Product Description

Daniel Thayne, a young Englishman, finds himself trapped in Tokyo: working illegally in a ramshackle language school, his passport lost, he is hustled towards marriage with Keiko, his Japanese girlfriend. In the gloom of the rainy season, Daniel's life takes on a nightmarish quality: his devious boss, Mrs Chiba, refuses to pay him any money; a stranger accosts him with a mysterious special offer; a foul Australian takes him to an unspeakable whores' meeting place; and Samuel Echtbein, an American, is a constant thorn in Daniel's side. But most threatening of all are the Haradas, Keiko's family, who take control of his life...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #386026 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Matthew Kneale was born in London in 1960, the son of two writers. He studied at Oxford before spending a year in Tokyo where he taught English and first began writing. His novel, ENGLISH PASSENGERS was shortlisted for the 2000 Booker Prize and won the 2000 Whitbread Book of the Year Award. He travels extensively.

Customer Reviews

A weak novella
This is a very disappointing book, especially but not exclusively because English Passengers is an exceptional novel and Mr Foreigner pales dramatically beside it.

It's a quick read, and it soon becomes obvious why. The characters are slight and in some cases far too unfocused to have any sense of credibility. The story is limp and makes ungainly leaps in search of solid footing - which it never actually finds. There are also the usual Japanese stereotypes, and whilst some of the realities and landscapes of Japan are reasonably accurately portrayed, such as some of the observations about language school students, the fact is that so much is left out of the equation as to render the whole thing near impotent in terms of sparking the reader's imagination about Japan and its very particular culture. Other aspects are simply untrue and misleading; the scene on the train amidst and earth tremor is wildly inaccurate of Japanese responses to such things.

Overall, I would recommend avoiding this book. Instead, read English Passengers again. It's a much better spend of anyone's time.

Bizarre twists and turns
Here's a book for anybody skipping off to Japan to teach English! Matthew Kneale tells a great story here, as hapless Daniel Thayne lurches from disaster to disaster in his increasingly bizarre relationship with Keiko the thirtysomething Japanese divorcee who wears Mickey Mouse socks. His life at work is no better as he ekes out an existence teaching English in some third rate private academy, always unsure of when and how much he will get paid, and indeed if he will get paid at all.

Matthew Kneale certainly conveys Daniel's sense of alienation in a country where the language is the first stumbling block but is almost nothing compared to the cultural differences which make it impossible to second guess anybody's reaction to anything. The novel draws a lot of its dark humour from our sympathy with Daniel as he struggles to make sense of events around him and becomes increasingly embroiled in his relationship with Keiko and her family.

My only criticism of this novel would be that whilst the reader feels sorry for Daniel as he's in a tricky situation, on turning the last page you feel you know the characters no better than you did on opening the book. Details of dress and language are well observed but the motivation of the characters remains a mystery to us. This extends to Daniel himself.

Having said that it's a good read that will keep you turning the pages wondering what bizarre thing will happen next.

No indication of what's to come
Matthew Kneale's "English Passengers" is a near-perfect novel. "Sweet Thames" has a good plot, good characterization and is only let down by some overstretched coincidences and its weak ending. "Mr Foreigner" (formerly "Whore Banquets") is entirely different: the plot is average, characterization is astonishingly weak, there's a heavy reliance on racial stereotypes and there's no real ending. Whilst I'm sure that anybody who has lived & worked in Japan will be impressed by the detailed descriptions of Tokyo and of Japanese life, these don't really compensate for the imitative "Of Human Bondage" storyline or the flatness of the characters.

Even the central character - Daniel Thayne, an Englishman who has almost accidentally found himself teaching English in Japan and conducting an affair with one of his pupils - is not given any depth. So far as we can tell, he's a shallow and unlikeable character but the book tries - unsuccessfully, in my opinion - to make us sympathize with him. If he's so devoted to photography, why does he not take any pictures during the course of the book? If he can face up to his boss so resolutely, why does he submit so easily to Jake and to his prospective father-in-law? If he's so quick-thinking that he can conceive a plan for blackmail so abruptly and can effect the absurd John-Grishamesque escape from his fiancée's family, how did he manage to get into his situation in the first place?

Matthew Kneale has undoubtedly matured into a very fine novelist. There's no need to read this début novel to complete the set: start with "Sweet Thames" and then settle down to the supreme enjoyment of "English Passengers".