The opening of Zen City, Iso is based on a famous poem by the Zen master, Fudaishi:
Empty handed I go, and behold the spade is
in my hand;
I walk on foot, yet on the back of an ox
I am riding
Basically, I took Fudaishi's poem and subverted it into something altogether more 1940s, noir and murderous to set the scene for the novel. Thus 'spade' was replaced with 'cord' and 'ox' with 'tram'. Simple changes but I think you'll agree they make for a much more sinister poem. They also link straight into the novel - the female murder victims are all strangled to death and the No.6 tram makes a number of important guest appearances on Zen City's streets.
Incidentally, six is considered unlucky in Siam because it sounds like Chinese for falling over.
(Note I wrongly attributed the poem to a later Zen master on the above 'Memo' artwork)
Finally, of course, we have the tantalising question of who is actually delivering the poem - or who it refers to. Is it laconic Orson Palmer, full-time fantasist and part-time Buddhist? The racist, violent Swede, Henrici? Even Madam Sin? Or one of the other denizens we meet lurking in the shadows of Zen City...?
Empty handed I go, and behold the spade is
in my hand;
I walk on foot, yet on the back of an ox
I am riding
Basically, I took Fudaishi's poem and subverted it into something altogether more 1940s, noir and murderous to set the scene for the novel. Thus 'spade' was replaced with 'cord' and 'ox' with 'tram'. Simple changes but I think you'll agree they make for a much more sinister poem. They also link straight into the novel - the female murder victims are all strangled to death and the No.6 tram makes a number of important guest appearances on Zen City's streets.
Incidentally, six is considered unlucky in Siam because it sounds like Chinese for falling over.
(Note I wrongly attributed the poem to a later Zen master on the above 'Memo' artwork)
Finally, of course, we have the tantalising question of who is actually delivering the poem - or who it refers to. Is it laconic Orson Palmer, full-time fantasist and part-time Buddhist? The racist, violent Swede, Henrici? Even Madam Sin? Or one of the other denizens we meet lurking in the shadows of Zen City...?
