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paul_cornelius's review
4.0
Thailand is the setting for Mischa Berlinski's Fieldwork. But modern Thailand plays the most minor and unimportant role of the three scenarios Berlinski depicts. Of the three, the fictional Dyalo, a remote hilltribe in Thailand's far north is the most interesting. Taking the perspective of an anthropologist who has situated herself among them, the novel is fascinating not only for the rituals it examines and the utterly exotic ways it explains but also for its incorporation of mostly unheard of academic theories of social anthropology. At times, the book even seems a condensed history of the discipline. There aren't too many works of fiction, after all, that are capable of working James Frazer's The Golden Bough into the plot in a meaningful and interesting way.
Otherwise, the form of the novel is almost a literary version of Citizen Kane, revolving around a mysterious death and a murder. This in turn leads to the exploring of the second group due anthropological uncovering--fundamentalist American missionaries devoted to converting the heathen Dyalo to Christianity. What the narrator and sometimes protagonist in the story reveals is that both the Dyalo and the missionaries operate from a similar perspective on the world. Both peoples are encased in a worldview where demons and spirits populate the world and determine human fate. It's to Berlinski's credit, by the way, that he represents the missionaries as deserving of sympathetic observation as much as would normally be the case for the Dyalo alone. The exotic and unknown and sometimes unknowable worlds of both peoples are rendered with some subtlety as well as nuance.
Mischa Berlinski, finally, is not only the author of this mystery, the name is also that given to the lead narrator/protagonist. And it is his story that is used for the side trips into modern Thailand. This is also the weakest part of the novel. Berlinski's observations about expats in Thailand mostly do little beyond presenting cliched images. It sometimes seems as if he has made a checklist of foreigners' faults and oddities from sources such as Thai Visa Forum--available online, for anyone interested. He also gets a few things wrong. But he also gets one thing very right, the world of Thailand right before the smartphone revolution brought global immediacy to the remotest of Thai villages. Berlinski's Thailand, barely 12 years in the past, is now long gone. In its place is something that may be much more harsh and violent, with fading traditions replaced with a megamall in every provincial Thai capital or major city.
Otherwise, the form of the novel is almost a literary version of Citizen Kane, revolving around a mysterious death and a murder. This in turn leads to the exploring of the second group due anthropological uncovering--fundamentalist American missionaries devoted to converting the heathen Dyalo to Christianity. What the narrator and sometimes protagonist in the story reveals is that both the Dyalo and the missionaries operate from a similar perspective on the world. Both peoples are encased in a worldview where demons and spirits populate the world and determine human fate. It's to Berlinski's credit, by the way, that he represents the missionaries as deserving of sympathetic observation as much as would normally be the case for the Dyalo alone. The exotic and unknown and sometimes unknowable worlds of both peoples are rendered with some subtlety as well as nuance.
Mischa Berlinski, finally, is not only the author of this mystery, the name is also that given to the lead narrator/protagonist. And it is his story that is used for the side trips into modern Thailand. This is also the weakest part of the novel. Berlinski's observations about expats in Thailand mostly do little beyond presenting cliched images. It sometimes seems as if he has made a checklist of foreigners' faults and oddities from sources such as Thai Visa Forum--available online, for anyone interested. He also gets a few things wrong. But he also gets one thing very right, the world of Thailand right before the smartphone revolution brought global immediacy to the remotest of Thai villages. Berlinski's Thailand, barely 12 years in the past, is now long gone. In its place is something that may be much more harsh and violent, with fading traditions replaced with a megamall in every provincial Thai capital or major city.
annakmeyer's review against another edition
3.0
I read this on a bus ride from Chicago-St. Louis. I can't lie, the cover intrigued me and had since I'd shelved it at B&N and it was near my desk. I was expecting more from the main character versus him just recounting other people's stories, but I think it was better this way. And the protagonist of this novel has the same name as the author, which is probably another story for another day. I won't reread it for a while, but I'm glad I read it.
lola425's review
4.0
Wasn't sure about this one at first, but I got sucked in. The writing felt like good reportage, as if Berlinski (the character, not the author) was doing his own fieldwork, paralelling Martiya's. Uncovering Martiya's history, piece by piece through other's stories is exactly the way Martiya was putting together her history of the Dyalo. Interesting stuff.
marilynsaul's review
2.0
Ummm....what to say? As an Anthropologist, I quickly became immersed in Martiya's fieldwork with the Dyal, and many times found myself nodding "yes, I remember how that was", having lived with a Palestinian family for a month (certainly not nearly as long as Martiya's journey). If you LIKE ethnographic studies (albeit the Dyal are a fictitious group), you will probably enjoy much of this book. However, it came to be more of a treatise on missionaries (expelled from China during the revolution, moving to northern Burma and again being expelled after some 20 years, and finally settling in Thailand), and I concluded this book was not about Martiya's fieldwork so much as Mischa's fieldwork with the missionaries. The ending was most unsatisfactory, unless we are to believe that Martiya became a [nevermind - spoiler] - let's just say I think the author did a disservice to intelligent, independent women because he doesn't understand them (and perhaps has more of a "missionary" interpretation of women as being weak). I keep vacillating between two and three stars. I think I'll go back to two.
galliexyc's review
3.0
I found the blurred edge between nonfiction and fiction more interesting than the story itself. The protagonist of the novel (Mischa Berlinksi) is the author (Mischa Berlinski) in his real-life living circumstances that diverge into a fictional mystery. I ultimately did not find any of the characters particularly redeemable which prevented me from having any real vested interest in the resolution of the story.
spiderfelt's review
5.0
I can't remember the last time I was so completely absorbed by a book. Perhaps it was the near magical absence of family and responsibilities, or maybe it was just the perfect blend of writing style and story, regardless this book cast a spell over me. The meandering plot, personal anecdotes which inserted the author as narrator into the next, and the footnotes imitating a scholarly text were all elements that combined into an absolutely mesmerizing tale.
For readers interested in anthropology and ethnographic studies, this is the book for you. For readers disappointed by Euphoria, look no further.
This book was a finalist in 2007 for the National Book Award, ultimately losing to Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke. I think the judges made a mistake.
For readers interested in anthropology and ethnographic studies, this is the book for you. For readers disappointed by Euphoria, look no further.
This book was a finalist in 2007 for the National Book Award, ultimately losing to Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke. I think the judges made a mistake.
mznomer's review
2.0
This book started out well. The writing style was very readable without being dumbed down like a lot of popular fiction is. It contains a lot of interesting descriptions of life in Thailand. The story of Martiya was one that I was interested in and I definately wanted to keep reading to find out what had happened.
About halfway through the book I lost interest. Most of the book is a major digression from the story that peaked my interest in the begining. I finished reading it because I still wanted to know what had happened to Martiya, but I had to suffer through a lot of extras that really didn't really have anything to do with, well, anything.
After reading the acknowledgements, I think the author was trying to make the book more like an ethnography than a novel. It might be interesting if it stuck to that genre, but it doesn't. The result is a book that seems to be having a major identity crisis.
About halfway through the book I lost interest. Most of the book is a major digression from the story that peaked my interest in the begining. I finished reading it because I still wanted to know what had happened to Martiya, but I had to suffer through a lot of extras that really didn't really have anything to do with, well, anything.
After reading the acknowledgements, I think the author was trying to make the book more like an ethnography than a novel. It might be interesting if it stuck to that genre, but it doesn't. The result is a book that seems to be having a major identity crisis.
jessrock's review
4.0
Fieldwork is the story of a journalist who becomes obsessed with the story of an anthropologist. Both the journalist (who inexplicably has been given the same name as the book's author, Mischa Berlinski) and the anthropologist (Martiya van der Leun) are Americans who have ended up living in Thailand. Martiya went there to do fieldwork as part of her doctoral studies; Mischa went because his girlfriend signed up to teach English there for a year. Early on, we learn that Martiya killed a missionary and died in prison; Mischa senses a paycheck if he can write a story about her, and he spends the length of the novel trying to uncover Martiya's history.
Know upfront that this is a very slow book. Not in that it takes a long time to read, but in that the action in the story is very, very slow. Mischa doesn't learn a lot until the very end, and most of the novel deals with the people he meets along the way and the stories he learns about the missionaries and the tribal people of northern Thailand. It's a very pleasant book to read, but the first couple of chapters are not an adequate representation of the pacing of the rest of the novel. Don't be startled when it shifts suddenly from young, carefree Americans enjoying Thailand to a genealogy of the missionary family whose son Martiya eventually kills.
The ending is the weakest part of this story; the way the final details are revealed is, well, let's just say unsatisfactory. But the pieces do all come together in the end, and the whole thing is really quite interesting in the way it wrestles with cultural differences and the roles & impact of anthropologists and missionaries. It's a flawed book, but still quite an enjoyable one.
Know upfront that this is a very slow book. Not in that it takes a long time to read, but in that the action in the story is very, very slow. Mischa doesn't learn a lot until the very end, and most of the novel deals with the people he meets along the way and the stories he learns about the missionaries and the tribal people of northern Thailand. It's a very pleasant book to read, but the first couple of chapters are not an adequate representation of the pacing of the rest of the novel. Don't be startled when it shifts suddenly from young, carefree Americans enjoying Thailand to a genealogy of the missionary family whose son Martiya eventually kills.
The ending is the weakest part of this story; the way the final details are revealed is, well, let's just say unsatisfactory. But the pieces do all come together in the end, and the whole thing is really quite interesting in the way it wrestles with cultural differences and the roles & impact of anthropologists and missionaries. It's a flawed book, but still quite an enjoyable one.
wendyk's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book was completely absorbing and I had to keep reminding myself it was fiction. So well written
Mischa, the author and narrator, is given a tip for a story. An American anthropologist has died in a Thai prison where she was serving a 50 year sentence for murder. Mischa becomes completely absorbed in trying to figure out she committed the murder, and so will you.
Lush descriptions of Thailand make you feel like you're right there with Mischa, trying to solve this mystery.
Mischa, the author and narrator, is given a tip for a story. An American anthropologist has died in a Thai prison where she was serving a 50 year sentence for murder. Mischa becomes completely absorbed in trying to figure out she committed the murder, and so will you.
Lush descriptions of Thailand make you feel like you're right there with Mischa, trying to solve this mystery.
lisagray68's review
3.0
The idea of this book fascinated me, but it fell a bit short of it's reputation. First, let me say that I hate the literary ploy in which a real-life author is the narrator of a supposedly true story -- but, psyche, it's actually fiction. Why not just pick a narrator?? He could have told the same story, but just not named the narrator after himself! I don't get this. It doesn't work for me - I spend the whole book wondering if the story actually happened, but they just minorly fictionalized it, or if it's all made up. It was an annoying distraction to an otherwise ok book.
I loved all I learned about the Thai people, and what I learned about anthropologists and what it is like to live in the field and conduct real-life research into indigenous peoples. But the book is supposed to be a mystery, and it took so long to get to the meat of the matter.
One reviewer from Amazon said "Just read the first two chapters and the last two chapters, and that's all you need". Couldn't-a said it better myself.
I loved all I learned about the Thai people, and what I learned about anthropologists and what it is like to live in the field and conduct real-life research into indigenous peoples. But the book is supposed to be a mystery, and it took so long to get to the meat of the matter.
One reviewer from Amazon said "Just read the first two chapters and the last two chapters, and that's all you need". Couldn't-a said it better myself.