Paul Goodman works as a bookseller at Readings Hawthorn. It may overreach, but I departed Sudbanthad’s Bangkok utterly charmed: it exudes wisdom and hints at greatness, and if his work continues to explore this fertile ground then great things will surely follow. The city loses its chaos and closeness when spread over centuries such beautiful, bittersweet lives are obscured by the sheer number in view. To describe so many lives and worlds in a book of three hundred and sixty pages strains the prose at times, and means tall trees rob the flowers of light. Somewhere in this vast, enigmatic work there should be more of Bangkok. Its a strong debut from an intelligent, self-assured author. Allusions to timelessness also bring to mind David Mitchell, whose world might not shape his characters’ lives but at the very least puts them at its mercy. Bangkok Wakes to Rain is well worth reading. At its strongest it is magic realism with Bangkok itself the protagonist, an Orlando who transforms with each generation. Throughout the novel Sudbanthad evokes a Bangkok of smells and tastes while his characters speak of identity both personal and collective, of loyalty and duty, and of globalisation against culture. In this book characters suffer profound disconnect, some returning home to find they don’t belong, while others, who stayed behind, retreat so far inside themselves they can no longer be reached. As the novel builds to a futuristic crescendo, moments of intimacy serve to remind us that no matter what the ebb of time may change, we humans persevere.Life in Pitchaya Sudbanthad’s Bangkok is neither fair nor unfair: ‘it is only so,’ goes the mantra, reminding us that these events, the passing of old to new, the rise and fall of life and a nation, are as inevitable as ocean eroding rock.įrom nineteenth-century Siam, through industrialisation and unrest to a future where the old city is lost, submerged by the rising ocean, Bangkok Wakes to Rain charts the history of a house and its inhabitants. Sudbanthad deftly sweeps us up in a tale that paints a twin portrait: of a megacity like those so many of us call home and of a world where sanctuary is increasingly hard to come by' Mohsin HamidĪ jazz pianist is hired to perform for ghosts.Īn army colonel smells the food of home for the last time.īangkok Wakes to Rain is an intricately plotted novel where characters and stories are linked by place, not time. This information about Bangkok Wakes to Rain was first featured in 'The BookBrowse Review' - BookBrowses membership magazine, and in our weekly 'Publishing This Week' newsletter.Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. But Sudbanthad’s skills are more than just meteorological. 'An important, ambitious, and accomplished novel. Bangkok Wakes to Rain is well worth reading.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 EDWARD STANFORD 'FICTION WITH A SENSE OF PLACE' AWARD
0 kommentar(er)
