chuckwoww Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 I notice in Stick's latest column he talks about a review in the local press by somebody who didn't like Stephen Leather's book. Does anybody know where I can read the review? Thanks.... I think it's a Bangkok Classic myself but I'm curious to see another opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 It was not me, but I just cannot get through that book. I have tried several times. Drivel, IMHO. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 The printed book version seems to be a lot thicker than the online version. Anybody can tell me why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 The online version sucked. So many contradictions among the characters, no logical character development. Just pschyzophrenic. What else do you expect to get when you try and combine a whole bunch of stories into one without ironing out the rough spots. Hopefully the paper version is much thicker cause he did a better job of it. <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 My guess is the printed/published version is on narrower paper... I liked the book, read it while watching "the British beer kid" go crazy over a bar girl I was tapping in Clinton Plaza...I think Leather nailed the idiot punter pretty well, and told a lot of tales and stereotypes we have all heard before. I think of that guy and how he ended up whenever I find myself going to far off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbaron Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 I think Leather nailed the idiot punter pretty well, and told a lot of tales and stereotypes we have all heard before. Maybe because it was baed on a true story? Except the ending.. or so I heard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 It well could have been...as I said, I was reading it while actually seeing it in progress so to speak...funny how art imitates life, or vice versa...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khun_Kong Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 I read the online version. Scary- yeah, for the clueless. Accurate? I guess anything is possible. Decent writing? Absolutely not. The writing style in this story is extremely sophomoric. It's punchy, but not in a Hemmingway-esque style- more in the moon/June/spoon/croon poetry school of writing. Sometimes, anything with "Bangkok" or "Thailand" in it makes people drool on themselves. F'rinstance, while it's cool that people recognize De Niro's use of Thai in "Analyze This", it was basically just a 2-bit movie, worthy of only re-runs on Asian HBO. Waste of Crystal, too. Now, the scenes of Sylvia Krystal cruising down the Chao Phrya in the original "Emmanuelle Does Bangkok"- there's a Thai reference with some meat on it's bones! In this case, it was a Krystal put to good use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 Actually Stephen Leather is quite a published writer, however in a genre not about bangkok. DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dddave Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 I just finished Leathers' "SOFT TARGET", currently in local bookstores in paperback. Not a very satisying read: good cops-bad cops-ambivilant cops; you've read it all many times before. A plethora of sub-plots, most of which peter out , big villains' demise defines anti-climatic. It's the kind of book, the closer you get to the end, the more pages you skip. Has anybody read "SUKHUMVIT", currently in local bookstores? I don't expect much but I do enjoy the Bangkok genre when I'm feeling disconnected back on the other side of the world. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.