The Shanghai Union Of Industrial Mystics - Nury Vitachi

Feng shui master CF Wong has just moved into his new Shanghai office when, without warning, a demolition crew begins work on the building. However, this expected annoyance in China’s busiest city is about to become the least of Mr. Wong’s worries. As strange and disturbing things start to happen to him and around him he and his assistant Joyce soon find themselves trying to solve bigger problems than finding a new workplace. With the help and hindrance of a brilliantly diverse set of characters CF Wong finds himself escaping from murderous vegans, unravelling a terrorist plot and running through Shanghai with a ticking elephant.

I haven’t read any Vittachi before, but after reading The Shanghai Union of Industrial Mystics I’m very tempted to. It is an excellently written book and I have only positive things to say about it. There are two things that Vittachi manages to do that are highly commendable. Firstly, he manages to expertly balance his plot, his various forms of wit and his social observations. He often meanders away from the story to provide characters’ backgrounds and thoughts or offer almost authorial opinions. These are never dull and seamlessly relate back to the story in one way or another. Everything matters and everything is entertaining, whether it is a plot development or a witty aside.

Secondly, Vittachi has managed to take a reasonably basic and conventional plot line and flesh it out in a unique way. The idea of a novel about another terrorist bomb plot being foiled by another almost ordinary person is an idea that would usually fill me with disgust. However, this unconventional, well written take on that concept was filled with enough humour and unforced excitement to make me reconsider. Vittachi has ignored or subverted the clichés of this form of narrative and detective fiction as a whole. He proves that in the right hands anything can be refreshed and renewed.

Another of Vittachi’s skills is the ability to work huge amounts of witty social comment into his story. The novel contains a huge range of characters from all over the world. It is through these wildly different people that the author manages to subtly offer opinions and criticisms of contemporary life. It is often unclear whether it is the author or the character thinking and opposing opinions are often offered for the reader’s consideration. Vittachi also offers us amusing insights into different cultures and “Some Gleanings of Oriental Wisdom” from CF Wong. With all of these elements the author consistently considers the reader’s enjoyment and humour is never far away.

The Shanghai Union of Industrial Mystics is an easy and entertaining read. It will make you laugh and think, keep you in suspense and make you reconsider what detective fiction should and could be. Next time you want a decent book to relax with I recommend you consider this one.

Tim B-G

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