Having spent time in Thailand, I have to say that I
whole-heartedly agreed with the following:
Michiko Kakutani, writing in The New York Times (about
BANGKOK 8), bridled at the book's "grotesque, voyeuristic
scenes" and found the female characters not "remotely
credible."
(I fully realize that to many of the members of this list,
describing a book's scenes as "grotesque,"and "voyeuristic"
is NOT a disincentive! ;)
Furthermore, I was unsurprised by the author's revelation
that Burdett was working-class English with a chip on his
shoulder about it. That really came out in BANGKOK 8, and I
knew he was talking about England and not about Thailand in
many of his bitter asides about the rigidity of "Thai"
society.
And that ending he tacked on (and it was an obvious tack-on)
to the first book. Beyond laughable. I was finished with
Burdett long before I finished the book.
Shame, really, because I found the first three chapters to be
dynamite.
Your Mileage May Vary-
Brian
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Elkin
To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 5:57 AM
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Bangkok Ouch
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/books/25burd.html?th&emc=th
Article on Burdett's 4 Thai books in today's
NYT
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