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:

"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.