The tiger of Shangri-La
The Tiger of Shangri-La is a political adventure novel by Harry Thürk from 1970.
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The in Bangkok living Laotian agricultural -Student Lao Yon follows a report in which the murder of an alleged televised Vietcong -Helfers by Special Forces is shown. He recognizes that the man was killed as his father, a farmer who, however, had no ties to political groups. Thanks to the mediation of his friend Khami, a television presenter, he meets the American reporter David Duncan, who confirms that the recordings were made in Laos and that the murderer was a Colonel named Andrew Shute. Lao Yon travels back home with the intention of seeking revenge. Back in Laos, he meets his childhood friend Chanti, who now serves as a commander in the ranks of the Pathet Lao . After long debates, he persuaded Lao Yon to give up his plan of individual vendetta and instead to take part in the fight against Shute's entire unit. The student then submits to a tough training, after which he takes on the identity of the well-known Laotian officer Suhat, who allegedly escaped from custody of the rebels. Under his code name he is supposed to come to Shute, scout out his camp and offer him the procurement of military documents allegedly from the Pathet Lao.
Shute, who joined the army at the age of 16 after raping a classmate in order to avoid prosecution, is stationed with his troops in a valley that he calls "Shangri-La" because of its idyllic location. From here, in cooperation with the CIA and with the support of South Vietnamese soldiers , he undertakes operations against the Viet Cong and its true or supposed allies. At the same time he indulges his passion for hunting; In addition, the troops are generously supplied with food, luxury items and prostitutes. Accompanied by a South Vietnamese scout, Lao Yon entered the camp and quickly won the command's trust. The operation succeeds and he gets back with the captured information to his comrades, who then plan the attack.
Lao Yon returns to Shangri-La once more for a deception. During his stay, the Pathet Lao begin the attack. Shute, who is about to flee by helicopter, now recognizes a spy in the supposedly friendly Laotian. With the help of the helicopter pilot Pete Henderson, he knocks him unconscious and flies away with the man tied up in the direction of the Vietnamese border. However, due to fire, the machine crashes, killing the pilot and injuring Shute. He leaves Lao Yon, who is unharmed but unconscious, and tries to return to Shangri-La. The heat and his injuries make the path difficult, which means that Lao Yon, who has now reawakened and appropriated Henderson's weapon, can easily follow him. Shortly before the camp, Shute sees two young black panthers . When he wants to shoot her, the mother attacks him and kills the colonel in front of Lao Yon's eyes. However, the shot hit one of the animals, the other is brought to safety by the mother. Meanwhile, the rebels are wiping out the US soldiers' camp.
At the end of the day, Lao Yon will return to Bangkok to finish his studies and then, with Khami as his wife, work in Laos.
background
The novel is written against the background of the then contemporary Second Lao Civil War and deals with the intervention of US troops and the CIA in the conflict. The activities of Air America are also mentioned.
Thürk also worked into his work an outline of Laotian history, from the legendary Khun Borom to King Fa Ngum , French colonial rule , the Japanese invasion in World War II and the subsequent US influence up to the civil war in the 1960s and 70s is enough. King Setthathirath , with whom Lao Yon is compared, is also mentioned.
The name " Shangri-La " is derived from the fictional place of the same name in Tibet , whereby here explicit reference is made to James Hilton's novel The Lost Horizon .
Publications
The Tiger by Shangri-La was first published in 1970 by the publishing house Das Neue Berlin , but had already been published in abridged form in the Neue Berliner Illustrierte as part of a sequel series . The novel saw new publications in 1971, 1973 and 1986. In 1971 a Hungarian and a Slovak version were published, the latter followed by a second edition in 1983. In 1974 the work was also published in Czech.
Individual evidence
- ^ Harry Thürk: The Tiger from Shangri-La , Verlag Das Neue Berlin , Berlin 1973, p. 210
- ↑ The Tiger from Shangri-La on harrythuerk.de , accessed on July 31, 2020
- ↑ The Tiger from Shangri-La in the catalog of the German National Library , accessed on July 31, 2020