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| Letters from Thailand | 
 enlarge | Author: Botan
Creator: Susan Fulop Kepner
Publisher: Silkworm Books
Category: Book
List Price: $17.50
Buy New: $10.00
You Save: $7.50 (43%)
Buy New/Used from $6.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  (7 reviews)
Sales Rank: 102957
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 350
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1
ISBN: 9747551675
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9789747551679
ASIN: 9747551675
Publication Date: November 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
When the original Thai version of Letters from Thailand appeared in Bangkok in 1969, it was promptly awarded the SEATO Prize for Thai Literature. This new English translation reveals it as one of Thailand's most entertaining and enduring modern novels, and one of the few portrayals of the immigrant Chinese experience in urban Thailand. Letters from Thailand is the story of Tan Suang U, a young man who leaves China to make his fortune in Thailand at the close of World War II, and ends up marrying, raising a family, and operating a successful business. The novel unfolds through his letters to his beloved mother in China. Botan (pseudonym for Supa Sirising) is a native of Bangkok, bornof Chinese parents. She has published more than ten novels. Susan Fulop Kepner has been translating Thai literature for more than 30 years.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Good Read about Immigration--for everyone! June 23, 2008
This novel is about a Chinese immigration to Thailand after World War II, and is a good book for anyone interested in Thailand to read. This is why I read it in the first place. But Letters from Thailand is readable and accessible to anyone who has every known and immigrant, or been an immigrant. Yuo do not need to know anything about Thailand to enjoy this book.
Letters from Thailand is easy to read and tells a great story about immigration, family, gender, childhood, motherhood, and fatherhoood which is universal. It deserves a far wider readership than it already has.
I required this book for American undergraduate classes several years ago. It was among the better received books I have asked students to read. Because of the strong emphasis on filial piety by the protagonist Tan Suang U, mothers in the class found it particularly touching--despite some rather disagreeable characteristics, the mother he never saw again remained at the center of his thoughts. (I guess that this means it would make a great mother's day gift).
Letters from Thailand is a translation from the original Thai. But, the quality of the translation is excellent, and it reads very smoothly. Do not hesitate to pick it up!
Excellent October 22, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
An enjoyable and thoughtful story with the structure being letters written from Thailand to China. In the course of these letters the reader learns much about culture, both of China and Thailand, as well as the immigrant experience of Asians within Asia. The story is written in a clear, sincere style that will hold any reader's interest
<< Beautiful epic >> November 15, 2001
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This novel depicts the life of a Chinese migrant who escaped the utter poverty of rural China for greener pastures in Thailand. Tan Suang U's story is told as a compilation of letters he wrote to his mom in China in a period of 20 years from his arrival in Bangkok in 1945.A typical tale of rags to riches.
Typical of many "ugly Chinamen", Tan's observations and criticisms of Thai culture are candid and unrefined but also refreshingly honest. Proud of his culture which emphasis honest hard work and frugality, he is destined to be disappointed as within just one generation, his family's cultural identity is lost. Botans writing style is fluent, brilliant, vivid and full of color. This book won the Siatu literature prize in 1970 and it is one of very few novels that were translated from Thai. I know it is out of print for a long time but it is worth waiting and looking for.
Superb March 7, 2000
It's rumored that the writer is a successful millionaire living in Bangkok. This book is a must read about Thai culture and how open it is to immigrants willing to work hard and persevere. It also attests to the Chinese work ethic.
Fascinating cultural look at Thailand and its Chinese Immigr August 2, 1999
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is the equivalent of A Bintel Brief which depicts Jewish immigrants to the U.S. The letters are said to be based on an actual Thai-Chinese immigrant's letters to his mother in China, which went undelivered but were read by her postman.
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