story that far, and leaves it up to the other storytellers to offer their opinions on what really happened to Jim Thompson. That's a real-life guessing game that still continues.
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