Rating: 
Summary: Lost Heir to the Offspring of Foul Play and Dog Soldiers
Review: Had Borges re-written Don Quixote, it might have been something like Bingham channeling Dog Soldiers in this book. The book seems most in the spirit of the Goldie Hawn movie Foul Play (because of the dwarf, I guess) and Jim Thompson's surreal stuff (The Getaway, Savage Night) rather than, say, Heart of Darkness and The Comedians. It's true about the characters, though: they're all anorexically limned and not a one of 'em has the magnificent nihilism of the boys 'n girls in Pure Slaughter Value. The book seems unfinished and rushed in spots; notably, G-Spot Julie's visit to Katherine's apartment, Reese's sister's wedding, and the trope of the bats at the end. Like James M. Cain, much of the dialogue is terribly stilted (try reading Asher's Merchant Prince ramblings aloud). There's much athletic sex, though (mercifully) not in the Colin "Afterburn" Harrison vein. Its moral issues are the same as those in Three Kings. To Bingham's (or Gerald Howard's) credit, the book reads very smoothly, despite the lamely convenient plot.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS IS A WONDERFUL FIRST NOVEL
Review: Having read the review in the New York Times that compared this book to the work of Robert Stone, I was waiting for its release anxiously. When I saw the blurb on the cover that mentioned Conrad, I couldn't make it home fast enough. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Although not as edgy or quite as well written as Stone, it was up to all my expectations. It is very impressive for a first novel. In fact, I literally couldn't put it down and read it in one day.The author has a great style and was able to describe a number of different locations very well. His plotting and people in Phnom Penh were very vivid and colorful. His descriptions of the New York Racquet Club were so good they made me laugh out loud. I didn't think his characters were quite as edgy or manic as Stone's. He was able to create alot of suspense in the plot because you knew that something bad was about to happen at any minute. This kept me turning those pages. The obvious comparision is to Stone's Dog Soldiers, but I saw some of his A Flag For Sunrise in it as well. If you like this book and haven't read those two, please do so immediately. I'm not sure what happened to Mr. Bingham, but it is a real shame that we will not have more from him.
Rating: 
Summary: Leave Your Backyard and Live a Little
Review: I live in Cambodia. Nothing in Binghams 'Lightning on the Sun' is unusual. Everyday life outside of a salary-contract mode is a wild cocktail of unimaginables. It didn't take a good writer. Just a stenographer. If you live here without an Aid organization behind you, possibly left behind by the UN storm and down on your luck, the book won't tickle you at all. I read it as a lament slash requiem for dear Rob who I had actually known. Cambodia in comparison to Africa is tame. Its everyday aggravation is actually slightly insulated with a bit of humor. Never in my rough and tough days pitching tents for troops, or hauling timber with a motorcycle through a twelve inch dirt road did I really feel that anyone could just kill me. But then again I've been around. Every incident in Cambodia is good material even with plain words. You have to come and live here and attempt to survive here to see what I mean. The reason that dear Rob actually got to write this one down is he wasn't busy fixing his bike's clutch cable in the middle of nowhere like the rest of us.Tim Page's 'Uncle Ho's Victory Garden' rocked totally because he was narrating a part of Indochina that very few can claim to have experienced. He has such a way with words too. Too bad his photos don't rock as much. Go read this one and you'll see what makes us 'locals' excited.
Rating: 
Summary: History repackaged for fiction . . .
Review: I read "Lightning on the Sun" about a year ago after having lived in Cambodia for several months (as an aside, during that I time I had learned of at least one young expatriate who died of alcohol poisoning and knew many others whose existences were consumed by alcohol, drugs and prostitutes; the depiction of the lifestyles of [specific members of] Cambodia's foreign correspondent community in "Lighting . . . " is not, strictly speaking, a work of fiction). I liked a number of things about the book. For starters, the title is just beautiful. In the wake of a tropical rainstorm, I once had the opportunity to witness lightning on the sun - it is not a sight one quickly forgets. As regards the substance, "Lightning . . . " is a stylistically-written and ultimately quickly read novel. The central character, Asher, is well-developed and sufficiently quirky as to provide for a fascinating character study. The book's closing is - if not necessarily unexpected given the sardonic, nihilstic sneer that pervades much of the narration - unusual and even somewhat strangely satisfying. My biggest gripe, though, relates to the plot coincidences that many other reviewers have cited and the purpose they ultimately serve. It only took me a couple of months of living in Cambodia to realise the plot of "Lightning on the Sun" is simply a superimposition of Asher, Julie and their drug deal onto actual events that occured in Cambodia during the mid-1990s. The grenade attack in the park outside the National Assembly occured. The shooting out of the tires of a Royal Cambodian 737 by an infuriated (and very well-connected) passenger occured. And yes, among other events described in the book, a number of foreigners were actually kidnapped off a train outside the southern town of Kampot, taken to the top of a nearby hilltop by the name of Phnom Bokor (which still features the KR-effected remains of a Catholic Church and a Hotel/Casino) and, following the issuance and non-fufilment of ransom demands, executed. Many of the "characters" introduced in the book (the editors of certain Phnom Penh publications, the individual that shot out the tires of the Royal Cambodian Airlines 737) are also actual people (with slight modifications in the spelling of their names) who have have been known to behave in rather similar ways to that described in "Lightning on the Sun". So, if the plot does seem to rest on some rather unlikely coincidences, then there's something of a reason for that - namely, to enable Asher and Julie to navigate themselves through some of the most sensational events and characters of Cambodia in the 1990s. "Lightning on the Sun" is to "Forrest Gump" what "The Tesseract" is to "Pulp Fiction". One can debate whether or not it was appropriate for Robert Bingham to re-dress actual events and characters for packaging in a novel or whether "Lightning of the Sun" is even honest story-telling, but hopefully his book should spur something of a greater interest in the recent (and continuing) activities of foreign expatriates and political elites in Cambodia. For those interested in pursuing that interest, a good (though ultimately flawed and commonly criticized) place to start is Amit Gilboa's gonzo potrait of expatriate Cambodia circa 1997, "Off The Rails in Phnom Penh - Inside the Dark Heart of Girls, Guns and Ganja".
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I think this book has a really good flow to it. Every few chapters are grouped together into smaller stories, which, when added together, make for a page-turning novel. Bingham does a good job getting the reader to experience the main character Asher's drug experiences right along with him. This book is a good advertisement for why you shouldn't do heroin. Though the ending was somewhat predictable, the desperation of the characters and Bingham's raw desciptions of what's going on in their heads (aided by various legal and illegal substances) makes this a book I really recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Derivative Soldiers
Review: If you change the time, the locations, the names and the occupations of the players the first half of this book is an updated Dog Soldiers. Unfortunately Lightning on the Sun isn't nearly as good. The reference to the hassassini seems to have been lifted from an old David Morrell spy novel. Glen, the knife wielding dwarf, is right out of Chinatown. All that apart Bingham wrote well and certainly maintains interest with the quirky dialogue of his main characters. The plot, though, is far too contrived. The idea of the troubled lovers going to the beach by the train in a strife torn Cambodia was just ridiculous. As indeed was the character of the self absorbed, vacuous Julie. It was only right she was sent back to the Los Angeles which she hated so much.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, kept me interested but..
Review: If you haven't been to Cambodia, there are a lot of things that you probably won't pick up on. A quick read, that is, you won't want to put it down and not finish it. The plot comes down to fate -- and the fate of a young man living on the edge in Southeast Asia -- which is one of those things (like describing Yosemite to someone who hasn't been there) that can't be fully explained.
Rating:
Summary: Lightning on the Sun - Bingham
Review: Lightning on the Sun delivers a fairly standard drug-deal-gone-bad story but its unique in that it takes place largely in Cambodia. Because of this unique setting, Lightning on the Sun becomes a highly-charged thriller. What truly separates this novel from others in the same genre is the fact that Bingham is obviously familiar with the historical, political and social intricacies of daily life in Cambodia. Add to that well developed characters and you're left with a powerful, fascinating story.
Rating:
Summary: Lightning on the Sun - Bingham
Review: Lightning on the Sun delivers a fairly standard drug-deal-gone-bad story but its unique in that it takes place largely in Cambodia. Because of this unique setting, Lightning on the Sun becomes a highly-charged thriller. What truly separates this novel from others in the same genre is the fact that Bingham is obviously familiar with the historical, political and social intricacies of daily life in Cambodia. Add to that well developed characters and you're left with a powerful, fascinating story.
Rating:
Summary: Persistence Will Be Rewarded
Review: This first and sadly last novel by the deceased Author Robert Bingham begins as an absolute chore to grind through. However if you stick out the first quarter or so you will be rewarded with some fine writing. It is sad that the drug that plays a role in this book caused the death of the man who wrote it, for there was a great Author being introduced. The book's theme is not new and that is largely responsible for the slow start. I also don't know that readers are comfortable and familiar enough with Cambodia and its Politics for that aspect to be anything more than confusing. The story is dark, and if the word sardonic were the equivalent of a color, the end of the spectrum approaching black would be the reference point. Asher who is our protagonist is probably the most annoying persona, think of a whining Nicholas Cage character. (It would make a great movie) His life has been one long series of almosts and not quites, and his scam to return to normalcy and home requires he use and abuse a variety of characters. And there is a wide array to enjoy. Ever had your luggage lost and wished you could take it out on the Airline. In one of the book's purely comedic moments an Asian Crime Boss does just that, and it is brilliant. Asher's sometimes soul mate, Harvard Graduate, and living on the fringe is very well done. What could have been a hopelessly cliché bimbette role, become a street-smart woman of letters who has a savage wit, and is said to be full of, "Verities". She also wields a MAG Light with finality. This is not the only character that starts with the expectation of being hopelessly derivative. The Author seemed to enjoy taking what others have done, and then reworked them to show just how well he could write. The end of the book allows Asher a shot at redemption perhaps even nobility. However when he says, "I would prefer to stand", it's a powerful statement and a brilliant close to the book. I really do wish the Author were not consumed by that of which he wrote, he was clearly a man with a potentially great future of literature still before him.
|
