The Gentleman in the Parlour: A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong

I've read this book a number of times, and I think that as with THE BRIDE OF SAN LUIS REY and a couple of other books, it is likely to be one of those books I read yearly, perhaps, or at least regularly, from here on in. THE GENTLEMAN is good company, and every page has something of interest on it. Yes, the Introduction is flashy, and a Master's Class in and of itself, for aspiring writers, but the entirety of the book, chapter by chapter, incident by incident, is a demonstration of what English prose can do well: it entertains as it informs. If one's taste has been corrupted by the Gee Whiz, Buzz-Word and media-clever sound bite slangadellic scribbling that passes for, well, writing nowadays, this simple book may come as a surprise and a heathy cure for bad reading habits (or addictions to trashy faddistic stuff) and may prepare the reader for a new direction in book-buying. And, rarest of all, and quite unexpected, this oyster bears within its unassuming flesh, a pearl of superlative price.