Books About Thailand
Ne'er The Twain Shall Meet by Nick Noye
The first book that really got me hooked on Thailand fiction was a novel called ”Ne’er The Twain Shall Meet” by Nick
Noye first published in 1985.
I suppose the fact that it had an old English major in the novel who liked to have a moan about most things really (only
doing what we are renowned for) that endeared the novel to me even more.
Set in a Bangkok restaurant a strange friendship exists between two ageing alcoholics the Chinese restaurant owner
and a retired English major who for the past 7 years have drunk whisky together at a back table of the restaurant.
Neither speak the same language or understand the others language, but the friendship lives on. The poor
hardworking Chinese restauranteurs wife who is frustrated by her husbands drinking and impotency and yearns to feel
like a woman again, tries all sorts including black magic and ancient exotic recipes to revive him, even including a word
with her niece a manicurist/masseuse in a local barbershop with expertise in other areas.
I found the novel throughly entertaining and enjoy it as much today as I did on the first reading in 1986. There are some
classic lines spoken by the major as he goes in to an English kind of moan / rant on why for him he wound up in
Bangkok to die as England is not the place to die or live in. He says on England ” Take the weather. Where else can
you experience winter, spring , summer and autumn within 24 hours? You need the metabolism of an eskimo, the
endurance of an Indian ascetic and the skin of a bloody rhinoceros just to survive.”
”The major said on retiring from the army…. no couldn’t have returned to bloody England . A rented seaside flat,
afternoons in the park or library, the Telegraph an evening sherry the television and a pitiful survival on my bloody
pathetic pension. No not bloody likely.
The author got the character of the English major perfect and each moan or complaint throughout the book (and there
were plenty of them) left me in fits of laughter.
The book was written in a way that for each chapter one character informed you of how they saw daily life unfold
around them past and present and each character had two or three chapters where they told their story, unexpected
solutions are found for the characters at the end of the book. Absolutely great stuff. Ne’er the twain shall meet is
something you say when two things or people are so different that they can never stay together or agree with each
other.
Buy This Book: Ne'er The Twain Shall Meet Author: Nick Noye
Chairs by Christopher G. Moore
Over the last 30 years there has been some fantastic fiction based around Thailand and the South East Asian region
and in particular I have always found the work of Christopher G. Moore to be not only enjoyable, but also very
informative. Christopher Moore is a Canadian writer who has spent the last 20 or so years living in Thailand and really
knows the culture and history of the country so well with 22 novels to his name and other work currently in progress.
I first thought that listing all his work would take too long, but after consideration not to list all of his work would be doing
him a dis-service so here goes.
•A killing smile, a bewitching smile, a haunting smile
•His Lordships Arsenal, Tokyo Joe, Red Sky Falling, God Of Darkness, Chairs
•Waiting For The Lady, Gambling On Magic
•Spirit House, Asia Hand, Zero Hour In Phnom Penh, Comfort Zone
•The Big weird, Cold Hit, Minor Wife, Pattaya 24/7
•The Rise In Fidelity Index, Paying Back Jack, The Corruptionist, The Vincent Calvino Readers Guide
•Non Fiction: Heart Talk
The Corruptionist is his latest novel.
At home now on my book shelves I am in easy reach of ” Minor Wife” , ”God Of Darkness”, ”A Killing smile and ”Chairs”.
It is however Chairs that I want to talk about. I was recently lucky enough to acquire a copy of the book Chairs whilst in
Thailand and was really glad I did,
I happen to like short stories and Chairs is jam-packed with 16 of them, it means I can start at any new chapter and
read a story totally through. Chairs is based on and is the name given to a group of Bangkok based freelance
journalists and their invited guests who share stories, scandal and the latest gossip from their community over coffee
each Saturday morning in the Amarin Plaza.
Besides the very enjoyable stories there are some fabulous culture notes right throughout the book, whether in the
footnotes or in the text itself and you are able to receive a solid grounding in everyday Thai life. The stories come thick
and fast with great variation.
There’s a freelance journalist who’s real dream is to write fiction, but it all ends in tragic circumstances, then there is the
importance of grabbing the viewing chair on a Saturday morning and its first out of the blocks who wins the race, why is
it important to grab the viewing chair well forget the coffee and stories for the moment as the words escalator, long
black hair and goddesses seem to work well together.
A gentleman who had published a book about jungle food after visiting 15 jungles throughout the South East Asian
region and was looking to bump up sales, but what an earth did Tina Turner have to do with it.
The Head Mistress is one of my favourite stories about a Chinese woman who runs her own English language school in
Bangkok with great success, in fact she is a very successful lady in every respect and admired and envied by all who
know her. The only part missing or the dark hole in her life is the absence of a man, with the qualities in life she already
possesses of knowing what she wants and how to get it, she sees an opportunity to rectify this….. great story. The rest
of the stories which I cannot give justice to in this short space go in to such topics as ghosts, war veterans,
executioners, diplomats, body snatchers and mistresses. I can’t do the book justice, to do that you need to read it and
other fantastic novels by the very talented Christopher G. Moore.
Buy This Book: Chairs Author: Christopher G. Moore
Bangkok: Setting For A Lot Of The Work Of The
Author Christopher G. Moore
Photo On The Right Similar To The Goddesses Talked
About In A Story in the book '' Chairs''
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China Town in Yaowarat Bangkok
Traffic Congestion in Sukhumvit Road Bangkok
