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Teacher Narit
A story told in three parts, Teacher Narit is a historical novel centering on the main protagonist, Narit, a mysterious civil war veteran who escaped the capital in the 70s to start a new life as a history teacher in northern Thailand. Once a young, idealistic postgraduate student and activist during one of Thailand’ s blackest periods, The 14th October 1973 revolution, Narit embarked on a turbulent relationship that led him to battle a war of conscience, love, and political allegiance; a war that ended in pain and disillusion for both him and his family-leaving him embittered, running from his past. However, it is in northern Thailand, that a chance encounter with his first love forces him to confront his demons, and Narit is made to choose between seeking forgiveness or fleeing once more.
234 pages, Paperback
Published July 31, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 7, 2023
Surprised to find this book not receiving enough traction from readers here.
#TeacherNarit by #PamdaBure is a must read. It’s a historical novel written on the University students’ revolution against the Military Junta in Thailand. 2 significant dates 14 October 1973 and 6 October 1976 became watershed in the history of Thai politics.
Writer Pamba Bure has constructed the story based on these historical events. The before and after timelines converge in the present day.
Teacher Narit was one of the student revolutionary leaders who led the movement in ousting the military dictatorship and reinstating a democratic constitution upheld by a prime minister in the nation.
The protests were held at Democracy Monument and eventually advanced to the royal palace.
Narit was one of the student demonstrators arrested under the false charges of communism by the military generals. The popular uprising thus had begun at full force.
The events conspired against the #ThammasatUniversity students that resulted in bloodshed and massacres in the second darkest period- Oct 1976.
Propaganda against the student activists became rampant. Deep seated hatred for communists were used to provoke village scouts in defeating the students.
The war criminals : Thanom Kittikachorn, Praphas Charusathien and Narong retreated into exile.
Teacher Narit, the protagonist in the story becomes a ghost in the system, he changes his identity and becomes a teacher to kindle sparks of activism among present day students he was teaching.
At the heart of it all was Narit’s love affair with the tyrannical military general’s niece. The relationship had to be sacrificed to keep Narit’s younger sister safe.
Times changed and decades later, Narit meets his former lover again in a rather distressing situation.
I enjoyed reading this story. Gave me the opportunity to read up further about this particular segment of Thai history 🇹🇭
Borrowed a copy from @publiclibrarysg
@pamda_bure @penguinbookssea #penguinsg #thailiterature #publiclibrarysg #sgbookstagram #bookstagram #igreads #read #book #penguinbookssea #bookrecommendations #bookreview #readersofinstagram #bookreviewer #bookblogger
#TeacherNarit by #PamdaBure is a must read. It’s a historical novel written on the University students’ revolution against the Military Junta in Thailand. 2 significant dates 14 October 1973 and 6 October 1976 became watershed in the history of Thai politics.
Writer Pamba Bure has constructed the story based on these historical events. The before and after timelines converge in the present day.
Teacher Narit was one of the student revolutionary leaders who led the movement in ousting the military dictatorship and reinstating a democratic constitution upheld by a prime minister in the nation.
The protests were held at Democracy Monument and eventually advanced to the royal palace.
Narit was one of the student demonstrators arrested under the false charges of communism by the military generals. The popular uprising thus had begun at full force.
The events conspired against the #ThammasatUniversity students that resulted in bloodshed and massacres in the second darkest period- Oct 1976.
Propaganda against the student activists became rampant. Deep seated hatred for communists were used to provoke village scouts in defeating the students.
The war criminals : Thanom Kittikachorn, Praphas Charusathien and Narong retreated into exile.
Teacher Narit, the protagonist in the story becomes a ghost in the system, he changes his identity and becomes a teacher to kindle sparks of activism among present day students he was teaching.
At the heart of it all was Narit’s love affair with the tyrannical military general’s niece. The relationship had to be sacrificed to keep Narit’s younger sister safe.
Times changed and decades later, Narit meets his former lover again in a rather distressing situation.
I enjoyed reading this story. Gave me the opportunity to read up further about this particular segment of Thai history 🇹🇭
Borrowed a copy from @publiclibrarysg
@pamda_bure @penguinbookssea #penguinsg #thailiterature #publiclibrarysg #sgbookstagram #bookstagram #igreads #read #book #penguinbookssea #bookrecommendations #bookreview #readersofinstagram #bookreviewer #bookblogger
July 1, 2023
This is a fantastic story!
Bure weaves together her characters, their thoughts and their emotions so well.
Not to mention snippets of social commentary, like why corruption flourishes in certain countries.
It took me a few pages to get a bead on the different characters, but once I did I was sold.
Narit is an interesting character, he felt consistent throughout the novel as he navigated turbulent events and had to make hard decisions.
What a guy though, dropping his commitments everywhere he went.
I resonate with the character ( I happen to be a History teacher myself) and points to Bure for the interesting lesson that Narit gives his kids about the October revolution, the way he teaches that day would certainly get the attention of a group of kids.
I finished the book feeling emotionally charged, I wondered until the end, what will HE do?
Man, there’s a lot I want to say about this story, I’ll sum up some highlights here:
1. It’s a breathe of fresh air for its storytelling.
2. Some hints of Thai culture are peppered throughout too: referring to “Mai-pen-rai.”
3. On pg.110 Narit gives a small discourse on the importance of schooling, he illustrated a young girl who never got the chance at an education and finished with a line that I’ll be using this upcoming school year with my own students: “When you have very little education, you’d often give in to outside forces because you don’t know enough to go against them.”
4. On pg. 132 an old man lectures the stubborn yet knowledgeable Narit as to the mistake he and his friends might be making when pushing for Democracy.
In his words: “You’re wrong. All men are not equal because something of a democratic decree enables it. In the west, constitution is sacred. It doesn’t change so easily. But here, constitution is still a living document. A rule book that can be ripped up and rewritten. Don’t buy it, Democracy.”
He goes on to say, “ …there are countless reasons those high erect pricks want the grassroots to remain stupid. There is always a need for somebody cheap to wash your clothes, to clean your house.”
- I’ve reflected a lot on these two points, and still am. Bure is pretty thoughtful for adding them into her novel.
I could have done with a lot more of this kind of social commentary in the book.
I just bought this book last week in Bangkok on a whim, the price almost scared me away but man am I glad I gave it a chance.
I’ll be looking forward to more books by Bure!
Bure weaves together her characters, their thoughts and their emotions so well.
Not to mention snippets of social commentary, like why corruption flourishes in certain countries.
It took me a few pages to get a bead on the different characters, but once I did I was sold.
Narit is an interesting character, he felt consistent throughout the novel as he navigated turbulent events and had to make hard decisions.
What a guy though, dropping his commitments everywhere he went.
I resonate with the character ( I happen to be a History teacher myself) and points to Bure for the interesting lesson that Narit gives his kids about the October revolution, the way he teaches that day would certainly get the attention of a group of kids.
I finished the book feeling emotionally charged, I wondered until the end, what will HE do?
Man, there’s a lot I want to say about this story, I’ll sum up some highlights here:
1. It’s a breathe of fresh air for its storytelling.
2. Some hints of Thai culture are peppered throughout too: referring to “Mai-pen-rai.”
3. On pg.110 Narit gives a small discourse on the importance of schooling, he illustrated a young girl who never got the chance at an education and finished with a line that I’ll be using this upcoming school year with my own students: “When you have very little education, you’d often give in to outside forces because you don’t know enough to go against them.”
4. On pg. 132 an old man lectures the stubborn yet knowledgeable Narit as to the mistake he and his friends might be making when pushing for Democracy.
In his words: “You’re wrong. All men are not equal because something of a democratic decree enables it. In the west, constitution is sacred. It doesn’t change so easily. But here, constitution is still a living document. A rule book that can be ripped up and rewritten. Don’t buy it, Democracy.”
He goes on to say, “ …there are countless reasons those high erect pricks want the grassroots to remain stupid. There is always a need for somebody cheap to wash your clothes, to clean your house.”
- I’ve reflected a lot on these two points, and still am. Bure is pretty thoughtful for adding them into her novel.
I could have done with a lot more of this kind of social commentary in the book.
I just bought this book last week in Bangkok on a whim, the price almost scared me away but man am I glad I gave it a chance.
I’ll be looking forward to more books by Bure!
October 29, 2024
One of the best historical fictions!
穷小子和军阀家族女主的爱情起源变成孽缘...乍一看人物情节设计似乎有些老套，但是放置于历史漩涡和洪流下，穿插于时空，跨越20年纠葛，很难不吸引人往下读。七十年代末泰国法政大学学生运动，似乎放在冷战背景大环境下，也映照了许多其他国家的年轻生命在这个阶段的探索和与国家机器的摩擦...
作者的刻画和细节都很到位，没想到是debut novel，感觉还能改编成电影...
穷小子和军阀家族女主的爱情起源变成孽缘...乍一看人物情节设计似乎有些老套，但是放置于历史漩涡和洪流下，穿插于时空，跨越20年纠葛，很难不吸引人往下读。七十年代末泰国法政大学学生运动，似乎放在冷战背景大环境下，也映照了许多其他国家的年轻生命在这个阶段的探索和与国家机器的摩擦...
作者的刻画和细节都很到位，没想到是debut novel，感觉还能改编成电影...
November 8, 2024
Allows you to travel back in time. Teaches you an important part of Thailand's history.
Perfect for a traveller to get to know Thailand.
Captivating writing style. Bure is a fantastic author. Absolutely brilliant first work. I went through a lot with this book. Thank you so much.
Perfect for a traveller to get to know Thailand.
Captivating writing style. Bure is a fantastic author. Absolutely brilliant first work. I went through a lot with this book. Thank you so much.
December 24, 2024
"...pain was how life liked to be defined, while perhaps happiness and ecstasy was how it was gambled away. But unlike guilt that had very little use, pain could achieve a lot."
One of my favourite phrases throughout this read.
One of my favourite phrases throughout this read.
January 28, 2026
An enjoyable read with beautiful characters at the heart of the story. The twist at the end was a little predictable but closed off the story nicely.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews