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aggy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
clare_tan_wenhui's review
4.0
An epic piece of historical fiction portraying the class, racial and ideological intricacies behind the political unrest in Thailand during the 70s, ensuring their voices continue to get heard even through the tide of time, to advise and guide us how to proceed in our own turbulent times.
igne_ale's review
Boring, poorly written, with flat characters. The premise had so much potential but it just wasn't engaging enough.
mj_trearty's review
3.75
This was an interesting topic, and one that has been quite heavily censored in the past, and a lot of what there is about the events in the book are in Thai, so it is great to have some historical fiction on the student protests during the 1970s.
The story revolves around 3 main characters; Lek, Det and Chang. Despite being from vastly different backgrounds they all become firm friends at Chulalungkon university and we see them become interested in society and politics, though each has their own approach and angle, often based on their background.
Det is from a royal heritage and therefore is the most idealistic, looking to please everyone with a sort of 'soft socialism'. Chang is the most communist of them all and the one that maintains "we aren't servants!" to the royal family, recalling his mother's crooked fingers from working every day in the factory. Lek is the ambitious one, she wants to revive the work of Chit Phumisak and appears to have no ideas of her own, just following Chit's previously laid foundations.
After becoming involved they progress deeper into the world of the communist movement and the book describes that well.
The characters all have their flaws and I think that nicely represents the flaws in everyone in society and the flaws in everyone's ideologies. None of them can agree on what their perfect society would look like, yet they are all fighting for it.
The dialogue is at times a bit clunky, there were passages that felt like a debut novel (which this is) and there could be a bit more historical fact within the fiction, though I guess that may be difficult with the still active laws in the Kingdom.
Overall I enjoyed this book and took a lot out of it, definitely worth a read.
The story revolves around 3 main characters; Lek, Det and Chang. Despite being from vastly different backgrounds they all become firm friends at Chulalungkon university and we see them become interested in society and politics, though each has their own approach and angle, often based on their background.
Det is from a royal heritage and therefore is the most idealistic, looking to please everyone with a sort of 'soft socialism'. Chang is the most communist of them all and the one that maintains "we aren't servants!" to the royal family, recalling his mother's crooked fingers from working every day in the factory. Lek is the ambitious one, she wants to revive the work of Chit Phumisak and appears to have no ideas of her own, just following Chit's previously laid foundations.
After becoming involved they progress deeper into the world of the communist movement and the book describes that well.
The characters all have their flaws and I think that nicely represents the flaws in everyone in society and the flaws in everyone's ideologies. None of them can agree on what their perfect society would look like, yet they are all fighting for it.
The dialogue is at times a bit clunky, there were passages that felt like a debut novel (which this is) and there could be a bit more historical fact within the fiction, though I guess that may be difficult with the still active laws in the Kingdom.
Overall I enjoyed this book and took a lot out of it, definitely worth a read.
mujahidjohar's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This book is a fictional story of three Thai students in the midst of the 1970s student protests in Bangkok, and these three main characters become the book’s philosophical mouthpieces and different sides of ideological battles on the often romanticised practicalities of revolution and rebellion.
In that, it excels, as the three characters have very rich personalities and backgrounds with nuanced personal ideologies that often conflict with one another, despite how much they may love one another. Det is a royalist who idolises King Chulalongkorn, his great grandfather. Lek is a daughter to Chinese immigrants who obssesses over the works of Chit Phumisak, a Communist author and revolutionary. Chang, Det’s best friend, is a poor commoner who is fighting for the rights and betterment of his people.
Through them, the book discusses secularism, democracy, royalist sentiments, Communism, hero worship, privilege, racism, patriotism, and lese majeste laws, just to name a few. This was the most interesting part of the book, especially with its very sympathetic approach to all three main characters’ realities and ideas. It never quites settles on any sides conclusively, leaving it to the reader to decide.
It took me a long time to get through the first fifth of the book, with the style-shifting prose often taking me multiple re-reads. The love triangle aspect was also of little interest to me and felt clumsy, even with slow realisation that it was used partly to parallel ideological shifts and dissonances of the Thai student political pro-democratic movement.
However, the last third of the book breezed through quickly, as the pace picked up drastically. If you know the history of the Thai student protests in the 70s, then the approaching end of the book becomes very foreboding, which makes the eventual fates of the characters even more interesting. By the end, even in immeasureable tragedy, the book remains hopeful. I suppose a book about revolution must do.
In that, it excels, as the three characters have very rich personalities and backgrounds with nuanced personal ideologies that often conflict with one another, despite how much they may love one another. Det is a royalist who idolises King Chulalongkorn, his great grandfather. Lek is a daughter to Chinese immigrants who obssesses over the works of Chit Phumisak, a Communist author and revolutionary. Chang, Det’s best friend, is a poor commoner who is fighting for the rights and betterment of his people.
Through them, the book discusses secularism, democracy, royalist sentiments, Communism, hero worship, privilege, racism, patriotism, and lese majeste laws, just to name a few. This was the most interesting part of the book, especially with its very sympathetic approach to all three main characters’ realities and ideas. It never quites settles on any sides conclusively, leaving it to the reader to decide.
It took me a long time to get through the first fifth of the book, with the style-shifting prose often taking me multiple re-reads. The love triangle aspect was also of little interest to me and felt clumsy, even with slow realisation that it was used partly to parallel ideological shifts and dissonances of the Thai student political pro-democratic movement.
However, the last third of the book breezed through quickly, as the pace picked up drastically. If you know the history of the Thai student protests in the 70s, then the approaching end of the book becomes very foreboding, which makes the eventual fates of the characters even more interesting. By the end, even in immeasureable tragedy, the book remains hopeful. I suppose a book about revolution must do.
amslersf's review
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
atsundarsingh's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
There are one or two character development points l think needed more detail to really make full sense, but this genuinely gripped me more the more happened. It did the job and made me more interested in the period and events and I grew attached to the characters.
ailbhereads's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
tarocannotread's review
2.5
The only reason I finished this book is because I had bought the audiobook for the first time. I was not about to waste my money. The writing was clunky and awkward, the character dialogues sometimes lacked internal logic, both of which make me think that english is not the author's first language, but then I saw that she's half american so I really don't know what's going on here. The plot was interesting, but I could have used a trigger warning for the love triangle/love square. I'm not sure what happened 90% of the time, but I know there was a revolution and they lost. All in all, 2,5 out of 5 stars.
thesandycandy's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Was originally given a 4.75 star but looking back, I now realized my generosity for ratings for the books I completed during that period plus the bias for the subject matter. Guess my ratings had failed to consider some parts that felt a bit melodramatic🫥