Scan barcode
A review by mj_trearty
A Good True Thai by Sunisa Manning
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.