Reading Guide for
THE FENG SHUI DETECTIVE
by Nury Vittachi
(Prepared by and copyright Paddyfield.com and available on-line at www.paddyfield.com. This may be freely copied and distributed to students as part of a course as long as the copyright statement is intact.)
For the teacher:
The Feng Shui Detective is an excellent book for use in an English reading, English literature or creative writing class for the upper years of secondary school (about ages 14 and above). While an "adult" book, the writing is clear, the story lines are direct and each chapter of about 20 pages can largely be treated as a stand-alone short-story. These combine to make the book easily accessible to teenagers as well as making it easy to teach from, either using the entire book, or just a few chapters.
For students for whom English is not a first language, the book is a good introduction to colloquial rather than formal English usage; indeed, the learning of English idioms and colloquial usage is one of the themes of the book.
Unlike most adult books suitable for teaching in secondary school, The Feng Shui Detective takes place in East Asia (Singapore and Hong Kong), with places, props and characters recognisable to Asian students. One of the main characters, Joyce McQuinnie, is a "western" teenager trying to learn to fit in to not just an adult world but also an Asian milieu. CF Wong is an Asian of the older generation making a concerted effort to understand his new protogée. Themes such as responsibility, maturity and respect for other cultures are therefore treated in settings and contexts familiar to both Asian students as well as non-Asian students living in this region.
The book is also an excellent introduction to the process of writing itself. Although the chapters together form a whole, each may be treated as a standalone short story with its own plot development, character development, descriptions, conflict and resolution. Characterisation and dialogue are relatively transparent. Scenes are sketched out vividly but quickly.
(The author is willing, upon request, to teach a class from the book. The class will cover how the author creates characters, context and plot through examples from one of the chapters.)
Introduction and themes:
Detective stories have, probably since Sherlock Holmes, been one of the most popular genres of fiction. Detectives have been policemen, private investigators, reporters like Tintin, meddling (at least according to the police) amateurs like Sherlock Holmes, mediaeval monks like Cadfael and even children. Although the detective novel was probably born in London, the settings have been everywhere from ancient Rome to the future. Even in English-languages books, famous detectives have been English (Sherlock Holmes), French (Hercule Poirot), Indian (Inspector Ghote) and of course American (lots of Americans).
- What are other famous and not so famous investigators? What are their professions? What time and place do they live in?
In these books, from Sherlock Holmes onward, the detective is almost always more intrepid, intelligent or resourceful than the police force. Even when the detective is himself a policeman, he is usually fighting against bureaucracy or incompetence.
- What is the relationship between the police and CF Wong and the other mystics in The Feng Shui Detective?
In The Feng Shui Detective, the hero is, for the first time, a geomancer, or practitioner of this ancient Chinese philosophy.
- What is Feng Shui? Are CF Wong’s pronouncements in the book correct? Is he a realistic character?
- At the beginning of each chapter, there is an excerpt from a book that CF Wong is writing on Chinese philosophy? What do these excerpts tell us about the character?
Being a feng shui expert gives CF Wong a special perspective on the problems that confront him. He can often "feel" that something is something is not right or that something is not being explained.
- Why does the author use a feng shui expert as the main character? What if he were a policeman instead? Consider this question from the point of the construction of the novel. Hint: consider the role of the young Western assistant.
In addition to just being a collection of fun stories, the Feng Shui Detective explores a number of themes in detail. One of these is the interaction between people of different cultures, religions and age groups.
- How many different culture and religions used in the Feng Shui Detective? Name these.
- Explain how CF Wong and Joyce McQuinnie differ in their reaction and adaption to differing cultures and countries. Use Chapters 7 and 9 as examples.
Another theme is the interaction between young and old.
- How much of Joyce McQuinnie’s character comes from the fact that she is Western and how much comes from her being a teenager?
- Describe the change in each of the two main character’s opinions of each other during the book.
- What do each of the characters learn from each other?
Yet another theme is the diversity of the Chinese culture and experience. CF Wong grew up in China (under communism), moved to Hong Kong and then Singapore.
- How is CF Wong different from the Singapore and Hong Kong Chinese characters in the book?
How the book was written:
Chapter 1 takes place in Malaysia.
Plot: Many stories, not just detective stories, employ a "twist in the tale" or surprise ending. Authors hide this surprise by making the reader think that story is really about something else but he must give hints so that surprise is believable.
- What is the surprise in Chapter 1: "Scarlet in a Study"?
- How does author steer the reader away from the surprise ending? Why is the ending unexpected?
- How does the author construct the story so that the surprise ending is believable? What details does he provide along the way?
Descriptions: Part of the success in a story is making the time and place seem real and believable. Authors do this through description and dialogue.
- How does the author describe the environment in this small Malaysian town? How is this different from his descriptions of Hong Kong or Singapore?
- What specific items are mentioned to let the reader feel that is a specific place. (Hint: consider the user of specific Malaysian terms for everyday items.)
The Feng Shui Detective is filled with a great deal of specific information about, for example, architecture, local beliefs about death, feng shui philosophy. Authors must often do research to ensure that their descriptions are accurate. Part of the story’s believable comes from this accuracy.
- Give some examples of specific descriptions or activities that could only have come from research.
- If you wanted to describe a place and characters near you, what would you need to research to ensure your description was accurate and true-to-life and where would do this research?
Dialogue: We learn a lot about characters through dialogue: the way they think, their beliefs and their mannerisms.
- What is the first impression you have of Joyce McQuinnie? Why?
- What do you learn about CF Wong in the way he responds?
- How does the author use different styles of speech to identify different characters?
Characterisation: The main characters are developed -- and change -- throughout the book.
- What are the main features of the two main characters?
- Were any of these features chose deliberately to allow for conflict and interaction between them?
- The main features of the characters are developed very quickly. The author never actually describes the characters directly, but shows us what they are like through speech and action. Give some examples of how he does this.
Minor characters, however, are brought to life very quickly.
- What do we know about CF Wong’s secretary Winnie? How does the author tell us about her?
Choose another chapter and example the plot, descriptions, dialogue and characterisation.