BOOKS
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for brittle repartee. Mcinerney's J apan is ali ve with strange juxtapositions ,
like shoppin g bags whi ch arc imprinted with the w o rds " FUNKY BABE:
Let's call a funk y girl ' Funky L3 abe .' Girls, o pen-minded, kn o w how to
swin g.
Love
to feel everythin g rath e r th an think. They must all be ni ce
girls."
M o reover ,
Mcin ern ey's charac ter, C hri sto ph e r R ansom , unlike
Danny Ott and Ale c Stern , is no t a gen e ri c young Ivy Leaguc r out to
cultivate a taste fo r
sake
befo re takin g charge o f thc famil y fo rtune, but
someone with a
vivid
pro file and a deeper reason th an to urism fo r being
in Asia. H c is there to d o penance ; ano ther routine Ameri ca n
m otive
that ,
along w ith curi os ity , ad venturism , and mi ss io nary - as well as military -
fanati cism pro pels Ameri ca ns o ff to fo rei gn so ils. Th e penitcnt is the
guilty counte rpart to the mi ss io nary. Where th e latte r se ts sail to make
conve rsio ns, the fo rmer is off to be
conve rted .
Self-renewal is o ne o f the
appeals o f Asia as an altern ative civili za tio n , and the Ame ri can passio n fo r
peri odi c rebirth is o ne explan ati o n wh y so man y youn g Ame ri ca ns in
Japan arc eithe r lapsed M o rmo ns o r aspiring 13uddhists.
Chri stophe r R.ansom has come to Kyoto to losc himelf in th e martial
arts , in the que st fo r di sc iplin e and purifi ca ti o n . Behind him is a squalid
histo ry o f dru gs and an in cident o n th e Afg han bo rd e r o f Paki stan in
whi ch one of hi s travellin g partners di sappea red into Afghani stan in pur–
suit of a drug deal, while ano the r had died o f an ove rdose o f he ro in ad–
ministercd inte nti o nall y by R ansom . Farther in th e bac kg ro und is a
domin eering fat he r w ho w rites fo r tele visio n and is in what he ca lls " th e
power busin ess." T he t;1ther's m ac hinati o ns to co ntro l hi s son c ross the
Internati o nal Date Lin e, and even in Kyoto R ansom is under surveillance.
Leaving as ide the d etails for a moment , it sho uld be apparent th at the cs–
se ntial story of
Rali so lll ,
like th:lt o f
e qll a/ Dislall (e
and
Bicycle Days,
is
made in America.
In
fact,
RallSO l1l
is a book abo ut powe r, its sources and its uscs, and in
that respec t it is a mo re ambiti o us novel th an th e o th ers. C hri sto ph e r
Ransom, like many ano ther repentant dru ggie, is o ut to clea nse himself o f
guilt and des ire and to turn psyc ho logica l w eakn ess into po w e r
o ver
himself and hi s immedi ate surro undings. T o d o thi s he submits himself
to
the disc iplin e of
kaYa{c
(l iterall y "empty hands") in Kyo to: " R ansom be–
lieved he wo uld become a d ifferent person , be tter someho w , if he kept
training. Witho ut ac tu all y ca taloguin g imagin ed benefits, he felt th at th e
disciplin e would to ne all o f his bein g .
It
was a way of kno win g himse lf.
He wished to be mo rall y taut and reso lute, and at the same time mo re at
ease with his ft.- ll ow crea tures, to ac hi eve a sel f-mastery th at would redu ce
the complexity of transac ting w ith o the rs."
McIn ern ey is too iro ni c to fo ll ow thro ugh o n sa nctity o r mo ral taut–
ness, and cuts hi s hero o ff at the pass. That's H o ll ywood cowboy lingo to
