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Café Lovely
En thaï, un farang, c’est un étranger.
Et Ma, elle pense que de toute façon, « le cul et les éléphants, c’est tout ce qui les intéresse, les farangs ». Le ton du livre est donné dans "Farangs", la première des sept nouvelles lumineuses contenues dans Café Lovely.
Dans "Tour au paradis", un train file vers Koh Lukmak, la dernière des îles Andaman, le long de cette bande de terre qui sépare l’océan indien du golfe de Thaïlande. À bord, un jeune Thaïlandais et sa vieille mère qui, parce qu’elle aura perdu la vue dans une dizaine de semaines, souhaite montrer sa Thaïlande à son fils.
Priscilla la Cambodgienne nous apprend que la Thaïlande aussi a ses immigrés ; ils sont le plus souvent birmans et cambodgiens. À Pnom Penh, juste avant l’arrivée des Khmers rouges, le père dentiste de Priscilla n’a que le temps de faire fondre tout son or et d’en plomber les dents de sa fille, avant d’être embarqué.
Sur son pays, Rattawut Lapcharoensap porte le regard de la narratrice dans "Combat de coqs" : l’histoire d’un vieil éleveur courageux mais imprudent de coqs de combat qui s’insurge contre la mainmise d’un mafieux local sur son village.
Café Lovely est une mosaïque bariolée de parents, d’enfants, de Thaïs, d’étrangers, d’amants, d’ennemis, de vérités et d’illusions sur la Thaïlande contemporaine. Grâce à une écriture riche, vivifiante et d’une extrême fraîcheur, un très grand moment de lecture.
Et Ma, elle pense que de toute façon, « le cul et les éléphants, c’est tout ce qui les intéresse, les farangs ». Le ton du livre est donné dans "Farangs", la première des sept nouvelles lumineuses contenues dans Café Lovely.
Dans "Tour au paradis", un train file vers Koh Lukmak, la dernière des îles Andaman, le long de cette bande de terre qui sépare l’océan indien du golfe de Thaïlande. À bord, un jeune Thaïlandais et sa vieille mère qui, parce qu’elle aura perdu la vue dans une dizaine de semaines, souhaite montrer sa Thaïlande à son fils.
Priscilla la Cambodgienne nous apprend que la Thaïlande aussi a ses immigrés ; ils sont le plus souvent birmans et cambodgiens. À Pnom Penh, juste avant l’arrivée des Khmers rouges, le père dentiste de Priscilla n’a que le temps de faire fondre tout son or et d’en plomber les dents de sa fille, avant d’être embarqué.
Sur son pays, Rattawut Lapcharoensap porte le regard de la narratrice dans "Combat de coqs" : l’histoire d’un vieil éleveur courageux mais imprudent de coqs de combat qui s’insurge contre la mainmise d’un mafieux local sur son village.
Café Lovely est une mosaïque bariolée de parents, d’enfants, de Thaïs, d’étrangers, d’amants, d’ennemis, de vérités et d’illusions sur la Thaïlande contemporaine. Grâce à une écriture riche, vivifiante et d’une extrême fraîcheur, un très grand moment de lecture.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
261 people are currently reading
4751 people want to read
About the author
Rattawut Lapcharoensap
11 books97 followersRattawut Lapcharoensap was born in Chicago in 1979 and raised in Bangkok. He currently lives in Brooklyn and teaches high-school English. ‘Farangs’, his first published story, appeared in Granta 84. Since then, his work has been published in several literary magazines, as well as in Best New American Voices 2005 and Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005. His short-story collection Sightseeing was selected for the National Book Foundation’s ‘5 Under 35’ programme, won the Asian American Literary Award and was also shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 442 reviews
April 21, 2019
A compelling collection of short stories by an underappreciated Thai-American writer. These seven stories, all set in Thailand, reveal the love and complexities of human relationships, from friend to friend, father to daughter, son to mother, and more. I most love the way Rattawut Lapcharoensap captures sorrow in these stories. Sorrow encompasses this collection, such as the sorrow of a son witnessing his mother's vision deteriorate, a boy seeing his friend get drafted to the military, and a daughter losing her father to a gambling addiction. Lapcharoensap constructs these characters' sorrow in such a beautiful, quiet way, capturing the depth, magnitude, and stillness of the emotion without sensationalizing it. His honoring of these characters' sorrows gives room for other emotions to enter sometimes, like hope and acceptance.
Overall, a wonderful collection I would recommend to anyone interested in stories about relationships between people. We need more books like this that center Thai perspectives without exotification or fetishization. I also appreciated the themes of socioeconomic privilege, masculinity, and xenophobia that ran through some of these stories. Though Lapcharoensap has not published a book since this one came out in 2005, I hope to read more of his work in the future. I hope he honors the wonder of this collection even if he does not publish another book.
Overall, a wonderful collection I would recommend to anyone interested in stories about relationships between people. We need more books like this that center Thai perspectives without exotification or fetishization. I also appreciated the themes of socioeconomic privilege, masculinity, and xenophobia that ran through some of these stories. Though Lapcharoensap has not published a book since this one came out in 2005, I hope to read more of his work in the future. I hope he honors the wonder of this collection even if he does not publish another book.
October 17, 2012
I have many feelings about this collection of short stories. This isn't something that I could read with a light, easy heart. Indeed, I'm not sure that it was a wise choice to read it all in a day, and I don't think I'll read it again for a while; it's all still working on me.
Oh, but don't be thinking it's a bad book. It is a substantial, worthy, important book. I shall straightforwardly say that it is important for Thai authors to be read worldwide. This is not mere tokenism or naive national pride: no, it simply makes sense for Thai people to be heard when they tell their own stories.
It is also because the vast majority of books about Thailand in the Western market seems to comprise white Western male authors writing about the exploitation of Thai women and kathoey (especially sex workers) in a dirty, corrupt Bangkok, all with lovingly emetic detail. Obviously I won't deny the existence of sex tourism, crime, or pollution in Thailand, but to depict it purely as a grim hell-hole where Thai people are abject and duplicitous is sensationalistic and Othering.
I find it extremely strange that some of these white Western men are well-off expats actually living in Thailand, and yet they largely write only those sorts of things. These books, along with variations of 'The King And I,' form much of the Thai literature known in the English-speaking Western world. This is unfortunate. It contributes to an image of Thailand that is nothing like the one I and other Thai people know.
The Thailand I visit - both the physical and mental landscape as told and shown by Thai friends and family - is rather closer in general rythm and dynamic to that of Rattawut's work. This does not mean that it is rosy and perfect; far from it. In fact, the main driving force of Rattawut's stories is, I think, suffering. It is how people from different parts of Thai society respond to suffering, how they bear it, how it affects their loved ones, suffering inflicted from the outside and the kind that grips from inside you. Sometimes the degree of the pain and the resulting trauma pile-up verges on lakhorn nam nao, but there's always a taut smile somewhere, a wise word, a moment of rescue and refuge which keeps it from being sheer misery-porn.
If people apparently enjoy reading about cut-up Thai women so much, why not read this kind of suffering? The body of Thai women is not some thing to be exoticised, violated and destroyed just for manpain. Indeed, the women in the vast majority of Rattawut's stories do not die, are not raped, and are not maimed horribly. This is an extremely low bar to set, though. How about this: Thai women get to speak with their own voices, often making the sharpest observations on various subjects. Thai women support each other and rescue each other. They are mothers, businesswomen, sex workers, wives, students. They are a diverse group of people. Rattawut brings this out well, even if he still seems to skew the focus more towards men and boys.
The writing - clear, with some nice imagery and a good dash of wit. Also I like the dialogue, sprinkled with Thai.
The story which brought the most mixed and strong reaction from me was 'Don't Let Me Die In This Place,' about a white expat's grumpy old father living with him in Thailand with his mixed family. The attitude displayed by the grandfather - the stock Racist Old Grandpa - is one which is, unfortunately, familiar to me. Predictably, it's about the Racist Old Grandpa learning to be slightly less obnoxious and starting to accept his family and vice versa. The part where the old man seeing his big white son with his tiny Thai daughter-in-law dancing and realising that their love seemed brave made me feel strange on a personal level. I suppose it was good that he recognised this; however, why should their love be validated by this?... I won't go on.
I personally could never rate a book just according to its "unputdownable"-ness, its simple happy-factor enjoyability, how easy it is for you to inhabit the very pages as one curls up with an old, still-wanted lover. To always conflate what you like with what is good is not wise. I may not have liked every single aspect of the book, and many stories made me feel deeply unhappy and confused. But it doesn't mean that I should then immediately dismiss this book as unimportant: it is largely well-crafted, challenging and substantial.
(and I'll never think of or suan in the same way again!)
Oh, but don't be thinking it's a bad book. It is a substantial, worthy, important book. I shall straightforwardly say that it is important for Thai authors to be read worldwide. This is not mere tokenism or naive national pride: no, it simply makes sense for Thai people to be heard when they tell their own stories.
It is also because the vast majority of books about Thailand in the Western market seems to comprise white Western male authors writing about the exploitation of Thai women and kathoey (especially sex workers) in a dirty, corrupt Bangkok, all with lovingly emetic detail. Obviously I won't deny the existence of sex tourism, crime, or pollution in Thailand, but to depict it purely as a grim hell-hole where Thai people are abject and duplicitous is sensationalistic and Othering.
I find it extremely strange that some of these white Western men are well-off expats actually living in Thailand, and yet they largely write only those sorts of things. These books, along with variations of 'The King And I,' form much of the Thai literature known in the English-speaking Western world. This is unfortunate. It contributes to an image of Thailand that is nothing like the one I and other Thai people know.
The Thailand I visit - both the physical and mental landscape as told and shown by Thai friends and family - is rather closer in general rythm and dynamic to that of Rattawut's work. This does not mean that it is rosy and perfect; far from it. In fact, the main driving force of Rattawut's stories is, I think, suffering. It is how people from different parts of Thai society respond to suffering, how they bear it, how it affects their loved ones, suffering inflicted from the outside and the kind that grips from inside you. Sometimes the degree of the pain and the resulting trauma pile-up verges on lakhorn nam nao, but there's always a taut smile somewhere, a wise word, a moment of rescue and refuge which keeps it from being sheer misery-porn.
If people apparently enjoy reading about cut-up Thai women so much, why not read this kind of suffering? The body of Thai women is not some thing to be exoticised, violated and destroyed just for manpain. Indeed, the women in the vast majority of Rattawut's stories do not die, are not raped, and are not maimed horribly. This is an extremely low bar to set, though. How about this: Thai women get to speak with their own voices, often making the sharpest observations on various subjects. Thai women support each other and rescue each other. They are mothers, businesswomen, sex workers, wives, students. They are a diverse group of people. Rattawut brings this out well, even if he still seems to skew the focus more towards men and boys.
The writing - clear, with some nice imagery and a good dash of wit. Also I like the dialogue, sprinkled with Thai.
The story which brought the most mixed and strong reaction from me was 'Don't Let Me Die In This Place,' about a white expat's grumpy old father living with him in Thailand with his mixed family. The attitude displayed by the grandfather - the stock Racist Old Grandpa - is one which is, unfortunately, familiar to me. Predictably, it's about the Racist Old Grandpa learning to be slightly less obnoxious and starting to accept his family and vice versa. The part where the old man seeing his big white son with his tiny Thai daughter-in-law dancing and realising that their love seemed brave made me feel strange on a personal level. I suppose it was good that he recognised this; however, why should their love be validated by this?... I won't go on.
I personally could never rate a book just according to its "unputdownable"-ness, its simple happy-factor enjoyability, how easy it is for you to inhabit the very pages as one curls up with an old, still-wanted lover. To always conflate what you like with what is good is not wise. I may not have liked every single aspect of the book, and many stories made me feel deeply unhappy and confused. But it doesn't mean that I should then immediately dismiss this book as unimportant: it is largely well-crafted, challenging and substantial.
(and I'll never think of or suan in the same way again!)
May 9, 2019
This book of short stories set in Thailand has been on my shelves since 2012, and I finally got to it for my 2019 Asian reading project. These are slice of life stories and a novella about cockfighting. They remind me a lot of the book of short stories set in Hawaii I read last year, where the locals are the focus.
The author was born in Chicago and raised in Thailand, so these stories are not translations but still feel like an inside perspective.
The author was born in Chicago and raised in Thailand, so these stories are not translations but still feel like an inside perspective.
July 25, 2020
Most of the books related to Thailand that I could find for a reading challenge were by westerners and were about tourism, quite a few about sex tourism. So I was glad to come upon this collection of short stories set in Thailand, written by a Chicago-born Thai-American, raised in Bangkok, and pleasantly surprised at how good it is.
Five of the seven stories feature a Thai boy or young man and deal with universal issues of family, growing up, sex, and loss. In the exceptional and poignant title story, a college-age son travels with his mother, who is going blind. "Don't Let Me Die in this Place" is in the voice of an American post-stroke codger coming to terms with moving to Bangkok to live with his son, Thai daughter-in-law, and the "mongrel" grandchildren. The novella-length "Cockfighter" is the only story from the perspective of a woman, in this case a schoolgirl whose father's gambling addiction threatens to tear her family apart.
Lapcharoensap, who teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College, is a little bit of an enigma. I find online clues that he published a second book, a novel entitled End of Siam, but I can't find any reviews or copies for sale. I highly recommend Sightseeing and hope to read more of the author's work someday.
Five of the seven stories feature a Thai boy or young man and deal with universal issues of family, growing up, sex, and loss. In the exceptional and poignant title story, a college-age son travels with his mother, who is going blind. "Don't Let Me Die in this Place" is in the voice of an American post-stroke codger coming to terms with moving to Bangkok to live with his son, Thai daughter-in-law, and the "mongrel" grandchildren. The novella-length "Cockfighter" is the only story from the perspective of a woman, in this case a schoolgirl whose father's gambling addiction threatens to tear her family apart.
Lapcharoensap, who teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College, is a little bit of an enigma. I find online clues that he published a second book, a novel entitled End of Siam, but I can't find any reviews or copies for sale. I highly recommend Sightseeing and hope to read more of the author's work someday.
January 25, 2025
I’m glad to have read a punchy and well-written short story collection to bring me out of this low rating rut I’ve been in. I found most of the stories to be insightful zingers, especially “Farangs,” “Draft Day,” and “Sightseeing” (which was my favorite). The only one I started to lose interest in was “Cockfighter;” I felt like it spun in circles a bit and ventured more into novella territory than the others. That being said, I enjoyed experiencing these thoughtful glimpses into Thai culture and life. 3.5 rounded up I think.
June 5, 2017
This is a really exceptional collection of short stories (well, in actuality, 6 short stories and a novella) ... and I say that as someone who doesn't generally appreciate the shorter format. Lapcharoensap has an uncanny ability to channel characters & narrators from widely varying backgrounds - from an elderly white semi-racist stroke victim (in 'Please Don't Let Me Die in This Place'), to a Thai teenage girl coping with her gambler father (in 'Cockfighter'), to a young refugee girl with gold-plated teeth (in 'Priscilla the Cambodian'). Two of these stories ('At the Café Lovely' and 'Draft Day') were loosely adapted for the very fine independent film 'How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)', which is also worth seeking out. Oddly, given his inherent talent and the praise this initial collection garnered back in 2005, the author has only published two short stories in magazines since. One hopes we'll be hearing from this talented author again very soon.
January 8, 2026
Тропічний коктейль у текстовій формі
У ті часи, коли я ще пила алкоголь, занесло мене якось у турецький Мармарис. На відпочинок. Чудове місце. Кажуть, колись дуже давно там проходили тектонічні зсуви чи то навіть сходив льодовик — сили природи добряче попрацювали над суходолом. Відтоді він такий мальовничий. Весь у маленьких бухтах, ніби якийсь велетенський різьбяр вирізав берег, як діти викроюють сніжинки з паперу.
Там можна було лежати на пляжі, а навколо спека і така краса! Парадиз: сонце, море, зелень… А офіціанти підносили красивезні коктейлі — тільки давай гроші. Популярних напоїв було три: зелено-білий «Мохіто», полуничний «Дайкірі» у келиху із зацукрованим краєм і також легендарний «Секс на пляжі». Останній особливо запам’ятався, адже його подавали у бокалі у формі оголеної жіночої натури. Він був яскравого кольору, помаранчево-вогняний, із купою парасольок, соломинок і ще бозна-чого. Звичайно, всі вони — кожен по-своєму — вдаряли по смакових рецепторах і в голову.
Пройшло багато років, і навряд чи я б про ті коктейлі згадала, якби не взялася читати книжку, яка за відчуттями — ну копія тих напоїв, тільки у текстовій формі! Напевно, це дуже дивне порівняння, але воно дуже точне — на мій погляд. Я саме так відчуваю.
Книжка називається «Sightseeing» (можна перекласти як «Огляд визначних місць»), і написав її тайський автор Rattawut Lapcharoensap. Зверніть увагу, що це чоловік, нам ця інформація потім знадобиться. Твір сучасний, вперше його було опубліковано у 2005 році. В українському перекладі немає, як і немає майже жодної тайської книжки взагалі. Власне, це одна з причин, чому я цікавлюсь тайською літературою: для мене і для українців загалом це малозвідана територія. Якщо хочете, то я бачу це навіть як свого роду читацьку експедицію. Ось я прочитала — і розповідаю вам, що там.
Саме «Sightseeing» я взяла читати, бо хотіла побачити, як тайські автори пишуть зараз. Про інший, більш давній, вже класичний тайський твір я вже писала раніше.
Так от, про «Sightseeing». Неймовірна книжка. Яскрава, вибухова. Вау. Це як замовити всі коктейлі відразу! Це кілька історій про життя людей. Звичайних людей, які у своїй звичності фантастичні. Зрештою, як і кожен з нас. Увесь антураж книжки — це теж парадиз. Спека, туристи, слони, пальми, м��ре, манго і декоративна свинка на повідку — все це так контрастує з «правильністю», «затиснутістю у футляр», наприклад, Європи.
Ось ця хаотичність, вона ж життєдайність, вона ж ірраціональність людської натури, породжує такі прості і такі неймовірні розклади, що я читала — втискалася у крісло, брови на чоло, кусала костяшки пальців — і не могла відірватися. Там таке робиться! Мати василева! Кожне наступне речення — це щось таке, що найменше можна було передбачити. Часто на межі морального й аморального. Займатися сексом на спині у священної тварини слона? Піти до проститутки і взяти з собою дитину, бо малий дуже просився? Як вам таке?..
Але це тільки перший шар. І це знову схоже на коктейль.
Потім я стала помічати другий шар історій. Вони всі мають дуже глибокий зміст. Наприклад, про те, що — і це у нас спільне з тайцями — покоління людей середнього віку часто мусить бути батьками своїм власним батькам. Або про роль жінок у суспільстві. Про чоловічий егоїзм, через який страждають не так самі чоловіки, як їхні близькі… Це дуже по-особливому звучить з-під пера автора-чоловіка... Про неідеальність кожного з нас і про те, що до життя немає інструкції.
Це дуже класна книжка. І весела, і сумна, і дуже цікава, і розумна. Єдиний її недолік — після неї мені тепер ще довго усі інші твори здаватимуться доволі сірими.
Якщо у вас є можливість, прочитайте. Особливо рекомендую тим, хто любить усе південне і тропічний вибух барв, емоцій та життя в усіх його проявах.
У ті часи, коли я ще пила алкоголь, занесло мене якось у турецький Мармарис. На відпочинок. Чудове місце. Кажуть, колись дуже давно там проходили тектонічні зсуви чи то навіть сходив льодовик — сили природи добряче попрацювали над суходолом. Відтоді він такий мальовничий. Весь у маленьких бухтах, ніби якийсь велетенський різьбяр вирізав берег, як діти викроюють сніжинки з паперу.
Там можна було лежати на пляжі, а навколо спека і така краса! Парадиз: сонце, море, зелень… А офіціанти підносили красивезні коктейлі — тільки давай гроші. Популярних напоїв було три: зелено-білий «Мохіто», полуничний «Дайкірі» у келиху із зацукрованим краєм і також легендарний «Секс на пляжі». Останній особливо запам’ятався, адже його подавали у бокалі у формі оголеної жіночої натури. Він був яскравого кольору, помаранчево-вогняний, із купою парасольок, соломинок і ще бозна-чого. Звичайно, всі вони — кожен по-своєму — вдаряли по смакових рецепторах і в голову.
Пройшло багато років, і навряд чи я б про ті коктейлі згадала, якби не взялася читати книжку, яка за відчуттями — ну копія тих напоїв, тільки у текстовій формі! Напевно, це дуже дивне порівняння, але воно дуже точне — на мій погляд. Я саме так відчуваю.
Книжка називається «Sightseeing» (можна перекласти як «Огляд визначних місць»), і написав її тайський автор Rattawut Lapcharoensap. Зверніть увагу, що це чоловік, нам ця інформація потім знадобиться. Твір сучасний, вперше його було опубліковано у 2005 році. В українському перекладі немає, як і немає майже жодної тайської книжки взагалі. Власне, це одна з причин, чому я цікавлюсь тайською літературою: для мене і для українців загалом це малозвідана територія. Якщо хочете, то я бачу це навіть як свого роду читацьку експедицію. Ось я прочитала — і розповідаю вам, що там.
Саме «Sightseeing» я взяла читати, бо хотіла побачити, як тайські автори пишуть зараз. Про інший, більш давній, вже класичний тайський твір я вже писала раніше.
Так от, про «Sightseeing». Неймовірна книжка. Яскрава, вибухова. Вау. Це як замовити всі коктейлі відразу! Це кілька історій про життя людей. Звичайних людей, які у своїй звичності фантастичні. Зрештою, як і кожен з нас. Увесь антураж книжки — це теж парадиз. Спека, туристи, слони, пальми, м��ре, манго і декоративна свинка на повідку — все це так контрастує з «правильністю», «затиснутістю у футляр», наприклад, Європи.
Ось ця хаотичність, вона ж життєдайність, вона ж ірраціональність людської натури, породжує такі прості і такі неймовірні розклади, що я читала — втискалася у крісло, брови на чоло, кусала костяшки пальців — і не могла відірватися. Там таке робиться! Мати василева! Кожне наступне речення — це щось таке, що найменше можна було передбачити. Часто на межі морального й аморального. Займатися сексом на спині у священної тварини слона? Піти до проститутки і взяти з собою дитину, бо малий дуже просився? Як вам таке?..
Але це тільки перший шар. І це знову схоже на коктейль.
Потім я стала помічати другий шар історій. Вони всі мають дуже глибокий зміст. Наприклад, про те, що — і це у нас спільне з тайцями — покоління людей середнього віку часто мусить бути батьками своїм власним батькам. Або про роль жінок у суспільстві. Про чоловічий егоїзм, через який страждають не так самі чоловіки, як їхні близькі… Це дуже по-особливому звучить з-під пера автора-чоловіка... Про неідеальність кожного з нас і про те, що до життя немає інструкції.
Це дуже класна книжка. І весела, і сумна, і дуже цікава, і розумна. Єдиний її недолік — після неї мені тепер ще довго усі інші твори здаватимуться доволі сірими.
Якщо у вас є можливість, прочитайте. Особливо рекомендую тим, хто любить усе південне і тропічний вибух барв, емоцій та життя в усіх його проявах.
May 21, 2019
This is a quick read, solidly written. I thought the stories were innovative, some were quirky. They had a very straight-forward quality, almost plain; and most were depressing and almost bitter in tone and message. For short stories, the "punchlines" were subtle or nonexistent. A few seemed to drift to some ending point where printed words ceased on the page.
I liked "Sightseeing," "Draft Day," and "Don't Let Me Die in This Place."
And I'll add that the "voice" of the narrators and main characters struck my American ears as quite "American." Aside from the names and settings, these stories could have been readily about American people in American places. I didn't expect this book to be "exotic" or "orientalized" but the milktoast thud and twang read as stark (almost jarring).
I liked "Sightseeing," "Draft Day," and "Don't Let Me Die in This Place."
And I'll add that the "voice" of the narrators and main characters struck my American ears as quite "American." Aside from the names and settings, these stories could have been readily about American people in American places. I didn't expect this book to be "exotic" or "orientalized" but the milktoast thud and twang read as stark (almost jarring).
February 11, 2020
مناقشة الكتاب باللغة العربية: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzT2i...
Around the World project: Thailand.
1) Farangs: The first story that sets the tone. The protagonist is a young by running a beach motel with his mom & keeps falling in love with "farang" or foreigner girls and getting his heart broken, the same way his American dad did to his mom. The narrator is caught between his fascination with westerners & his elders' resentment of them. As Americans especially are often criticized for being ignorant and indifferent to other cultures.
2) At the Cafe Lovely: a story about two siblings dealing with their poor lives in the Thai slums, it's also about grief and how children deal with.
3) Draft Day: a really emotional story about privilege and how it affects two friends, as one of them is destined to avoid the doomed draft thanks to that privilege . It's a coming of age story where young boys fates' are decided by mere luck, whether in the draw or in their connections. It sheds some light on the feelings towards military service. It really touched me.
4) Sightseeing: the "seeing" in this story's name is quite ironic. This story broke my heart. I thought of my mother and our relationship and her age and what comes with that. Though this story which is mainly about change could be about a mother in any country, the described scenery made it feel more... Thai.
5) Priscilla the Cambodian: a story about Cambodian immigrants in Thailand & one of their small communities and how they touched a boy's heart through the golden smile of Priscilla. In this story, the people resist the refugees' arrival and even consider them to bring ruin to their community, with no valid reason. I could totally see this becoming a full-length novel.
6) Don't let me die in this place: The only story with a foreigner protagonist, and we see the Thai people through his eyes. An elderly man living with his son & his son's Thai wife and their kids. It's tragic and heartwarming. It's a story about prejudice and how it changes.
7) Cockfighter: My least favorite story in the collection, though it's the longest. Reading about cockfighting isn't my favorite thing, so though the characters were vibrant as in the other stories, they didn't interest me as much. It's a story about finding one's purpose in life and redemption and dignity, and how men & women see the same issues differently.
This collection is mainly about parent-child relationships where sometimes the roles are reversed. Sometimes our protagonists accept and embrace western and American ideals and sometimes the reject them, sometimes are protagonists are innocent children and sometimes they're old people.
There's humor and politics and Thai atmosphere and settings that show that these stories are happening in Thailand, even if they're discussing some global issues and situations.
Around the World project: Thailand.
1) Farangs: The first story that sets the tone. The protagonist is a young by running a beach motel with his mom & keeps falling in love with "farang" or foreigner girls and getting his heart broken, the same way his American dad did to his mom. The narrator is caught between his fascination with westerners & his elders' resentment of them. As Americans especially are often criticized for being ignorant and indifferent to other cultures.
2) At the Cafe Lovely: a story about two siblings dealing with their poor lives in the Thai slums, it's also about grief and how children deal with.
3) Draft Day: a really emotional story about privilege and how it affects two friends, as one of them is destined to avoid the doomed draft thanks to that privilege . It's a coming of age story where young boys fates' are decided by mere luck, whether in the draw or in their connections. It sheds some light on the feelings towards military service. It really touched me.
4) Sightseeing: the "seeing" in this story's name is quite ironic. This story broke my heart. I thought of my mother and our relationship and her age and what comes with that. Though this story which is mainly about change could be about a mother in any country, the described scenery made it feel more... Thai.
5) Priscilla the Cambodian: a story about Cambodian immigrants in Thailand & one of their small communities and how they touched a boy's heart through the golden smile of Priscilla. In this story, the people resist the refugees' arrival and even consider them to bring ruin to their community, with no valid reason. I could totally see this becoming a full-length novel.
6) Don't let me die in this place: The only story with a foreigner protagonist, and we see the Thai people through his eyes. An elderly man living with his son & his son's Thai wife and their kids. It's tragic and heartwarming. It's a story about prejudice and how it changes.
7) Cockfighter: My least favorite story in the collection, though it's the longest. Reading about cockfighting isn't my favorite thing, so though the characters were vibrant as in the other stories, they didn't interest me as much. It's a story about finding one's purpose in life and redemption and dignity, and how men & women see the same issues differently.
This collection is mainly about parent-child relationships where sometimes the roles are reversed. Sometimes our protagonists accept and embrace western and American ideals and sometimes the reject them, sometimes are protagonists are innocent children and sometimes they're old people.
There's humor and politics and Thai atmosphere and settings that show that these stories are happening in Thailand, even if they're discussing some global issues and situations.
March 6, 2020
Lapcharoensap is able to sensitively and deftly render the perspective of three different characters in the stories which makes up this collection. The first story, ‘Farangs’ explores the relationship between the Thai people and its many foreign visitors from the perspective from a mixed race Thai man. Like many Eastern countries, Thailand is ripe for being fetishised under the Western gaze, however this problem is exacerbated in the case of Thailand and so it is fascinating to look at foreigners from the perspective of somebody who is Thai. The primary focus of the story is on the romantic relationships between Thai people and tourists; firstly its the narrator’s mother, who remains heartbroken and disconsolate after being abandoned by the narrator’s American father and this feeling is echoed in the narrator’s relationships with tourists, who just see him and his feelings as being non-existent and dispensable. This culminates in a battle between the narrator and a friend and a loutish group of Americans whose aggrieved ringleader is exacting his revenge of the narrator’s pig after he finds out that the narrator slept with his girlfriend.
Other highlights include ‘Sightseeing’, which examines the relationship between a mother and her son as she begins to lose her sight and the final story ‘Cockfighter’ which tells the story of an eccentric and proud cockfighter and his tragic run in with a local gangster. The common thread which runs through all of these stories however is a deep sense of humanism as Lapcharoensap is able to paint a sympathetic and well-rounded portrait of his characters, all of whom are, in their own unique ways, struggling to find their identity is a world which too often claims it from them.
Other highlights include ‘Sightseeing’, which examines the relationship between a mother and her son as she begins to lose her sight and the final story ‘Cockfighter’ which tells the story of an eccentric and proud cockfighter and his tragic run in with a local gangster. The common thread which runs through all of these stories however is a deep sense of humanism as Lapcharoensap is able to paint a sympathetic and well-rounded portrait of his characters, all of whom are, in their own unique ways, struggling to find their identity is a world which too often claims it from them.
December 2, 2022
Raccolta di racconti che esplorano la Tailandia contemporanea da un punto di vista intimo, ma anche "caratteristico" (non nel senso di pittoresco, nel senso con caratteristiche legate alle specificità del Paese). Il rapporto tra il gestore di un motel sulla spiaggia e le turiste americane, i sogni di due fratelli che vivono in miseria alla periferia di Bangkok, gli immigrati cambogiani, le lotte di galli.
La scrittura è limpida e semplice, ma riesce a comunicare lo stato d'animo dei personaggi in maniera chiara e incisiva (tutti i racconti sono in prima persona, benché i personaggi siano sempre diversi).
Emerge la Tailandia delle sue contraddizioni, emergono anche, umanissimi, i suoi abitanti.
La scrittura è limpida e semplice, ma riesce a comunicare lo stato d'animo dei personaggi in maniera chiara e incisiva (tutti i racconti sono in prima persona, benché i personaggi siano sempre diversi).
Emerge la Tailandia delle sue contraddizioni, emergono anche, umanissimi, i suoi abitanti.
July 21, 2019
Six short stories and one novella, mostly quite melancholic but with the occasional glimpse of humour or joy. My favourites were the eponymous story, about a mother and son going on vacation to a remote island before the mother loses her vision, and Priscilla the Cambodian, featuring a feisty, world-weary Cambodian child-refugee with a mouth full of gold.
March 6, 2021
Sightseeing is one of the most original and unique story debuts from the 2000s decade. Lapcharoensap does an excellent job capturing the shades of life, expat or local, Thai or otherwise, in Thailand. Much like Prabda Yoon, Lapcharoensap does not shy away from the difficulties of life for locals in a tourist trap destination, but unlike Yoon, he resorts to a simple and yet naturalistic styling to represent the complexities of his subject matter. My favorite story is “Farang,” which details a Thai local’s fling with a foreigner with pathos and humor.
Lapcharoensap is assuredly one of the writers of his generation to most follow. It is a shame he has written so little, but I eagerly await his next book, in the hope that he someday actualizes the promise on display here.
Lapcharoensap is assuredly one of the writers of his generation to most follow. It is a shame he has written so little, but I eagerly await his next book, in the hope that he someday actualizes the promise on display here.
August 7, 2023
Wieder mal ein Kurzgeschichtenband, der mir richtig gut gefiel. Hat mir die Thailänder auf jeden Fall näher gebracht. Richtig passende Urlaubslektüre.
January 13, 2009
Lapcharoensap was 26 when he published this compilation of short stories. Born in Chicago and raised in Bangkok, he was educated in Cornell and Michigan. He has a series of honors for his works and his story was even published in Granta, a prestigious literary journal.
I believe his background has allowed him to observe the native life of Thai people from different angles and views.
His was a voice, feeling and soul of a Thai youth, adult, deranged, quirky. His stories takes you to the hidden layers of Thai. "Cockfighting" might be the truest colors of all, I'd say. Although "Farang" would caught your eyes and feelings if you're a foreigner with the power of Dollar, Euro and Yen.
Vivid, colorful and layered are his writings. You would feel like you're transferred to the daily buzz of Bangkok and Thailand once you're chewing his words.
Quite a talent, I'd say.
I wonder though, why Ayu Utami nor NH. Dini didn't make it to Granta? I hope the mere reason would be their choice of written language.
P.S.: "Sightseeing" is more like a foreigner's reading, since it was written in English. (said a second hand book store staff where I got my copy from).
I believe his background has allowed him to observe the native life of Thai people from different angles and views.
His was a voice, feeling and soul of a Thai youth, adult, deranged, quirky. His stories takes you to the hidden layers of Thai. "Cockfighting" might be the truest colors of all, I'd say. Although "Farang" would caught your eyes and feelings if you're a foreigner with the power of Dollar, Euro and Yen.
Vivid, colorful and layered are his writings. You would feel like you're transferred to the daily buzz of Bangkok and Thailand once you're chewing his words.
Quite a talent, I'd say.
I wonder though, why Ayu Utami nor NH. Dini didn't make it to Granta? I hope the mere reason would be their choice of written language.
P.S.: "Sightseeing" is more like a foreigner's reading, since it was written in English. (said a second hand book store staff where I got my copy from).
October 28, 2016
An engaging collection of stories centered around Thai characters. Lapcharoensap creates wonderfully unique, young voices that touch on everything from family relationships to global trade's impact on Thailand. Each one of the seven stories in this volume captured me in different ways, but all of them felt incredibly real. Pretty darn close to a five-star reading.
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WORDS I LEARNED FROM THIS BOOK:
farangs | rambutans | huakhuai (I guess I didn't learn this one since I wasn't able to find a definition anywhere) | kratoey
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WORDS I LEARNED FROM THIS BOOK:
farangs | rambutans | huakhuai (I guess I didn't learn this one since I wasn't able to find a definition anywhere) | kratoey
November 11, 2020
Totally captivating collection of short stories! A Thai-American writer, but the stories are pure Thailand and set at the heart of the culture. Maybe it is partly because I have lived here for so long now that they really resonate,and for me, it doesn’t get much better than this.
November 20, 2015
I've been reading this while vacationing in Thailand, a big stinkin' Farang myself, even using the word, proudly, with my taxi driver yesterday. Way ta go, self.
Anyways, perhaps even more so because I'm on the other side of the divide presently, I found myself craving more from each character in most of the stories, as if the "tour" (something each story here certainly isn't, but it becomes tempting to read them as such) were too short. Usually Lapcharoensap finds and settles on a compelling image to end with-- an image of motion that makes an argument about the ongoing conflict of real lives, and I suppose those kind of endings can work in a collection like this, where there are certainly dramatic plot elements but the larger questions are internal... how to navigate the world, esp. since it's a world that directs you wherever it wants, following its inexplicable wills. (In "Cockfighting," the game metaphor-- all the world's a game, and... -- might at first appear be trite, superficial, but isn't, really, in that context-- seems so important a realization to Ladda. Because she sees that loving is the hardest game, it becomes the one that she works hardest at).
When I finally get to Ladda, I'm relieved to stay with her, as if I'm eating for the first time all day. As if the other stories were the many glasses of water I'd been drinking, waiting for the meal to come. Which is probably why "Cockfighter," the novella (?), is my favorite. I'll be looking forward to reading longer works by Lapcharoensap, since, as I've mentioned, the more important struggles are internal and, I think, take some more time to tease apart (to whatever degree you can tease those things apart). In a recent interview of his with Yuka Igarashi @ Granta, L. writes: "You can't take a vacation from the self, and all of that cheery stuff. I have a beloved uncle in Bangkok who -- upon being informed that I was going to Angkor Wat for the first time -- simply pointed out his window and said, 'If you want to see some rocks and trees and mud, you don't have to go to Cambodia. You can just step outside of my house.' Which is a gentler way of saying the same thing, I suppose. Sooner rather than later you're always confronted by the hollow ring of the enterprise. And that hollow ringing, more often than not, is being issued from nowhere else but the cavernous recesses of your very own self."
Which is probably why I began this reflection so self-consciously. Which means Lapcharoensap has probably done his job pretty well.
Anyways, perhaps even more so because I'm on the other side of the divide presently, I found myself craving more from each character in most of the stories, as if the "tour" (something each story here certainly isn't, but it becomes tempting to read them as such) were too short. Usually Lapcharoensap finds and settles on a compelling image to end with-- an image of motion that makes an argument about the ongoing conflict of real lives, and I suppose those kind of endings can work in a collection like this, where there are certainly dramatic plot elements but the larger questions are internal... how to navigate the world, esp. since it's a world that directs you wherever it wants, following its inexplicable wills. (In "Cockfighting," the game metaphor-- all the world's a game, and... -- might at first appear be trite, superficial, but isn't, really, in that context-- seems so important a realization to Ladda. Because she sees that loving is the hardest game, it becomes the one that she works hardest at).
When I finally get to Ladda, I'm relieved to stay with her, as if I'm eating for the first time all day. As if the other stories were the many glasses of water I'd been drinking, waiting for the meal to come. Which is probably why "Cockfighter," the novella (?), is my favorite. I'll be looking forward to reading longer works by Lapcharoensap, since, as I've mentioned, the more important struggles are internal and, I think, take some more time to tease apart (to whatever degree you can tease those things apart). In a recent interview of his with Yuka Igarashi @ Granta, L. writes: "You can't take a vacation from the self, and all of that cheery stuff. I have a beloved uncle in Bangkok who -- upon being informed that I was going to Angkor Wat for the first time -- simply pointed out his window and said, 'If you want to see some rocks and trees and mud, you don't have to go to Cambodia. You can just step outside of my house.' Which is a gentler way of saying the same thing, I suppose. Sooner rather than later you're always confronted by the hollow ring of the enterprise. And that hollow ringing, more often than not, is being issued from nowhere else but the cavernous recesses of your very own self."
Which is probably why I began this reflection so self-consciously. Which means Lapcharoensap has probably done his job pretty well.
January 21, 2017
[4.5 stars]
Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap is an exploration, through finely crafted short stories of the inhabitants of Thailand and their journey to self-discovery. The collection focuses more on the poverty-stricken which I found very enlightening having never formerly met this area of Thailand even after visiting the place ~16 times in my lifetime.
The stories will leave you gasping for air, not fully grasping the weight of each of them until given a second. My emotions were wrought, shaken and put out to dry over the entire collection and I couldn't fathom how this could be done in such a short number of pages with the characters. Sightseeing is oddly feminist, which was a welcome surprise, in that you do not realise the strength of these women over their male counterparts until the very last page. Lapcharoensap's major tying theme to the story is the role-reversal of parent-child where the child is supporting the parent. I couldn't put this one down and only the title story fell flat for me and I still enjoyed that one while reading. If I could name favourites they would be 'Farangs', 'At the Cafe Lovely', 'Don't Let Me Die In This Place' and 'Cockfighter'. Keep in mind there are only 7 stories and so to say 4 of them REALLY stood out shows how good the collection is. Read it. I couldn't put it down. Oh and also, if you have the edition with the discussion questions near the end don't skim over those. You'll realise that the the book was not only enthralling but deep with its exploration of themes in the most subtle manner.
This is by far the best short-story collection I have ever read though, disclaimer, that total number amounts to 3 collections so my word isn't very powerful haha. However, Sightseeing will set the standard for any collections coming my way in the future and has rekindled my excitement to read collections after a very disappointing start to the journey.
Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap is an exploration, through finely crafted short stories of the inhabitants of Thailand and their journey to self-discovery. The collection focuses more on the poverty-stricken which I found very enlightening having never formerly met this area of Thailand even after visiting the place ~16 times in my lifetime.
The stories will leave you gasping for air, not fully grasping the weight of each of them until given a second. My emotions were wrought, shaken and put out to dry over the entire collection and I couldn't fathom how this could be done in such a short number of pages with the characters. Sightseeing is oddly feminist, which was a welcome surprise, in that you do not realise the strength of these women over their male counterparts until the very last page. Lapcharoensap's major tying theme to the story is the role-reversal of parent-child where the child is supporting the parent. I couldn't put this one down and only the title story fell flat for me and I still enjoyed that one while reading. If I could name favourites they would be 'Farangs', 'At the Cafe Lovely', 'Don't Let Me Die In This Place' and 'Cockfighter'. Keep in mind there are only 7 stories and so to say 4 of them REALLY stood out shows how good the collection is. Read it. I couldn't put it down. Oh and also, if you have the edition with the discussion questions near the end don't skim over those. You'll realise that the the book was not only enthralling but deep with its exploration of themes in the most subtle manner.
This is by far the best short-story collection I have ever read though, disclaimer, that total number amounts to 3 collections so my word isn't very powerful haha. However, Sightseeing will set the standard for any collections coming my way in the future and has rekindled my excitement to read collections after a very disappointing start to the journey.
January 5, 2016
Rattawat Lapcharoensap writes with both compassion and maturity and his Sightseeing is a wonderfully self-assured collection of short stories from a first time writer.
All but one of the stories are written from the point of view of teenagers coming to terms with a confusing adult world. And although the setting for each story is Thailand, Lapcharoensap steers well clear of the kind of exoticism that bedevils most South-East Asian literature. Indeed, the Thailand of the tourist brochure is roundly mocked in the opening story Farangs. Says a hotel proprietor, tourists only want "pussy and elephant":
"You give them history, temples, pagadas, traditional dance, floating markets, seafood curry, tapioca desserts, silk-weaving cooperatives, but all they really want is to to ride some hulking gray beast like a bunch of wildmen and to pant over girls and to lie there half-dead geting skin cancer on the beach during the time in between."
There's a gritty social realism in his choice of settings: a down-market brothel, a smouldering rubbish-dump, a refugee shanty, cockpits, with many of the characters living on the edge in economic terms. Lapcharoensap has his characters speak in a street-smart, vernacular language which eliminates the distance still further.
In a collection this strong, it's hard to pick favourites. But I won't easily forget the poignant tale of a son taking his mother on one last holiday before she looses her sight in the title story, and the agonising betrayal of a childhood friendship in Draft. And the last story in the book, Cockfighter - at 80 pages more a novella than a short story - is a real heart-stopper.
I've not felt this enthusiastic about a short story collection since Jhumpa Lahiri's The Interpreter of Maladies . And if I were still teaching literature at college level, I'd choose this as a set-text for sure.
All but one of the stories are written from the point of view of teenagers coming to terms with a confusing adult world. And although the setting for each story is Thailand, Lapcharoensap steers well clear of the kind of exoticism that bedevils most South-East Asian literature. Indeed, the Thailand of the tourist brochure is roundly mocked in the opening story Farangs. Says a hotel proprietor, tourists only want "pussy and elephant":
"You give them history, temples, pagadas, traditional dance, floating markets, seafood curry, tapioca desserts, silk-weaving cooperatives, but all they really want is to to ride some hulking gray beast like a bunch of wildmen and to pant over girls and to lie there half-dead geting skin cancer on the beach during the time in between."
There's a gritty social realism in his choice of settings: a down-market brothel, a smouldering rubbish-dump, a refugee shanty, cockpits, with many of the characters living on the edge in economic terms. Lapcharoensap has his characters speak in a street-smart, vernacular language which eliminates the distance still further.
In a collection this strong, it's hard to pick favourites. But I won't easily forget the poignant tale of a son taking his mother on one last holiday before she looses her sight in the title story, and the agonising betrayal of a childhood friendship in Draft. And the last story in the book, Cockfighter - at 80 pages more a novella than a short story - is a real heart-stopper.
I've not felt this enthusiastic about a short story collection since Jhumpa Lahiri's The Interpreter of Maladies . And if I were still teaching literature at college level, I'd choose this as a set-text for sure.
March 24, 2010
I thought this breathtaking when I read it first, when it came out in 2004. Written by a Thai-American, it gives us insight into how Westerners are are perceived by some Asians, as well as just being a very witty and insightful look at the human condition, whereever one happens to grow up.
August 5, 2025
A strong mixture of short stories that were a mixture of dark, humourous, gut wrenching and heart warming - well observed and highlighting overlooked and often stereotyped dynamics and contexts - 3.5
December 31, 2021
This is a collection of short stories which focus on complex family relationships. Although set in a culture not very familiar to me, the themes are universal. The writing is strong.
April 21, 2023
very enjoyable! loved learning more about thailand from the perspective of locals as opposed to that of farangs. loved the short story format, the writing was so good, i was sucked into every single one!
July 23, 2022
I loved each of these short stories—a first. I loved that they focused on intimate family relationships to explore complicated, non-romantic(!!) emotions: a college-bound son and his going-blind single mother, a younger and older brother coping after their father's death, kids witnessing their parents' prejudice toward refugee neighbors, family friends divided by a class-rigged draft, a daughter losing her dad to pride and cockfighting, even the plague of white tourist trash on a dude and his pet pig.
I loved the landscape and nostalgia shaped by the author's Thai background, and the universally Asian experiences in the specificity of their daily lives. I loved the aunties and mamas and the delicate urgency in showing how adolescents, often children, negotiate the good and bad around them.
These stories are told as easily as you or I breathe. I especially loved the easygoing conversation and humor that filled these pages despite serious subject matter, the way this, in fact, makes writing real above all else. (In direct contrast to dry cinematic melodrama.) What a treasure to sit at the foot of a master storyteller and just listen.
And lastly, I love best that Lapcharoensap did his MFW, published this stellar national bestseller, approved the dozen international translations, moved to Wyoming (and now Brooklyn) to teach and never published another book again. A legend. I really try not to use the word "love" lightly these days, but I really, really can't emphasize enough how much I appreciated all of these stories.
I loved the landscape and nostalgia shaped by the author's Thai background, and the universally Asian experiences in the specificity of their daily lives. I loved the aunties and mamas and the delicate urgency in showing how adolescents, often children, negotiate the good and bad around them.
These stories are told as easily as you or I breathe. I especially loved the easygoing conversation and humor that filled these pages despite serious subject matter, the way this, in fact, makes writing real above all else. (In direct contrast to dry cinematic melodrama.) What a treasure to sit at the foot of a master storyteller and just listen.
And lastly, I love best that Lapcharoensap did his MFW, published this stellar national bestseller, approved the dozen international translations, moved to Wyoming (and now Brooklyn) to teach and never published another book again. A legend. I really try not to use the word "love" lightly these days, but I really, really can't emphasize enough how much I appreciated all of these stories.
June 3, 2025
Overall I really liked this collection. The biggest thing I noticed while reading it is that while the author certainly doesn’t cater at all to the western perspective when explaining or examining things, the writing itself is so Next Great American Novel (which makes sense given that he has an MFA from Michigan) that I felt catered to. Like when I read the first sentence of the novel, I knew I was gonna like it, and that’s bc it sounded like many of the other American books I love. (To be clear this isn’t a criticism, just an observation.)
As for the last story - I guess I get that it was about masculinity and feminism but like are bras and lingerie and boobs really the only symbols for feminism? And why is that when male authors write from the perspective of women they are always talking about their breasts. Like never once have I thought about my boobs to the extent that women written by men do.
As for the last story - I guess I get that it was about masculinity and feminism but like are bras and lingerie and boobs really the only symbols for feminism? And why is that when male authors write from the perspective of women they are always talking about their breasts. Like never once have I thought about my boobs to the extent that women written by men do.
April 25, 2025
In my travels I often try to read local fiction. I would often go to bookshops and ask for a novel that reflects the country, city or area that I was visiting. Asking for the ‘great (name place) novel’ would often stimulate great conversation. Whenever I meet travellers from different countries I often ask for a novel or novelist who best reflects their country.
Sightseeing is a collection of seven short stories written by a young American-Thai author. Each story has a unique Thai setting and a range of characters. Very much a read to capture the essence of Thai society and culture.
‘Farangs’, on a Thai island a young Thai/American boy sees the limitations of his relationships with visiting farang girls. Many locals are scornful of the tourists.
‘At the Café Lovely’ brothers seeking the delights of burghers, girls, drugs and motor bikes while trying to escape the grief of their widowed mother.
‘Draft Day’ military service and the insidious corruption that exists all over Thailand.
‘Sightseeing’ a mother going blind, her relationship with her son, bargaining at the famous Chatuchak market. Family is so important.
‘Priscilla the Cambodian’ Westerners don’t have a monopoly on prejudice and racism towards outsiders. Cambodian refugees living day to day in a settlement on outskirts of a Thai town. A young Cambodian girl stands toe to toe against two local youths.
‘Don’t Let Me Die in this Place’, my favourite an American ex-pat brings his ailing father to live with him and his Thai family. An unsentimental story about the cultural divide between farang and Thai.
‘Cockfight’ is more a novella than a short story. A Thai teenager living in a village with her cock-fighting father and undergarment making mother. The sinister power of gangsters in Thai countryside.
Sightseeing gives the reader images of Thailand far removed from the tourist brochures and YouTube videos that is the public face of Thailand. Rattawut Lapchroensap has a clear eye and is an astute observer of Thai life. One gains a sense of the inequalities of Thai life while being amused and challenged
Sightseeing is a collection of seven short stories written by a young American-Thai author. Each story has a unique Thai setting and a range of characters. Very much a read to capture the essence of Thai society and culture.
‘Farangs’, on a Thai island a young Thai/American boy sees the limitations of his relationships with visiting farang girls. Many locals are scornful of the tourists.
‘At the Café Lovely’ brothers seeking the delights of burghers, girls, drugs and motor bikes while trying to escape the grief of their widowed mother.
‘Draft Day’ military service and the insidious corruption that exists all over Thailand.
‘Sightseeing’ a mother going blind, her relationship with her son, bargaining at the famous Chatuchak market. Family is so important.
‘Priscilla the Cambodian’ Westerners don’t have a monopoly on prejudice and racism towards outsiders. Cambodian refugees living day to day in a settlement on outskirts of a Thai town. A young Cambodian girl stands toe to toe against two local youths.
‘Don’t Let Me Die in this Place’, my favourite an American ex-pat brings his ailing father to live with him and his Thai family. An unsentimental story about the cultural divide between farang and Thai.
‘Cockfight’ is more a novella than a short story. A Thai teenager living in a village with her cock-fighting father and undergarment making mother. The sinister power of gangsters in Thai countryside.
Sightseeing gives the reader images of Thailand far removed from the tourist brochures and YouTube videos that is the public face of Thailand. Rattawut Lapchroensap has a clear eye and is an astute observer of Thai life. One gains a sense of the inequalities of Thai life while being amused and challenged
March 11, 2017
3.75 stars, rounded up because I can. Don't tell me what to do.
I chose Sightseeing to represent Thailand in my read around the world challenge. Looking up reviews of this book, I found an academic article that posits Sightseeing may have been written as a response to expatriate writers:
I am actually really terrible at seeing overarching themes in works unless it is bludgeoned into my head using very simple words, repeatedly. For all that I read, I was an awful English major. Often, I am too taken by the small details of a story (or collection of stories, as in this case) to really pull meaning from in between the lines. My notes are just a amalgamation of half-finished thoughts on each chapter, so take from this what you will.
Farangs
Foreigners, tourists: our main character, half-thai, half-white, falls in love with all of the pretty girls from America or England or somewhere vaguely European, every time. His mother despairs, as she knows the heartache of loving a farang and then being left by them - that's how she got her son, after all. This boy and his friend throw mangoes at this farang's boyfriend, in the end. Clint Eastwood, the pig, is the star of the story.
untranslated Thai word: luk (internet searches tell me it is a word for people of half-thai origin, usually thai & white which seems weird to use as an endearment for your own kid)
At the Cafe Lovely
Oh man, throwing up all over McDonald's after his first ever bite of a hamburger - I can't say I totally blame him. I will never be objective about someone's disgust for cheese, though. I'm emotionally compromised by my love of it. Plus, the cheese on a McDonald's burger (and if it is even the same in Thailand as it is here) barely qualifies anyway.
favorite quote: "It seemed Pa's death had made our mother a curious spectator of her own life, though when I think of her now I wonder if she was simply waiting for us to notice her grief. But we were just children, Anek and I, and when children learn to acknowledge the gravity of their loved ones' sorrows they're no longer children."
untranslated Thai word: sophaeni (a brothel)
Draft Day
I actually know a little about Thailand's current military lottery when it comes to enlistment. I can thank Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul (and his low-slung nipples) for that. He was not chosen, as it happens, and I do wonder if there was any money changing hands for him as there was for the character in this story. At the time he was called, Nichkhun was at the starting point in his career. It would have been a waste, monetarily, for him to be out of commission for two years just as 2PM was really starting to gain traction.
untranslated Thai word: kratoey (this seems to be a catch-all term for drag queens, homosexual and MtF transsexual people. The usage in this particular story is vague, but seems to be a a drag queen based on pronouns and genderized clothing.)
Sightseeing
The eponymous tale. Descriptions were very useful in creating a better concept of Thai geography (alongside a google map), at least in the southern end of the country.
"I can't quite believe this because I never believe anything I won't be around to see."
Every time I read a story about haggling at markets, I am awed and amazed at the prowess the characters show. The idea of doing such a thing, to combine psychological manipulation, flattery and outright lying in a string of words on the fly is baffling to me. My cold capitalist upbringing is aghast.
Priscilla the Cambodian
Ah, racism and colorism and a child's misunderstanding of what Khmer Rouge is. Horrifying in its naiveté. Seeing Priscilla beat the narrator's friend for throwing rocks at her shanty when she warned them against it was my favorite part. Her ferocity is exceptional.
It looks like the "go back to where you came from" mentality is the same the whole world 'round - the quiet resignation of the Cambodian refugees when the townspeople burn their makeshift village to the ground is impactful, especially in light of my country's own questionable treatment of similar peoples.
Don't Let Me Die In This Place
You know, it's hard to sympathize with a man who calls his own grandchildren mongrels just because they're biracial. Even as we watch him work through his emotions regarding his son and his foreign daughter-in-law and the helplessness of his broken body after a debilitating stroke, it's a struggle to feel sorry because first impressions, of people or characters, are very formative.
The Cockfighter
Because I am actually a twelve year old boy, mentally speaking, the opening line makes me giggle: "Papa kept losing with his cocks."
Emotionally, the story goes downhill from there. Ladda's mother reveals an open family secret about her father's luckless sister, which is then compounded by the constant struggle against Big Jui, their town's criminal boss and Little Jui, his ridiculous, fuckface of a son. Little Jui reminded me of Helmeppo without the redemption arc, swaggering around and using his bodyguards like blunt instruments.
"... what does Little Jui want from you anyway?"
"I don't know," I said. "But I swear I'm gonna move his asshole to where his face is."
Ah, if only.
I chose Sightseeing to represent Thailand in my read around the world challenge. Looking up reviews of this book, I found an academic article that posits Sightseeing may have been written as a response to expatriate writers:
"The typical gaze of these writers and their narrators--who are thrown into a strange world of drugs, corruption, sex, and Thai characters that "speak in aphorisms, like a Zen master" (7)--can be characterized as that of the independent tourist."It's a compelling argument - the glitz of touristy Bangkok is entirely absent, shades of the drugs, corruption and sex are in the background, but not the focus. And honestly, what country doesn't have its own version of those three anyway?
I am actually really terrible at seeing overarching themes in works unless it is bludgeoned into my head using very simple words, repeatedly. For all that I read, I was an awful English major. Often, I am too taken by the small details of a story (or collection of stories, as in this case) to really pull meaning from in between the lines. My notes are just a amalgamation of half-finished thoughts on each chapter, so take from this what you will.
Farangs
Foreigners, tourists: our main character, half-thai, half-white, falls in love with all of the pretty girls from America or England or somewhere vaguely European, every time. His mother despairs, as she knows the heartache of loving a farang and then being left by them - that's how she got her son, after all. This boy and his friend throw mangoes at this farang's boyfriend, in the end. Clint Eastwood, the pig, is the star of the story.
untranslated Thai word: luk (internet searches tell me it is a word for people of half-thai origin, usually thai & white which seems weird to use as an endearment for your own kid)
At the Cafe Lovely
Oh man, throwing up all over McDonald's after his first ever bite of a hamburger - I can't say I totally blame him. I will never be objective about someone's disgust for cheese, though. I'm emotionally compromised by my love of it. Plus, the cheese on a McDonald's burger (and if it is even the same in Thailand as it is here) barely qualifies anyway.
favorite quote: "It seemed Pa's death had made our mother a curious spectator of her own life, though when I think of her now I wonder if she was simply waiting for us to notice her grief. But we were just children, Anek and I, and when children learn to acknowledge the gravity of their loved ones' sorrows they're no longer children."
untranslated Thai word: sophaeni (a brothel)
Draft Day
I actually know a little about Thailand's current military lottery when it comes to enlistment. I can thank Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul (and his low-slung nipples) for that. He was not chosen, as it happens, and I do wonder if there was any money changing hands for him as there was for the character in this story. At the time he was called, Nichkhun was at the starting point in his career. It would have been a waste, monetarily, for him to be out of commission for two years just as 2PM was really starting to gain traction.
untranslated Thai word: kratoey (this seems to be a catch-all term for drag queens, homosexual and MtF transsexual people. The usage in this particular story is vague, but seems to be a a drag queen based on pronouns and genderized clothing.)
Sightseeing
The eponymous tale. Descriptions were very useful in creating a better concept of Thai geography (alongside a google map), at least in the southern end of the country.
"I can't quite believe this because I never believe anything I won't be around to see."
Every time I read a story about haggling at markets, I am awed and amazed at the prowess the characters show. The idea of doing such a thing, to combine psychological manipulation, flattery and outright lying in a string of words on the fly is baffling to me. My cold capitalist upbringing is aghast.
Priscilla the Cambodian
Ah, racism and colorism and a child's misunderstanding of what Khmer Rouge is. Horrifying in its naiveté. Seeing Priscilla beat the narrator's friend for throwing rocks at her shanty when she warned them against it was my favorite part. Her ferocity is exceptional.
It looks like the "go back to where you came from" mentality is the same the whole world 'round - the quiet resignation of the Cambodian refugees when the townspeople burn their makeshift village to the ground is impactful, especially in light of my country's own questionable treatment of similar peoples.
Don't Let Me Die In This Place
You know, it's hard to sympathize with a man who calls his own grandchildren mongrels just because they're biracial. Even as we watch him work through his emotions regarding his son and his foreign daughter-in-law and the helplessness of his broken body after a debilitating stroke, it's a struggle to feel sorry because first impressions, of people or characters, are very formative.
The Cockfighter
Because I am actually a twelve year old boy, mentally speaking, the opening line makes me giggle: "Papa kept losing with his cocks."
Emotionally, the story goes downhill from there. Ladda's mother reveals an open family secret about her father's luckless sister, which is then compounded by the constant struggle against Big Jui, their town's criminal boss and Little Jui, his ridiculous, fuckface of a son. Little Jui reminded me of Helmeppo without the redemption arc, swaggering around and using his bodyguards like blunt instruments.
"... what does Little Jui want from you anyway?"
"I don't know," I said. "But I swear I'm gonna move his asshole to where his face is."
Ah, if only.
July 4, 2023
Este es el libro que quisiera leer de todos los países del mundo. Un libro de relatos e historias cortos, independientes, cada una ambientada en un lugar distinto de Tailandia, explorando diversos temas, desenvolviéndose dentro del día a día tailandés. Cuestiones humanas y universales, ubicadas en la cultural local.
Mi historia favorita fue “Dont let me die in this place”. Un expat en la vejez, incapacitado por una parálisis, que vive con su hijo y su familia. Una historia sobre cuidado narrada desde la persona que está siendo cuidada, con pérdida de independencia, en un ambiente totalmente desconocido y caótico como es Bangkok. Un brochazo de reflexiones sobre racismo, familia, homosexualidad, amistad, amor.
Me encantó!
Mi historia favorita fue “Dont let me die in this place”. Un expat en la vejez, incapacitado por una parálisis, que vive con su hijo y su familia. Una historia sobre cuidado narrada desde la persona que está siendo cuidada, con pérdida de independencia, en un ambiente totalmente desconocido y caótico como es Bangkok. Un brochazo de reflexiones sobre racismo, familia, homosexualidad, amistad, amor.
Me encantó!
January 13, 2025
Lapcharoensap writes a compelling collection of frightening and beautiful stories about coming of age, family, and love, in the rough setting of Thailand. He’s an incredible storyteller and holds nothing back when exploring the gritty realities of poverty, immigration, and aging. These stories are tough yet relatable for anyone who has grown up and seen sin, yet appreciates the beauty in friendship that makes life worth living despite this broken world.
This is not a book for readers easily scandalized by stories of brothels and cockfighting, but if you give it a chance to pull you into the lives of these young Thai people navigating the hardships of life, your heart will be warm with stories of redemption.
I absolutely loved this book and will pick it up again!
This is not a book for readers easily scandalized by stories of brothels and cockfighting, but if you give it a chance to pull you into the lives of these young Thai people navigating the hardships of life, your heart will be warm with stories of redemption.
I absolutely loved this book and will pick it up again!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 442 reviews