For Brunei, I read Written in Black by KH Lim. Poor Brunei. It had the bad luck of following Brazil and The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, which was one of the most effervescent experiences I ever had reading a book. Machado de Assis is one of the most incredible writers I’ve ever read. Then there’s the people of Brazil. OMG Brazilians are the most loving, enthusiastic, vibrant people on the internet. Everyone should have the pleasure of going viral in Brazil at least once in their life, plus I am so excited to read more Brazilian literature–

Crap, I’m supposed to be writing a post about Brunei.

The book I read suffered from Wrong Coveritis. Here’s the cover I got:

And here’s the sentence from the Amazon blurb that grabbed my attention:

Jonathan escapes his grandfather’s wake in an empty coffin and embarks on a journey through the backwaters of Brunei to bring his disowned brother back for the funeral and to learn the truth about his absent mother. 

Between the cover design and the book blurb, I thought the protagonist was going to travel by coffin on a river, and holy shit, how cool does that sound? Sign me up!

Spoiler alert: the coffin is never used as a boat. And there’s no travel by river either. Instead, Jonathan hides in a truck with a few empty coffins and then at some point, he hides inside one of the coffins, but most of his journey takes place on foot or by car. Also, we never actually learn the truth about his absent mother. There are just some vague insinuations AND THIS WAS FRUSTRATING.

As a reader, I felt like I’d been sold a bill of goods. This is an important lesson for writers: writers need to manage their readers’ expectations. Do not show a coffin being used as a boat on a river unless your story involves a coffin being used as a freaking boat on a river! (But as a writer, I’m taking a mental note and saving this idea for a future book….probably dark fantasy, yeah?)

I had a few other problems with this book. There was way too much scatological humor. I’m all for a good fart joke, but there is a limit on how many descriptions of diarrhea that I can read. The characters were unlikeable, and no one seemed to grow in a meaningful way. And then suffered from a bunch of scenes that built up tension that ultimately went no where. For example, at the beginning of his journey, Jonathan happens upon an abandoned house with a room of voodoo dolls and obituaries including an obituary for his grandfather. I was on edge, waiting to see where the story was going … and then there were some bats, Jonathan ran away, and we never again heard about the obituaries in the abandoned house. What the actual fuck? Yes, stories need some mystery but this was just bizarre and emotionally unsatisfying. Maybe I’m missing something from Brunei culture?

The book did, however, give me a fascinating glimpse into life in Brunei. The story’s center is the death of Jonathan’s grandfather, and the writer described the mourning rituals beautifully. The funeral was unlike any I’ve ever experienced, and it was a good reminder that although grief and death are universal experiences, there are different ways to process them.

Am I going to be recommending this book to everyone I know? Nope. But was it a good reminder of why I embarked on my Read Around the World quest? Absolutely. I experienced a completely different part of the world and got out of my comfortable American bubble. Although I did not love the story, I did enjoy the insights into life in Brunei.