Name: Nico J's review of Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad
Item: Bangkok Wakes to Rain
Rating: 5
Author: Nico J

Pitchaya Sudbanthad

"A house in the center of Bangkok becomes the point of confluence where lives are shaped by upheaval, memory, and the lure of home. Witness to two centuries' flux in one of the world's most restless cities, a house plays host to longings and losses past, present, and future. A nineteenth-century missionary doctor pines for the comforts of New England even as he finds the vibrant foreign chaos of Siam increasingly difficult to resist. A post-war society woman marries, mothers, and holds court, little suspecting the course of her future. A jazz pianist is summoned in the 1970s to conjure music that will pacify resident spirits, even as he's haunted by ghosts of his former life. Not long after, a young woman gives swimming lessons in the luxury condos that have eclipsed the old house, trying to outpace the long shadow of her political past. And in the post-submergence Bangkok of the future, a band of savvy teenagers guides tourists and former residents past waterlogged, ruined landmarks, selling them tissues to wipe their tears for places they themselves do not remember. Time collapses as these stories collide and converge, linked by blood, memory, yearning, chance, and the forces voraciously making and remaking the amphibian, ever-morphing city itself"--Provided by publisher.

A Novel

Bangkok Wakes to Rain

Nico J

From the reviews, many people don't like the structure of the "loose" intertwining of stories. I don't feel that way, so this review may not be for you, either. I'm a huge fan of these types of books and my firm belief is that people have a low tolerance for being confused or kept from certain details - that they feel entitled to the entire picture at once in a novel. We could have a thorough discussion on that, if you'd like. Recently I read "The Overstory" by Richard Powers, and while it took time to read, it gave me the impression of hiking up a mountain, gathering details here and there, having to reread because there was something I missed in the sentence that meant something else, a puzzle piece fitted in later on. Bangkok Wakes to Rain lulls me; it's sitting in a cable car while the wind sways it back and forth, rocks it while you fall asleep. It's meandering in a city that's foreign and doesn't belong to you, and you're stepping around the edges trying to find an opening of it. I felt like I was in these places - damp, vivid, colorful, claustrophobic at points. The idea of a thread, a person's story, weaving across others, across time, I have no problem admitting it's extremely romantic to me and has a quality about it that's almost like being swaddled in a weird nostalgic you weren't alive for. 

Another book evoked to mind was "Pachinko" by Min Jin Lee. The ideas of families, and different combinations and types of them, the difficulties and hardships and also the bright memories - Bangkok did this extremely well, depicting a variety of types of relationships and not seeming to make untoward commentary at any of them. Rather, they were seen as they were, each emotion held up to the light in context of the bond. Most of the characters begged to be known further, read about more, and I bonded with them quickly; I think the delicate parts of personality and the human experience were completely relatable. The narrative was so comfortable I'd like to purchase a copy so I can run my hands over it, trying to find the dampness and dew, trying to hear the ringing sound of people's protests, and read it for a second time to uncover more.

Rebecca Bream

Meniah

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 EDWARD STANFORD 'FICTION WITH A SENSE OF PLACE' AWARD Places remember us... 'An important, ambitious, and accomplished novel. Sudbanthad deftly sweeps us up in a tale that paints a twin portrait: of a megacity like those so many of us call home and of a world where sanctuary is increasingly hard to come by' Mohsin Hamid A missionary begs to be sent home. A jazz pianist is hired to perform for ghosts. An army colonel smells the food of home for the last time. A girl designs herself a new face. An old woman uploads her consciousness. Bangkok Wakes to Rain is an intricately plotted novel where characters and stories are linked by place, not time. As the novel builds to a futuristic crescendo, moments of intimacy serve to remind us that no matter what the ebb of time may change, we humans persevere. Praise for Bangkok Wakes to Rain: 'Compelling' Financial Times 'Breathtakingly lovely' Kirkus 'A sumptuous accomplishment' Esquire 'A simple, ingenious conceit' Alexander Chee 'Elegant and restrained' Wall Street Journal 'Saturated in the senses' Claire Vaye Watkins 'A swirling, always surprising storytelling structure' Guardian 'An original and quietly memorable reading experience' Washington Post 'Beautifully textured and rich with a sense of place' Karen Walker Thompson 'Reading this book feels like waking up to a singular and important new voice' Rajesh Parameswaran

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