Book 53, Country 59 - Thailand

Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap - first published in 2004

I have never had any desire to visit Thailand and wasn't looking forward to my literary journey there.  However I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  I don't normally like short stories but I enjoyed nearly all of them.  They are mainly about family life in present day Thailand.  The last one, which is about cockfighting, was much longer than the others and not so pleasant, mainly because of the subject matter.  7/10

28th May 2011

Book 52, Country 58 - Cambodia

A Model American by Elsie Burch Donald – first published 2007

In 1970 an American couple fly to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat.  On their return journey to Phnom Penh their plane runs out of fuel and they are forced to land in a clearing in the Cambodian jungle.  They and their companions – the American pilot, an English guide and a Frenchman who has spent most of his life in Cambodia – are rescued from dying of thirst by friendly local tribes people, who take them back to their village and provide them with food and accommodation.  They cannot leave until the rainy season, which is several months away, increases the flow in the river, which is used as a highway to the regional capital.    However the Vietnam War is in progress and the violence in beginning to spill over into Cambodia as the Khmer Rouge becomes more powerful.  The book is a bit lightweight but with enough details about the country to paint an impressionistic picture of life in rural Cambodia.   7/10

Book 51, Country 57 - Laos

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill - first published 2004

Dr Siri Paiboun was hoping to retire but in 1976 after the Communists take over Laos, he is appointed state coroner.  Despite a lack of training for this role and almost no equipment, with the help of some friends in the government and police he manages to solve the murder of the wife of a party leader and that of 3 Vietnamese soldiers.  There is a supernatural element to the story – in his dreams Siri is visited by the spirits of various dead people, including the murder victims and when he visits a remote part of the country to perform an autopsy the local tribe are convinced that he is an 1000 year old shaman.  I got lost at one of two of the twists and turns in the story, partly because my knowledge of the history of Laos is non-existent but overall it was enjoyable and Dr Siri is a very likeable character.   This is the first in a series of crime novels featuring Dr Siri.  6/10

2nd May 2011

Book 50, Country 56 - Vietnam

Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh - translated from Vietnamese and first published in 1991

At last I have finished this book!  It has taken me over a month even though it only has just over 200 pages.  It is about a man called Kien, a North Vietnamese soldier and his experiences just before, during and after the Vietnam War.  It is a nonlinear narrative and has no chapters, which I found very confusing, as even within a page it leaps around from one time period to another.  Nearly all his comrades die in front of him in various horrible ways, which are described quite graphically.  Kien feels both survivor guilt and guilt for having killed people.    There isn’t a happy ending.  I admit I would have got more out of it if I had known more about the circumstances of the Vietnam War.  There isn't any explanation of the reasons for the war given in the novel.  4/10

Book 49 - Country 55 - China

Hungry Ghosts by Anne Berry - first published 2009

In 1942 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, a young Chinese girl called Lin Shui is raped and murdered by a Japanese soldier.   In 1962 Ralph Safford is offered a job in Hong Kong working for the government and his family join him.  Alice is the 3^rd and youngest daughter.  Her older sisters Nicola and Jillian don’t like her and neither does her mother.  When she is 11 years old the ghost of Lin Shi joins her (possesses is too strong a word) and accompanies her everywhere from then on.   A few years later Lin Shui is joined by some other ghosts – lost souls from Alice’s life.  The ghosts cause trouble for Alice but they are more mischievous than malevolent. I think the story of Alice is good enough to stand on its own without the ghost element of the story.  I couldn’t quite work out whether Alice was aware of the presence of the ghosts or not.  6/10

5th March 2011

Book 48, Country 54 - Burma

Burma Boy by Biyi Bandele – first published in 2007

14 year old Nigerian Ali Banana lies about his age in order to join the British Army in 1944 to fight the Japanese as a Chindit in the Burmese jungle.  One by one his comrades are killed in skirmishes with the Japanese.  A quick and compelling read but the author doesn’t spare us the gory details.  It could have done with a glossary of terms used by the Nigerian soldiers e.g. Kingi Joji = King George VI.  7/10

20th February 2011

Book 47, Country 54 - Bangladesh

Faker by Katy Gardner – first published 2009

Sarah meets and falls in love with Ed while doing voluntary work in Bangladesh.  They move to a coastal village to start a community school. Ed soon gets involved in a campaign to stop a multi-national oil company from compulsorily purchasing land nearby but his efforts are not appreciated by everyone.  Then there is a typhoon, Ed disappears and their village is destroyed.  Everyone except Sarah thinks he is dead.  She returns to London to stay with Ed’s sister and learns that he wasn’t the man she thought he was.    This book is billed as a psychological thriller but I thought the plot line was thin and the tension sadly lacking.  However it was a quick read and it gave a good description of village life in Bangladesh.  6/10

16th February 2011