Jasmine Nights

by S.P. Somtow

Growing up on the exotic estate of his aunts and wicked uncle, twelve-year-old Justin survives his family's superficial traditions as well as the civil rights movement of the 1960s by escaping into his imagination.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Asia, Coming Of Age, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

379 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Called by the Bangkok Post "the Thai person known by name to most people in the world," S.P. Somtow is an author, composer, filmmaker, and international media personality whose dazzling talents and acerbic wit have entertained and enlightened fans the world over.

He was Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul in Bangkok. His grandfather's sister was a Queen of Siam, his father is a well known international lawyer and vice-president of the International Academy of Human Rights. Somtow was educated at Eton and Cambridge, and his first career was in music. In the 1970s (while he was still in college) his works were being performed on four continents and he was named representative of Thailand to the Asian Composer's League and to the International Music Commission of UNESCO. His avant-garde compositions caused controversy and scandal in his native country, and a severe case of musical burnout in the late 1970s precipitated his entry into a second career - that of author.

He began writing science fiction, but soon started to invade other fields of writing, with some 40 books out now, including the clasic horror novel Vampire Junction, which defined the "rock and roll vampire" concept for the 80s, the Riverrun Trilogy ("the finest new series of the 90's" - Locus) and the semi-autobiographical memoir Jasmine Nights. He has won or been nominated for dozens of major awards including the Bram Stoker Award, the John W. Campbell Award, the Hugo Award, and the World Fantasy Award.

Somtow has also made some incursions into filmmaking, directing the cult classic The Laughing Dead and the award winning art film Ill Met by Moonlight.

Reviews

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jo Walton is usually a trustworthy guide, but at 150+ pages in, this one sure hasn't clicked with me. No fantastic elements yet. And, presuming the book is based (to some degree) on the author's childhood, he had a very colorful coming-of-age. But, so far, I'm on the verge of abandoning the book. 3/4/18: OK, officially a DNF now. Definitely not a keeper. Oh, well.

Here's Wikipedia's page, which confirms that the book is semi-autobiographical:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine...
From the UK Independent's 1994 review, linked at Wikipedia:
"... Somtow gives us a fake novel. In Jasmine Nights [the] Thai landscape is artificially manufactured, its erudition is quite pretentious and its post-modern concerns forced."

Jo Walton, https://www.tor.com/2009/03/09/betwee...
"Jasmine Nights is one of my favourite books. It’s funny and sweet and clever and awesome. It’s about growing up, and sex, and racism, and magic, and life and death, reincarnation, and identity. No, it’s more complicated than that, and better too. It’s about all these huge wonderful things, but really, it’s about this little boy." --

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description of this book doesn't quite do it justice. I hate to drop high-falutin' literary terms, but it's a cross between magic realism and a bildungroman/coming of age story, in which a boy quivering on the cusp of adolescence discovers many things about himself, his family's culture and the tumult of the world outside his family compound and outside Thailand. Very different from the other books of Somtow's I've read! It's positively realistic in comparison.

The only drawback (why I gave it four rather than five stars) was that I'm curious to know a titch more about the protagonist's life before coming to live with his Thai family, as it seems like he'd not lived in the country before, but I couldn't find any mention of where he DID live. I also noticed....I hesitate to call it a "Gary Stu" element but rather a tinge of autobiography about this, largely in the moving between countries and cultures as a child and the being slated to attend Eton. I wouldn't mind knowing how intentional that was.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

What a delightful way to end the years reading! This is one of the books that has followed me around in one of many boxes over the years and has been neglected even though I bought it over 20 years ago!

Set in 1963, the novel follows Justin or Little Frog, a twelve year old Thai boy, as he lives with his extended family in a compound in Bangkok while his parents have been ‘away’ for the last three years. The compound is presided over by various older members of the family in a strict hierarchy and who are waited upon by a bevy of servants who treat them as royalty. Justin has three Aunts who he calls the Fates because of his obsession with Homer and ancient literature in general and these three provide much of the humor of the novel in their attempts to keep up with the latest fashion, music and dance trends, as well as their romantic encounters.

Playing in a ruined house on the property Justin lives in the world of his imagination as kids often do when they are lonely, burying himself in books and other worlds in lieu of company. Having lived in England for much of his life, he finds the Thai culture alien and resists integration with it. As the novel progresses, however, he begins to make friends and it is through these friends that S.P Somtow makes a commentary about the world at this time, and indeed our own.

One of these friends is Virgil, an African-American, then there is Piet a white South Afrikaner, Wilbur a white American and Piat a Thai servant boy. As these five interact in various ways learning about love, sex, war and each other’s cultures the issues of class and race loom large and cause rifts between them. How S.P Somtow resolves all this by the end of the book verges on the sentimental but I had enjoyed the novel so much by then, I just went with it.

The insight into Thai culture is fascinating and it is a culture Somtow grew up in as this novel is partly autobiographical. There is a glossary at the front with dozens of Thai terms but I didn’t find this distracting and loved all the names for different members of the family, for example, the three fates are Aunt Nit-Nit, Aunt Ning-Nong and Aunt Noi-Noi. The picture that is painted of the old Bangkok with its klongs, or canals, its temples and magic men and its lush foliage, noisy fauna and steamy weather is a wonderful backdrop. The compound is like an Eden as far as the rest of the world is concerned and it is only through venturing outside that Eden that Justin matures and become aware of this world.

Child narrators can be tricky but Justin is entirely engaging as are his friends and there were so many times in this novel that I was smiling at either slapstick comedy or cultural misunderstandings. Characters such as the promiscuous English doctor, Dr. Richardson, Busaba the Thai transvestite and the exotic science teacher Miss Cicciolini are just some that enrich and provide humor to the novel. Eventually as the world intrudes and opens up, the novel becomes more serious and Justin’s voice becomes that of a teenager but the comedy, and the enjoyment in the reading is maintained to the very end.

P.S. On a side note S.P Somtow sounds like a fascinating man being an author, composer and filmmaker and the rest of his novels are nothing like this one focusing on science fiction, fantasy and Vampires.

[Andrew]

This book started rather rough-- "Oh no," I thought, "another Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. God help us all." And the refusal to translate Thai words into English even when they translate extremely well is rather obnoxious.

But then it got so much better. It turns into a rather funny, sweet coming-of-age story-- think Rushmore mixed with Amarcord and set in '60s Thailand. Justin suddenly becomes a believable narrator, and the story unfolds awfully well against a background of family conflict in the days when the modern Thai nation was only just emerging.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the look at Thailand circa 1963, which might as well be a fantastic realm, and Justin is a funny, smart, and entertaining narrator. But...um...the sexual encounter(s) in the last 40 pages, I could have lived without those. He's thirteen! It's creepy!

[Jacquelyne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too bizarre, couldn't continue.

[Tippy Chee · Rating 3 out of 5]

เริ่มปีใหม่ ยังมีไฟ เลยต้องเคลียร์ของดองกันหน่อย เล่มนี้ดองเบาๆ 10 ปี! หนังสือบางเล่ม ดองนานไปความสนุกก็ลดลงนะ ถ้าเราได้อ่านตั้งแต่ 10 ปีก่อน น่าจะสนุกกับมันมากกว่านี้

ก่อนอื่นคือ ไม่ค่อยแน่ใจว่าเรื่องนี้จัดเข้าหมวด วรรณกรรมเด็กได้ยังไง ?!
อาจเพราะตัวละครเป็นเด็กวัยกำลังเบียวงั้นเหรอ โอเค ต่อให้เป็นวรรณกรรมเด็กสำหรับให้เด็กฝรั่งอ่าน แต่ต้องไม่ใช่สำหรับเด็กไทยแน่นอน ฮาๆ แล้วก็จริงๆ แล้ว เป็นนิยายที่เหมือน based on true story รึป่าวนะ คือเขียนขึ้นมาโดยมีพื้นฐานจากเรื่องจริงของตัวผู้เขียนเอง พอรู้แบบนี้ เลยรู้สึกหมดสนุกไปเป็นกอง

ตัวละครหลักเป็นเด็กไทยซึ่งไปเติบโตที่เมืองนอก เป็นเรื่องราว coming of age ในระหว่างช่วงเวลาที่เด็กเชื้อชาติไทยสัญชาติฝรั่งคนนี้กลับมาอยู่กับญาติที่เมืองไทย สารภาพก่อนว่าตั้งแต่ช่วงครึ่งเล่มหลังเป็นต้นไป อ่านแบบกวาดสายตาผ่านไวๆ เลย โดยเฉพาะส่วนที่เป็นวังจินตนาการของเจ้าเด็กลูกกบ ซึ่งได้รับอิทธิพลความคลั่งนิยายกรีกมาเยอะ น้ำท่วมทุ่งไปหน่อย แต่ก็เบียวเต็มที่ สมกับอายุตัวละครดี อย่างนึงที่ชอบที่สุดคือ เสียง เ…อ…ว… สำเนียงคำอุทานแบบอังกฤษแท้ๆ ของเหล่าอาหญิงทั้งสามนี่ล่ะ ฮาๆ อ่านแล้วอดที่จะลองออกเสียงตามไม่ได้เลย
ในส่วนของเรื่องราว ไม่มีพล็อตอะไรมาก วันๆ ของเจ้าลูกกบน้อยก็งี้แหละ แต่เราค่อนข้างชอบไอเดียที่ ตอนเริ่มเรื่อง เจ้าลูกกบคือเป็นเหมือน “คนนอก” ของสังคมต่างชาติ มีความต่อต้านสังคม ทั้งแยกตัวเองออก และทั้งไม่ยอมทิ้งตัวตนเดิมที่คุ้นเคย แต่ตอนจบ กลับกลายเป็นเหมือนกบถูกต้มในน้ำร้อน ฮาๆ ยอมลดกำแพงตัวเองลง แล้วก็เลยได้มีเพื่อน มีประสบการณ์โลดโผนมากมาย เป็นชีวิตวัยรุ่นที่คุ้มค่าจริงๆ

[Kukasina Kubaha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up liking this book, but I almost bailed out after the first quarter. I found it really problematic—especially the character of Virgil, the narrator’s Black American neighbor, who speaks in a dialect that is painfully stilted and does not ring true at all. Somtow addresses the use of dialect explicitly, with Virgil’s mother code-switching and encouraging Virgil to do the same (she tells him to “use the prestige dialect” when talking to non-Black people) but the actual writing of the dialect is painfully tin-eared. For a book about addressing racial divides I think it could have been a lot more racially sensitive. However it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and aside from the issues of race (admittedly a major component of the story) it was really good.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the semi-autobiographical novel 'Jasmine Nights' S.P. Somtow tells about some faithful weeks in the life of the twelve year old boy Justin, a.k.a. Little Frog. Raised in England, but left by his parents under the custody of his three aunts in Thailand, Justin comes out of his secluded childhood and learns about the facts of life. Somtow weaves themes of prejudices, inequality and racism into his tale, which is mainly about the discovery of sex, and the loss of childhood. On the way Little Frog also discovers his destination in life, but this seems a minor discovery in the scope of things.

In his writing Somtow heavily relies on references to classic literature (Homer, Virgil, Ovid), which suits the main character well, but which leads to all too pompous passages, especially in the two opening chapters, which could use some heavy editing. Besides, Somtow leaves many Thai words untranslated, even if a perfect sensible English equivalent is present (e.g. Nam Plaa for Thai fish sauce). The glossary at the end of the book unfortunately only adds to the pompousness of the book.

Luckily, despite these flaws Somtow turns out to be an excellent narrator, and he brings the adventures of Little Frog in 1963 Bangkok (which feels surprisingly rural in this book) very well to life. 'Jasmin Nights' is no masterpiece, but makes an entertaining read for those visiting Thailand.

Beware: this particular edition is hampered by an abysmal cover and weird typos, which even render one sentence unreadable.

[alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

A humorous, fulfilling book about a twelve-year old trying to navigate the world. Like Catcher in the Rye, but the edginess is replaced by erudition.

Perhaps it is because I, myself, am a creature of two worlds, both Justin and Virgil in their own rights, that I loved this book so much. Perhaps it is because in Justin I see myself, a poet with a penchant for grandiosity, seeing the world through a lens stained by antiquity that I ought to clean. Perhaps it was just the right book at the right time.

Whatever the case, Somtow's writing style is beautifully self-aware: purposefully cluttered with ancient references and polysyllabic jargon that no twelve-year-old ought to know as a means of conveying to the reader how odd little Justin really is. And yet despite this, it retains a clarity that makes it easy and rewarding to read.

As a Nigerian whose Yoruba ancestry runs deep, I thought Virgil's plot was handled delicately and was very well-done. There was a mutual understanding of the black struggle that felt...warm, as opposed to the cold, scientific way white authors tend to treat characters during the civil rights movement. The black characters were conveyed as people, not as diversity points, or mere catalysts, aids to the white character's narratives. Most importantly, they were conveyed as beautiful: something authors forget to mention all too often.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book, but it wasn’t holding my interest… It takes place in Thailand in the 1960’s and this memoir- like novel has a bit of magical realism, with a lot Odysseus, Homer and Virgil also in the mix.
I hope/ want to be in the mood for this book another time. I read 104 of 379 pages...

[Alicen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great coming-of-age story about a boy growing up in 1960's Thailand. Definitely recommended if traveling to the area.

[Tina Tamman · Rating 4 out of 5]

When is an autobiography/biography seen as a novel? Some novels come with the blurb that uses words like 'autobiographical' but when you walk into a bookshop, there are separate sections for biography and fiction. I was very much aware of the genre - the need to tick the right box - reading this book. I would not call it a novel. Nothing happens except that a 12-year-old boy grows a year older, learns new things. Actually an awful lot happens, but it could equally be a memoir; there is no story as such: people wander in and out of the story and the boy develops, learns about sex.
Many scenes are amusing, a great many very amusing, some even hilarious, and the boy's friendship with a black American boy is a marvel - so well handled from the moment they accidentally meet. There is also Thailand and a lot of Thai words. I don't know the country particularly well but if you love South-East Asia as I do, this is the book for you.

[Marian Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I have had a distant friendship with the author since I read slush for IASFM and Amazing magazines in the 70s and 80s.

It is a somewhat autobiographical like most things we write are... It is a very special coming of age story that cuts across time and cultural divides. How did you become the you of today? I found myself thinking about moments in my own life and how they prodded me along. He puts you into a most vibrant world with flavors and colors of many cultures, but they all blend together to shape Justin aka little Frog (the main character).

I'm about to reread it this month (Sept 2020). This has been a most unique year so far and I found a used hardback of it a few days ago. I'm intrigued to see how I've changed since I first read it in the late 90s.

[Mairead · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is rare that I don't finish a book, but I just couldn't get into this one. I gave up half way. I'm currently living in Thailand, and I was hoping to learn more about the culture and the people. I think I found it a slow read because there are very few female characters, and the main plot was about a young boy who loves the Greek classics, like Homer. I just couldn't warm to the story or the characters. Unfortunately, I can only give it 2 stars.

[Michael Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books, and the one I’m most likely to recommend to people who ask for something to read about Thailand or Bangkok. Although set in the early 1960s, it still manages to accurately capture the crazy contradiction that is modern Thailand. For those that haven’t spent much time in Bangkok, many of the situations described may come across as wildly fanciful, but anyone who has lived here for any length of time will know they are dead-on accurate.

The book description on Goodreads would get my vote for worst blurb ever. Ignore it and read the story. The book is told from the point of view of a young Thai boy on the edge of puberty. It follows the adventures that he and his small multi-cultural circle of friends have in their neighborhood of large family compounds that once lined the small side-streets off Sukhumvit Road. Many of these still exist, so it’s easy to imagine the setting of this story.

The reason Jasmine Nights came to mind at this time is due to a flame war currently consuming a number of the authors and readers I follow in the m/m world. I was recently reminded that I’ve been on-line since the BBS days of the early 90s, a few years before the Internets made their appearance. Yes, I am ancient enough to remember when the only "Firefox" people were aware of was a Clint Eastwood movie.

The thing about the on-line world is that all too often a potentially useful discussion can degrade into pointless name-calling. It’s all too easy, it seems, to berate someone you’ve never met face-to-face. What I quickly learned – the hard way – was that participating in these wars, even if it was to try to inject a neutral note of sanity, was a no-win proposition. People get so incensed that they don’t want to listen to reason, or even consider what "the other side" is saying. Even being neutral becomes a negative, as some people in the current situation can attest.

So, my typical reaction to such wars is to lay low, stay on the sidelines, and wait until they blow over, which they almost always do sooner or later. This has proved somewhat difficult with the current brouhaha, as it has gone on for quite some time now, and has seriously affected several people I’ve come to respect for their writing. I’ve read some of the blog and forum posts on this topic, and it’s especially sad that there seems to be some valid points and concerns on all sides, but rational discourse has long since left the building.

Where does Jasmine Nights fit into all of this? Well, one of the most recent blog posts was by an author that I’ve come to enjoy on Twitter, although I’ve so far only had a chance to read a few of his works. In the post, the author ‘came out’, as it were, as trans, and talked a lot about the issues trans people face, both from straights and gays. This got me thinking, which is never a bad thing in my book. I know some people resent it, a lot, but I like to be challenged.

Where Jasmine Nights comes in is that one of the peripheral characters changes gender over the course of the story. It’s not a big part of the story, and that’s in part why the book resonates with me. In case you didn’t know it, Bangkok is the gender reassignment capital of the world. On any given day there’s a sex change operation being performed somewhere in Bangkok. This ‘industry’ evolved to meet local demand. Thais are remarkably flexible when it comes to gender identities. I have to admit this disturbs me sometimes. I’ve met a fair number of Thai men who, apparently, were planning to get a sex change simply because they were gay. Their thinking seems to be that since they like to have sex with men, they must really be a woman inside. That seems wrong to me.

Here’s the thing: In the interest of full disclosure I must now admit that I’m a man. I was born that way. When it comes to matters of the heart, my preference is exclusively men. I was born that way too. But, I’ve never, not for one millisecond, wanted to be a woman. I like my man-bits. I’m rather attached to them, in fact. They’ve bought me years of pleasure.

So, I have no frame of reference for what it’s like to be born in the ‘wrong’ body. I don’t personally know any trans people, so I don’t ‘get’ what it’s like to be a trans person. I don’t really ‘get’ straight people either, but at least I know a lot of them. Heck, some of my best friends are straight. Even my parents were in theory straight, although my brother I recently discussed the idea that our mother might have been happier if she had figured out that she was a lesbian.

Mom was of a place and time when the idea of not marrying a man and having babies simply wasn’t an option. I doubt she even knew what a lesbian was until the 1960s, at least. Perhaps I am from a time and place where changing genders wasn’t an option.
Hmm…

Nah… not gonna happen.

Of course, just because I don’t ‘get’ where someone is coming from doesn’t mean I can’t respect them. Does knowing this particular author is trans change the way I think about them? Yes, in all honesty, it probably does, although it won’t change my plans to read more from them. Did I need to know this? I think not.

Was there a point to this review? Probably not. It was just a chance to vent, while hopefully staying out of the line of fire.

Do read Jasmine Nights, though, if the subject interests you.

[Nik Nattawat · Rating 3 out of 5]

หนังสือที่จะทำให้คุณเข้าใจถึงชีวิตคนในวัง หรือ เหล่าบุคคลเชื้อเจ้าในสังคมชั้นสูงของไทยมากขึ้น ผ่านมุมมองของคนกลุ่มนั้นจริงๆ

ถึงจะเป็นนิยายที่ออกแฟนตาซีหน่อยๆ แต่เข้าใจว่าน่าจะถูกเขียนขึ้นจากเรื่องจริงของอาจารย์สมเถาตอนเด็กๆ มีติดเรตนิดหน่อย แต่ยังไงก็เป็น Perspective การเล่าเรื่องที่น่าสนใจ

[Jessada Karnjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

เผ็ดแน่ โฮเมอร์ ดอกมะลิ กลิ่นน้ำปลา สำหรับใครที่ใช้ชีวิตวัยเด็กหิ้วกระเป๋าใบโตไปโรงเรียนตอนเช้า เรียนพิเศษตอนค่ำ กลับมาเล่นเกม แล้วก็นอน คงอ่านแล้วรู้สึกหมั่นไส้แกมอิจฉา รู้สึกว่าชีวิตมันแสนจะธรรมดาไม่หวือหวาวาบหวาม

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved, loved this book. Witty, intelligent, insightful.

[Jaymar Balbuena · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want to read this book to be able know the work of S. P. Somtow

[Grace Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is 22 years overdue from the 6th form library..

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting. I thought it was beautifully written and extra magical to read while in modern Bangkok!

[Kim Zinkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific! Funny and fun to read.

[Jodi Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn't get into the story.

[Frank Ashe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have I read this?

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the quirky things I love in a book. A delight.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern loss-of-innocence classic that bests Catcher In the Rye by a landslide, in my humblest opinion. A true novel.

[Pukky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly kind of weird but at the same time fascinating; however the ending was more than repulsive and left me in shock.

[Jamie Dickerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

coming of ages story's should solve racism more often tbh