laukmiller's review against another edition

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An interesting text for examining the Western publishing world at the time, as well as the Western bias toward Asian cultures

hnbb's review against another edition

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2.0

I am not big on description, so I skimmed most of the book. The old language was hard for me to read. I really enjoyed the history portion, though. I guess I was expecting more King and I than was there. Maybe if there was more music...

lisahelene's review against another edition

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2.0

It probably deserves more than 2 stars but there was way too much history & description for me. I really had to work to finish it.

liseplease's review against another edition

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1.0

Unfortunately, I didn't finish this one. It was an interesting read, but I couldn't distance myself enough from my 21st century viewpoint to appreciate the story. Compared to her English peers at the time, I'm sure Leonowens was incredibly forward-thinking and respectful to the people of Thailand. But I just couldn't get over the "Oh, these savages. They could be almost human if they just found Jesus." colonialist talk. It was just too frequent, and too heavy handed.