I managed to survive Songkran, the Thai New Year, and lived to love another day at least. Writer Dean Barrett chose to flee the country at water works time, as Songkran is the period that everyone douses everyone else with water, regardless of age, sex, national origin or whether or not you are dressed for [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'By Subject' Category
WoWasis book review: ‘Vintage Short Fiction from Bangladesh’ by Sagar Chaudhury
Editor and translator Sagar Chaudhury’s Vintage Short Fiction from Bangladesh (2008, ISBN 984 05 1790 2) is a real labor of love, encompassing thirteen stories in a 140 page book. In addition to the stories, there is a four page glossary that will assist the western reader in understanding many of the terms used by [...]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘From the Delta: English fiction from Bangladesh’ by Niaz Zaman
Anyone desiring to get a good feel for the breadth of fiction writing in Bangladesh would do well to pick up a copy of the outstanding anthology From the Delta: English fiction from Bangladesh (2010, ISBN 978 984 506 004 2), edited by Niaz Zaman. This is one of the best fiction collections we here [...]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘Invisible Lines’ by Ruby Zaman from Bangladesh
The setting is revolutionary-era Bangladesh, and political players include Pakistan, India, Bengali revolutionaries, and perhaps the central focus of the book, the Biharis. Bangladeshi author Ruby Zaman’s Invisible Lines (2011, ISBN 978-93-5029-071-2) weaves a thrilling tapestry of intrigue, war, and romance in this thriller, but Western audiences are advised to consult an encyclopaedia to understand [...]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘The Good Muslim’ by Tahmima Anam from Bangladesh
Bangladeshi author Tahmima Anam’s novel, The Good Muslim (2011, ISBN 978 984 8765 90 6) isn’t all that easy to suss out, if you’re neither conversant in Islamic theory nor recent Bangladeshi history. A little background information, such as an understanding of the struggle that carved Bangladesh out of East Pakistan, is helpful. So is [...]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Revisiting Han Suyin’s ‘A Many-Splendored Thing’
Han Suyin died in November of 2012 at the age of 95. Her book A Many-Splendored Thing, published in 1952, was the basis for the film starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones, and has influenced numerous writers. A recently written book, Janice Y.K. Lee’s The Piano Teacher, is probably one of those. So we went [...]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘Wave,’ a tsunami memoir by Sri Lanka’s Sonali Deraniyagala
Sri Lankan Author Sonali Deraniyagala lost her husband, two sons, and mother and father in the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami, which killed an estimated 230,000 people. Her story is told in Wave (2013, ISBN 978-0-307-96269-0). It’s a story of tragedy, a personal loss reiterated, emphasized, and relentlessly pounded into the reader on virtually every page. [...]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘The Piano Teacher’ by Janice Y.K. Lee
After finishing Janice Y.K. Lee’s ‘The Piano Teacher’ (2009, ISBN 978-0-14-311653-0), we went scurrying back to Han Suyin’s landmark novel of 1952, A Many-Splendored Thing. There are similarities, to be sure. The setting for both is pre-1955 Hong Kong, and they are essentially love stories that revolve around the unsettled military, political, and social situation [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Korean island of Yongyu-Muui hopes to become a gambling mecca
Our gaming correspondents at www.onlinecasino.sg have just published a fascinating article on South Korea’s attempt to divert some of the gambling revenue that’s now going to Macau by putting billions of dollars into turning the island of Yongyu-Muui into a world-class gaming destination. Here’s what they have to say: The Korean island that’s taking on [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Thai Teens’ pregnancy rate appears to be uncontrollable, feeding Bangkok’s bar scene
In our tours around Bangkok’s night spots, we here at WoWasis has noted that seemingly a majority of the city’s bar girls are young mothers. In an article published by Reuters this week, the situation appears to be accelerating. The article reports that “even though the overall birthrate is dropping, teen births are on the [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
