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The S.E.A. Write Anthology of Thai Short Stories and Poems
This is a sslection of English translations of works by eleven contemporary Thai writers who have received the prestigious Southeast Asian S.E.A. Write Award, first presented in 1979.
132 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
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March 16, 2016
The S.E.A. Write Anthology of Thai Short Stories and Poems
Edited by Nitaya Masavisut and Matthew Grose
A collection of beautiful stories and poems that give an inside view in Thai culture and society.
Starting with the heart-breaking story ‘Nightfall on the Waterway’ by Ussiri Thammachot. About a poor watermelon grower who (thinks) he has to choose between committing a moral crime and thereby being able to bring ‘happiness’ to his careworn wife and daughter or a humanitarian reaction which will cause him some trouble and not bring the small martial pleasures for his wife and daughter. In the end he justifies his decision by convincing himself that what he is about to do is not a crime at all. A little human tragedy follows and stays on my mind for a long time. What would I do? Ussiri does not make any judgment, he leaves it for us to decide.
In ‘On the route of a rabid dog’ Ussiri shows us two men, one full of lust and the other an alcoholic behaving as ‘rabid dogs’ only in his style of writing Ussiri shows us his opinion. “the sun drops behind the mountains – and dog, men and the laterite road – all dissolve into the invisible flow of time.”
Then there are the beautiful stories of Vanich Charungkij-anant showing us that there is no clear-cut line between the physical and the spiritual world. In ‘The song of the leaves’ the voice of Grandmother, a songstress, is on her death miraculously transferred to her Granddaughter, how until then did not show much talent for singing.
In ‘A Beggar’s Chant’ the writer Anchan shows us that the beggars are actually the ones how are giving. In ‘Mid-road Family’ Sila Khomchai tells us about a middle-class couple who are trapped in the Bangkok traffic long enough to make a ‘family’ … “My wife is pregnant! Do you hear? She is pregnant! We did it on the road.“
The inspiration of this story must be the 1968 Beatles song ‘Why don’t we do it in the road’ ;-)
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AdtR... )
Alto I cannot read Thai I think the different translators do a great job transferring the Thai languish and flavour to the English. Just read it!
Edited by Nitaya Masavisut and Matthew Grose
A collection of beautiful stories and poems that give an inside view in Thai culture and society.
Starting with the heart-breaking story ‘Nightfall on the Waterway’ by Ussiri Thammachot. About a poor watermelon grower who (thinks) he has to choose between committing a moral crime and thereby being able to bring ‘happiness’ to his careworn wife and daughter or a humanitarian reaction which will cause him some trouble and not bring the small martial pleasures for his wife and daughter. In the end he justifies his decision by convincing himself that what he is about to do is not a crime at all. A little human tragedy follows and stays on my mind for a long time. What would I do? Ussiri does not make any judgment, he leaves it for us to decide.
In ‘On the route of a rabid dog’ Ussiri shows us two men, one full of lust and the other an alcoholic behaving as ‘rabid dogs’ only in his style of writing Ussiri shows us his opinion. “the sun drops behind the mountains – and dog, men and the laterite road – all dissolve into the invisible flow of time.”
Then there are the beautiful stories of Vanich Charungkij-anant showing us that there is no clear-cut line between the physical and the spiritual world. In ‘The song of the leaves’ the voice of Grandmother, a songstress, is on her death miraculously transferred to her Granddaughter, how until then did not show much talent for singing.
In ‘A Beggar’s Chant’ the writer Anchan shows us that the beggars are actually the ones how are giving. In ‘Mid-road Family’ Sila Khomchai tells us about a middle-class couple who are trapped in the Bangkok traffic long enough to make a ‘family’ … “My wife is pregnant! Do you hear? She is pregnant! We did it on the road.“
The inspiration of this story must be the 1968 Beatles song ‘Why don’t we do it in the road’ ;-)
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AdtR... )
Alto I cannot read Thai I think the different translators do a great job transferring the Thai languish and flavour to the English. Just read it!
November 10, 2022
3.5, rounded up to 4
As with any decent anthology, there will be standouts, there will be works that drag, and there will be those that all in all are 'a'ite.'
That being said, if it would move anyone to know it, I picked this up at the Vancouver library while on vacation, and was enjoying it so much I bought a copy so I could finish it once I got home.
Being that I'm not especially a fan of poetry and have no background in how to evaluate it, I'm going to skip over the entirety of the poetry section in my feedback. I can only say that none of them gripped me, but I don't know if that's because they weren't well-translated or because I'm a poetry ignoramus. 'nuff said.
None of the stories in this 'S.E.A.' anthology really dragged the collection down as a whole for me, though some felt very middle of the road, and I liked the wide range of genres and themes covered in the 10 short stories. Some fables, some ghost(ish) stories, some slice of life, some aching investigations into grief, some that were a mix of all four. What none of these stories were (bar maybe one) was particularly uplifting, so if that's what you're on the hunt for, you're not going to find it here.
Many of the stories have a bitter cynicism at their core, which, given that this anthology was produced just a hop, skip, and a jump in time away from the political upheaval that shredded so many lives is quite understandable.
According to the introduction, the poetry tackled this political upheaval head-on, but the short stories did not. However, it's impossible that that context didn't impact the outlook of these authors.
So let's talk about a few of the standouts:
1. Nightfall on the Waterway
Starting the collection off strong is this sort-of-fable from Ussiri Thammachot. A poor fisherman on his way home finds first a doll and then the bloated corpse of its child owner floating in the river. Is it morally permissible for him to take the doll and the silver bracelet the dead child is wearing and bring them home to his own daughter? You decide.
2. The Barter
This was quite possibly my favorite story in terms of plot and execution. A rich guy bankrolls a fancy restaurant and his architect goes to a village that has a temple/pavilion that he can see was put together with impeccable craftsmanship and would look ever so lovely tacked onto the back of the restaurant. The rich guy pays for a shiny new temple/pavilion to be built in the village and they dismantle and cart off the old one despite the protests of the son of its builder.
Upon getting the temple/pavilion back to the restaurant and putting it back together, mayhem ensues. It looks great, but it might be haunted. In any event, the horrible creaking and groaning is scaring off the customers, so clearly, it's more trouble than it's worth. But what was actually wrong with it? Is it a ghost, or something else...?
Thematically, 'The Barter' was super consistent and razer-sharp with a bit of humor thrown in with its cynicism. It was a really well-done criticism of people who appropriate things that they think look cool (aesthetics, objects, etc.) without actually understanding them. Indeed, this story is a good allegory for cultural appropriation more broadly, and why, even if it isn't in and of itself harmful, it is at least something that can leave those participating in it a bit sheepish when their ignorance is laid bare.
3. Mother!
It's hard sometimes to say with translated fiction that doesn't work whether it's the fault of the author or the translator, but in 'Mother!' no such question need be raised because clearly both the writer and the translator are very talented.
In terms of the actual writing style, this was far and away the best, in my humble opinion. The voice was great, the imagery was stunning and imaginative, and the story it was wrapped around: a young child struggling to come to terms with the death of their mother, was poignant.
The other story by the author, Anchan, 'The Beggars' was also pretty good, and they clearly have great observational skills and fabulous writing chops, but where 'The Beggars' ultimately felt thematically pedestrian, 'Mother!' was all of the best things about 'The Beggars' without feeling derivative and preachy. Loved it.
4. Mid-Road Family
The most straightforwardly slice of life story in the collection, Mid-Road Family is a bleak, depressing window into life in Bangkok in the 80s (or really, any big city whether in the 80s or the 'roaring' 2020s). A husband and wife spend so much time stuck in traffic jams each day that their car slowly becomes their second home, stocked with changes of clothes, lots of snacks, a spittoon doubling as a porta-potty, and shades to lower for privacy in the backseat.
Our narrator, the husband, speaks candidly about how the rat-race of trying to climb the social ladder, the air pollution in Bangkok, and the hours spent commuting have slowly worn him and his wife down to mere husks of their former selves. Yet, he slaps on a veneer of optimism. Sure, the commute sucks, but an air-conditioned car is surely better than being smashed like human chattel on a bus, right? And hey, with just a little more money they could get an even bigger car to sprawl out in on the way to work.
This is a tale of human adaptability, but in a wholly dystopian way.
People have gotten so used to the congestion, that it's become just another quirk of life. They get out and chat with their fellow commuters, network, stretch their legs. One fellow spends the time planting banana trees in the grass in the island dividing the lanes, commenting on how much more pleasant the traffic jams would be if you got stuck sitting under the shade of his little banana plantation.
There is something to be said of making lemonade out of life's lemons, sure, but author Sila Khomchai keeps it real: traffic jams are not those kinds of lemons.
This is a complete aside, but having now read a few Thai-authored works of fiction that take place in Bangkok, I'm starting to get the impression that while there's a sort of affection that residents have for it, as is not so uncommon for people to feel towards their hometowns, they sort of recognize that it's super poorly designed and just kind of generally unpleasant to exist within.
Kind of reminds me of how New Yorkers talk about New York City. They'll be the first to complain about how terrible it is, but a plague on the house of anyone who isn't a New York native who dares to voice any criticism.
I've never been to Bangkok, and I don't actually think that the bones of NYC are bad, but, and I can't stress this enough, everything negative I've ever read in fiction about Bangkok could equally be said of Los Angeles (and should) all the way down to the fact that people there seem happy to just...accept that traffic jams and poor urban planning are fine, actually. Buses? piffle Trains? What's a train? Walkable, mixed zoning???
Sorry, clearly, 'Mid-Road Family' got me thinking. Maybe it'd get you thinking too.
All in all, a well-balanced, nice little introduction to a host of talented, late 20th century Thai writers.
As with any decent anthology, there will be standouts, there will be works that drag, and there will be those that all in all are 'a'ite.'
That being said, if it would move anyone to know it, I picked this up at the Vancouver library while on vacation, and was enjoying it so much I bought a copy so I could finish it once I got home.
Being that I'm not especially a fan of poetry and have no background in how to evaluate it, I'm going to skip over the entirety of the poetry section in my feedback. I can only say that none of them gripped me, but I don't know if that's because they weren't well-translated or because I'm a poetry ignoramus. 'nuff said.
None of the stories in this 'S.E.A.' anthology really dragged the collection down as a whole for me, though some felt very middle of the road, and I liked the wide range of genres and themes covered in the 10 short stories. Some fables, some ghost(ish) stories, some slice of life, some aching investigations into grief, some that were a mix of all four. What none of these stories were (bar maybe one) was particularly uplifting, so if that's what you're on the hunt for, you're not going to find it here.
Many of the stories have a bitter cynicism at their core, which, given that this anthology was produced just a hop, skip, and a jump in time away from the political upheaval that shredded so many lives is quite understandable.
According to the introduction, the poetry tackled this political upheaval head-on, but the short stories did not. However, it's impossible that that context didn't impact the outlook of these authors.
So let's talk about a few of the standouts:
1. Nightfall on the Waterway
Starting the collection off strong is this sort-of-fable from Ussiri Thammachot. A poor fisherman on his way home finds first a doll and then the bloated corpse of its child owner floating in the river. Is it morally permissible for him to take the doll and the silver bracelet the dead child is wearing and bring them home to his own daughter? You decide.
2. The Barter
This was quite possibly my favorite story in terms of plot and execution. A rich guy bankrolls a fancy restaurant and his architect goes to a village that has a temple/pavilion that he can see was put together with impeccable craftsmanship and would look ever so lovely tacked onto the back of the restaurant. The rich guy pays for a shiny new temple/pavilion to be built in the village and they dismantle and cart off the old one despite the protests of the son of its builder.
Upon getting the temple/pavilion back to the restaurant and putting it back together, mayhem ensues. It looks great, but it might be haunted. In any event, the horrible creaking and groaning is scaring off the customers, so clearly, it's more trouble than it's worth. But what was actually wrong with it? Is it a ghost, or something else...?
Thematically, 'The Barter' was super consistent and razer-sharp with a bit of humor thrown in with its cynicism. It was a really well-done criticism of people who appropriate things that they think look cool (aesthetics, objects, etc.) without actually understanding them. Indeed, this story is a good allegory for cultural appropriation more broadly, and why, even if it isn't in and of itself harmful, it is at least something that can leave those participating in it a bit sheepish when their ignorance is laid bare.
3. Mother!
It's hard sometimes to say with translated fiction that doesn't work whether it's the fault of the author or the translator, but in 'Mother!' no such question need be raised because clearly both the writer and the translator are very talented.
In terms of the actual writing style, this was far and away the best, in my humble opinion. The voice was great, the imagery was stunning and imaginative, and the story it was wrapped around: a young child struggling to come to terms with the death of their mother, was poignant.
The other story by the author, Anchan, 'The Beggars' was also pretty good, and they clearly have great observational skills and fabulous writing chops, but where 'The Beggars' ultimately felt thematically pedestrian, 'Mother!' was all of the best things about 'The Beggars' without feeling derivative and preachy. Loved it.
4. Mid-Road Family
The most straightforwardly slice of life story in the collection, Mid-Road Family is a bleak, depressing window into life in Bangkok in the 80s (or really, any big city whether in the 80s or the 'roaring' 2020s). A husband and wife spend so much time stuck in traffic jams each day that their car slowly becomes their second home, stocked with changes of clothes, lots of snacks, a spittoon doubling as a porta-potty, and shades to lower for privacy in the backseat.
Our narrator, the husband, speaks candidly about how the rat-race of trying to climb the social ladder, the air pollution in Bangkok, and the hours spent commuting have slowly worn him and his wife down to mere husks of their former selves. Yet, he slaps on a veneer of optimism. Sure, the commute sucks, but an air-conditioned car is surely better than being smashed like human chattel on a bus, right? And hey, with just a little more money they could get an even bigger car to sprawl out in on the way to work.
This is a tale of human adaptability, but in a wholly dystopian way.
People have gotten so used to the congestion, that it's become just another quirk of life. They get out and chat with their fellow commuters, network, stretch their legs. One fellow spends the time planting banana trees in the grass in the island dividing the lanes, commenting on how much more pleasant the traffic jams would be if you got stuck sitting under the shade of his little banana plantation.
There is something to be said of making lemonade out of life's lemons, sure, but author Sila Khomchai keeps it real: traffic jams are not those kinds of lemons.
This is a complete aside, but having now read a few Thai-authored works of fiction that take place in Bangkok, I'm starting to get the impression that while there's a sort of affection that residents have for it, as is not so uncommon for people to feel towards their hometowns, they sort of recognize that it's super poorly designed and just kind of generally unpleasant to exist within.
Kind of reminds me of how New Yorkers talk about New York City. They'll be the first to complain about how terrible it is, but a plague on the house of anyone who isn't a New York native who dares to voice any criticism.
I've never been to Bangkok, and I don't actually think that the bones of NYC are bad, but, and I can't stress this enough, everything negative I've ever read in fiction about Bangkok could equally be said of Los Angeles (and should) all the way down to the fact that people there seem happy to just...accept that traffic jams and poor urban planning are fine, actually. Buses? piffle Trains? What's a train? Walkable, mixed zoning???
Sorry, clearly, 'Mid-Road Family' got me thinking. Maybe it'd get you thinking too.
All in all, a well-balanced, nice little introduction to a host of talented, late 20th century Thai writers.
July 25, 2015
Exactly as the title states, this volume contains 10 short stories and 12 poems from modern Thai writers; all the authors have won the Southeast Asian Writers Award at some point between 1979 and 1995. As with most anthologies, some stories in here are better than others, but overall the quality is quite high. However, the dangers of translation are evident, as there are certain grammatical errors, plus I couldn't really feel any innate sense of 'Thainess' - they were just stories set in Thailand. The book as a whole is probably more like a 3.5, but I gave it a generous rating as I could really relate to some stories, having lived in Thailand for the past 5 months.
March 20, 2009
A collection of short stories and poems from some of Thailand's best contemporary writers, most not known at all here in the US. My favorite was A Poet's Pledge by writer/artist Angkarn Kalyanapong. Consider this refrain: "I shall even refuse Nirvana/And suffer the circling wheel of rebirths/To translate the multitudes of wonders/Into poems dedicated to this universe"
September 15, 2012
This book may be my all time favourite travel souvenir. Worth it for the first story alone. I won't give much away but it's different than anything I've ever read about death.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews