Description
Claude and Perken meet on a liner heading for Indo-China, and throw their lots in together to form a joint expedition into the perilous Cambodian jungles of 'The Way of the Kings'. Claude, a young Frenchman, is seeking adventure, fame and money; Perken, an experienced Dutch explorer, is returning to his own little patch of Siam, aiming to recapture his former masculine pride, obsessed with the coming of age and its effects. The two face death at every turn from the seething forest and 'bestial' tribespeople, but are driven to leave their stamp on a world on the eve of its demise, in defiance of the advance of the railway and 'civilisation', and the term of their own fragile lives.
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One of Malraux's most exotic novels, The Way of Kings is a perfect companion to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. When Claude and Perken meet on a ship heading for Indochina, they decide to throw in their lots to form a dual expedition into the perilous jungles of Cambodia. Claude, a young Frenchman, is seeking adventure, fame, and fortune. Perken, a veteran Dutch explorer, is returning to his own little patch of Siam; appalled at the effects of age, he is aiming to recapture his former masculine pride. Facing death at every turn from the seething forest and ?bestial” tribes people, they are nonetheless driven to leave their stamp on a world on the eve of its demise. Novelist, art historian, and statesman André Malraux is best known for his psychological masterpiece, Man’s Fate.
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