harlequinbkk Posted June 6, 2003 Report Share Posted June 6, 2003 I was in the bookstore in my hometown (in Canada) a couple of days ago, and found they were displaying a recently published novel about Thailand, called "Bangkok 8". It is by John Burdett - I never heard of him, but the cover (Patpong at night) sure was lurid enough to attract my attention. FYI, I have pasted a review of the book below: Harlequin Part mystery, part thriller and part exploration of Thai attitudes toward sex, this accomplished first novel by Burdett (A Personal History of Thirst; The Last Six Million Seconds) delivers both entertainment and depth. The narrator, a Buddhist cop named Sonchai Jitplecheep, finds himself plunged into a dangerous investigation of the deaths by snakebite of his partner Pichai Apiradee and U.S. Embassy Sgt. William Bradley. Sonchai is an unusual character on several levels, from the mysteries of his violent past to his conversations with the ghost of Pichai. His ambiguous feelings toward Kimberley Jones, an American FBI agent brought in to work the case, reflect his upbringing as the child of a Thai mother and an unknown American father. Above all else, however, Sonchai's Buddhism permeates the text. An encounter with an embassy official, for example, leads to this unexpected reverie: "[she] is blithely unaware that she once accompanied me across a courtyard of startlingly similar dimensions, thousands of years ago." As Sonchai's investigation brings him closer to Bradley's companion, a woman known as Fatima, and the rich American jade dealer Sylvester Warren, his quest for revenge becomes muddied by the strangeness of his discoveries. The mix of detective work, Bangkok street life, the Thai sex trade and drug smuggling forms a powerful melange of images and insight. Despite an anti-climactic last chapter, the novel's structure is solid. Sonchai's fatalism, wry humor and dogged determination-his ability to be both vulnerable and strong-make him one of the more memorable characters in recent novel-length fiction. Readers expecting a traditional mystery structure would be advised to look elsewhere, but those who want something new will find Burdett's novel an intriguing, fresh take on noir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAsiaHand Posted June 7, 2003 Report Share Posted June 7, 2003 Burdett wrote a book about the handover of Hong Kong called 'The Last Six Million Seconds,' or something like that. Truly awful garbage. He claimed to live in Hong Kong, but the novel so lacked any sense of place that it read as if he'd never even visited there. As for 'Bangkok 8,' yes, the right word for the cover really is lurid, isn't it? I managed to read about half the book before I put it down in disgust. It reads like the guy visited Bangkok once, screwed a dozen bar girls, and decided he'd found God. Really just bad Chris Moore (is that redundant?). One of the New York papers yesterday gave the book a vague mention. It's comment was, 'it's hard to believe that any city could be as drugged out and violent as Bangkok is potrayed here.' Incidentally, I particularly liked the introduction to the book in which Burdett assured everyone that the corrupt policemen in the story were there 'just for fun.' Not only had he never met a corrupt policeman in Bangkok, he said, he had never even heard anyone say that there were any. My, oh my. There's not much to add to that, is there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 Apologies to you both for starting another thread about the book. Have to agree about the introduction...disengenuous is the word I think.....Chuck :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomc12 Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 I think you are being unfair. What he said in the Author's Note is:"...I am honor bound to say that on innumerable visits to Thailand I have experienced only honesty and courtesy from members of the Royal Thai Police Force. Nor have I heard any reports to the contrary from other Western tourists. That said, the kingdom's valiant struggle with the kind of corruption that is endemic throughout the Far East...". I read the book and enjoyed it. Certainly a much easier read than books by Christopher Moore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 Most likely this book will gather both good and bad reviews but the conclusion of the New York Times review was: "It's hard to know why Mr. Burdett let the promising premise of this novel devolve into such a mess of borrowings and cheap set pieces: "Bangkok 8" is a novel that begins as a hard-boiled detective story cum bildungsroman and ends as a crude, sensationalistic potboiler involving a carved jade phallus, a Russian snuff tape and two sex-change operations." Ah, well, at least he got reviewed at the Times. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 "It's hard to know why Mr. Burdett let the promising premise of this novel devolve into such a mess of borrowings and cheap set pieces: "Bangkok 8" is a novel that begins as a hard-boiled detective story cum bildungsroman and ends as a crude, sensationalistic potboiler involving a carved jade phallus, a Russian snuff tape and two sex-change operations." I think that sums it up very well. The basic premise....pitting a Buddhist Thai cop against a female American determinist...was excellent, but he spoiled it by getting sidetracked into all the usual tired cliches. Probably he was under pressure from the publisher to make it sleazy...hence the apology in the beginning. Still he got it written and published. I'm trying to do the same thing myself and it's not easy. It would be interesting to see a quality writer like Le Carre tackle the same subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 "The basic premise....pitting a Buddhist Thai cop against a female American determinist...was excellent," I will rephrase that....it should read.... The basic premise....pitting a determinist Thai cop against a take-charge American feminist...was excellent, :banghead: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markle Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 Says chuckwoww: It would be interesting to see a quality writer like Le Carre tackle the same subject. Funny, Le Carre did set one of his novels partially in Thailand/Laos. Can't think of the title offhand but it was a later Smiley episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 Was it "The Secret Pilgrim"? I know one of the characters was based on Francois Bizot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markle Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 I don't think so. Mind you this was at least 10 years ago and I'm not an avid Le Carre reader - too dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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