You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
I came into this book not knowing what to expect at all. I came out with a story full of love, loneliness, rhythm, and motion. Sudbanthad writes in such a creative and clever way, pushing forward themes of cyclical nature, history, alienation, and climate anxiety. It's a genre-defying novel in the same way it defies linear, chronological construction. I loved it and will definitely reread it in the future, for I am sure there were links and nuances I must have missed.
What to say about this gorgeous, gorgeous novel? It takes the form of tightly inter-linked stories about two people who meet and have a child, but also backwards in time to colonial Siam, forwards into the future, connecting with their families histories and futures. Nee is a young woman, a university student who marches in the protests in the mid-seventies and survives the violent response. She later meets a photographer and tentatively forms a connection with him, carefully not speaking about what she can't bear to talk about. Her sister has moved to Japan where she owns and runs a Thai restaurant popular with Thai students and expats, but the shadow of the violence reaches her in Tokyo. A missionary from New England despairs of doing anything worthwhile in Siam and writes asking to be reassigned, even as he begins exploring the city he's stranded in. Three children ferry a woman through the now-flooded streets of Bangkok. She wants to see the place her family once lived, back when Bangkok had not been covered by the ocean.
The novel begins with what first look like unrelated short stories, but that eventually resolve themselves into a coherent narrative. It's a wonderful format when it's well-deployed as it is here, Sudbanthad builds the novel in layers of history; of his characters, but also of Bangkok itself. It's such a pleasurable thing to read a well-crafted and superbly written novel where every chapter is carefully placed into the greater whole and yet can stand on its own.
The novel begins with what first look like unrelated short stories, but that eventually resolve themselves into a coherent narrative. It's a wonderful format when it's well-deployed as it is here, Sudbanthad builds the novel in layers of history; of his characters, but also of Bangkok itself. It's such a pleasurable thing to read a well-crafted and superbly written novel where every chapter is carefully placed into the greater whole and yet can stand on its own.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This was a book. It was fine.
Honestly, I really love the concept. The prose was lovely. But the mucked up timeline and huge assortment of characters was just too much to try to puzzle out. I feel like if each "main" character were given a short story, and the reader was allowed to hear their complete story all in one shot, it would have been much easier to even see the connections that were meant to be made by flipping in between stories and timelines. I read the entire first section, put the book on hold, came back and started over, and I still had no idea what was happening. I pushed through and as the stories progressed I could see how some of them connected, but there were too many characters to try to remember who was whose child and why I should care about them. I did mark on the table of contents who the main characters were for each chapter and maybe someday I'll go back and try to read the chapters out of order to get more of that "short story collection" feel out of it and see if that helps, but for now. This was a book. It was fine.
Honestly, I really love the concept. The prose was lovely. But the mucked up timeline and huge assortment of characters was just too much to try to puzzle out. I feel like if each "main" character were given a short story, and the reader was allowed to hear their complete story all in one shot, it would have been much easier to even see the connections that were meant to be made by flipping in between stories and timelines. I read the entire first section, put the book on hold, came back and started over, and I still had no idea what was happening. I pushed through and as the stories progressed I could see how some of them connected, but there were too many characters to try to remember who was whose child and why I should care about them. I did mark on the table of contents who the main characters were for each chapter and maybe someday I'll go back and try to read the chapters out of order to get more of that "short story collection" feel out of it and see if that helps, but for now. This was a book. It was fine.
Man was this book a rollercoaster.
I couldn't quite wrap my head around this novel at the beginning and the time jumping back and forth was very confusing for me at first but as I became more accustomed to the authors writing style I became completely enthralled in the narrative of so many well thought out and depth-filled characters that I was wholeheartedly invested in.
I feel that all heavy subjects featured in this book were handled in a very respectful and tasteful way whilst still giving enough detail and emotion attached to the events that it genuinely tugged at my heart strings and really opened my eyes to the harsh, brutal yet beautiful nature of life.
I'm absolutely in love with the portrayal of the "future" throughout the novel and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed that facet of the story as it's usually not at all my cup of tea so i'm very pleasantly surprised!
This was the first book i've read that focused on or even really featured Thai characters unfortunately but after reading this book it definitely won't be my last. I really love how the author balanced tragedies and shortcomings with showing the natural beauty of the country and the strength and community of the citizens.
100% would recommend!
I couldn't quite wrap my head around this novel at the beginning and the time jumping back and forth was very confusing for me at first but as I became more accustomed to the authors writing style I became completely enthralled in the narrative of so many well thought out and depth-filled characters that I was wholeheartedly invested in.
I feel that all heavy subjects featured in this book were handled in a very respectful and tasteful way whilst still giving enough detail and emotion attached to the events that it genuinely tugged at my heart strings and really opened my eyes to the harsh, brutal yet beautiful nature of life.
I'm absolutely in love with the portrayal of the "future" throughout the novel and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed that facet of the story as it's usually not at all my cup of tea so i'm very pleasantly surprised!
This was the first book i've read that focused on or even really featured Thai characters unfortunately but after reading this book it definitely won't be my last. I really love how the author balanced tragedies and shortcomings with showing the natural beauty of the country and the strength and community of the citizens.
100% would recommend!
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Well written but confusing story lines with a lot of characters to keep tract of
An interesting collection of connected short stories centered in Bangkok. The futuristic ones did not speak to me as much as those set in the 1970s and somewhat later.
Took a while to get into the chronology and character jumps, but was very moving. Lovely Thai imagery and references to Thai customs. Each section circles around themes of loss and sadness (at least for me) but the writing itself is beautiful.
From the reviews, many people don't like the structure of the "loose" intertwining of stories. I don't feel that way, so this review may not be for you, either. I'm a huge fan of these types of books and my firm belief is that people have a low tolerance for being confused or kept from certain details - that they feel entitled to the entire picture at once in a novel. We could have a thorough discussion on that, if you'd like. Recently I read "The Overstory" by Richard Powers, and while it took time to read, it gave me the impression of hiking up a mountain, gathering details here and there, having to reread because there was something I missed in the sentence that meant something else, a puzzle piece fitted in later on. Bangkok Wakes to Rain lulls me; it's sitting in a cable car while the wind sways it back and forth, rocks it while you fall asleep. It's meandering in a city that's foreign and doesn't belong to you, and you're stepping around the edges trying to find an opening of it. I felt like I was in these places - damp, vivid, colorful, claustrophobic at points. The idea of a thread, a person's story, weaving across others, across time, I have no problem admitting it's extremely romantic to me and has a quality about it that's almost like being swaddled in a weird nostalgic you weren't alive for.
Another book evoked to mind was "Pachinko" by Min Jin Lee. The ideas of families, and different combinations and types of them, the difficulties and hardships and also the bright memories - Bangkok did this extremely well, depicting a variety of types of relationships and not seeming to make untoward commentary at any of them. Rather, they were seen as they were, each emotion held up to the light in context of the bond. Most of the characters begged to be known further, read about more, and I bonded with them quickly; I think the delicate parts of personality and the human experience were completely relatable. The narrative was so comfortable I'd like to purchase a copy so I can run my hands over it, trying to find the dampness and dew, trying to hear the ringing sound of people's protests, and read it for a second time to uncover more.
Another book evoked to mind was "Pachinko" by Min Jin Lee. The ideas of families, and different combinations and types of them, the difficulties and hardships and also the bright memories - Bangkok did this extremely well, depicting a variety of types of relationships and not seeming to make untoward commentary at any of them. Rather, they were seen as they were, each emotion held up to the light in context of the bond. Most of the characters begged to be known further, read about more, and I bonded with them quickly; I think the delicate parts of personality and the human experience were completely relatable. The narrative was so comfortable I'd like to purchase a copy so I can run my hands over it, trying to find the dampness and dew, trying to hear the ringing sound of people's protests, and read it for a second time to uncover more.