Book reccomendations for SE Asia backpacker
September 16, 2010 7:05 AM Subscribe
Books about South East Asia culture and history, for a young traveller
Can you reccomend books either about south east asia, or particularly suited to reading whilst backpacking in the area?
I am gifting a departing employee my old kindle which I will fill with books that I think might be nice for her travels. She will be travelling to places like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia.
(secondary question is it rude to give a 2nd hand gift?)
She is interested in spiritual/philosopy, but I am keen to also include more broadening books about, culture, history, politics, in addition to some random novels for the beach, that she might not typically pick off the shelf
Can you reccomend books either about south east asia, or particularly suited to reading whilst backpacking in the area?
I am gifting a departing employee my old kindle which I will fill with books that I think might be nice for her travels. She will be travelling to places like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia.
(secondary question is it rude to give a 2nd hand gift?)
She is interested in spiritual/philosopy, but I am keen to also include more broadening books about, culture, history, politics, in addition to some random novels for the beach, that she might not typically pick off the shelf
As to your second point, I don't think secondhand books are ever considered a rude gift and often warmly welcomed or mementoes...
posted by The Lady is a designer at 7:40 AM on September 16, 2010
posted by The Lady is a designer at 7:40 AM on September 16, 2010
The Beach (the book, not the movie)
Mr. Nice (the book, not the movie)
American Psycho (the… oh, you get it already!)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:56 AM on September 16, 2010
Mr. Nice (the book, not the movie)
American Psycho (the… oh, you get it already!)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:56 AM on September 16, 2010
It's hard to find books about Cambodia that aren't focused on the war, the khmer rouge or the famine, but there are a couple in this list. I always loved the stories from the Gatiloke. They're delightfully out of tune with Western morality tales.
And no, it's absolutely not rude to give a second hand gift, particularly if you've improved it immensely by filling it full of books!
posted by Ahab at 7:56 AM on September 16, 2010
And no, it's absolutely not rude to give a second hand gift, particularly if you've improved it immensely by filling it full of books!
posted by Ahab at 7:56 AM on September 16, 2010
First They Killed My Father would work for Cambodia.
The Girl In The Picture focuses on Vietnam, but I wasn't a big fan of it.
The Beach, mentioned above would be good.
If you want to recommend a movie too, A Map For Saturday is a good backpacking documentary.
posted by backwards guitar at 8:08 AM on September 16, 2010
The Girl In The Picture focuses on Vietnam, but I wasn't a big fan of it.
The Beach, mentioned above would be good.
If you want to recommend a movie too, A Map For Saturday is a good backpacking documentary.
posted by backwards guitar at 8:08 AM on September 16, 2010
I read a fascinating book about the fall of Singapore in 1942 It might have been Sinister Twilight by Noel Barber. The night before the official surrender Robinson's Department Store opened up for the British families who hadn't been able to evacuate in time and let everyone have a last bath and sleep in the mattress department before they were marched off to Changi in the morning.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:02 AM on September 16, 2010
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:02 AM on September 16, 2010
Doh! I'm in Australia, and I've read a couple of great books about here...
Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country is a beautiful blend of erudite information and gentle fun (often at our expense, but it's Bill Bryson, so it's all good.) To my mind it's one of his best books.
Bruce Chatwin's Songlines is a wonderful exploration of the notion that aboriginal Australians mapped the country using ceremony and song. The joys of it are distinctly tempered by the realities of aboriginal deprivation in 1970s Australia, and Bruce Chatwin's own (occasionally hilarious) suffering as a small delicate homosexual art aficionado amongst outback ruffians, but it's a great read all the same.
Tim Winton's Cloudstreet is a big sprawling novel about suburban life in postwar Perth. Which makes it sound a whole lot less fascinating than it is. It's just so... us. The wikipedia entry does a better job of describing why than I ever could.
posted by Ahab at 9:36 AM on September 16, 2010
Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country is a beautiful blend of erudite information and gentle fun (often at our expense, but it's Bill Bryson, so it's all good.) To my mind it's one of his best books.
Bruce Chatwin's Songlines is a wonderful exploration of the notion that aboriginal Australians mapped the country using ceremony and song. The joys of it are distinctly tempered by the realities of aboriginal deprivation in 1970s Australia, and Bruce Chatwin's own (occasionally hilarious) suffering as a small delicate homosexual art aficionado amongst outback ruffians, but it's a great read all the same.
Tim Winton's Cloudstreet is a big sprawling novel about suburban life in postwar Perth. Which makes it sound a whole lot less fascinating than it is. It's just so... us. The wikipedia entry does a better job of describing why than I ever could.
posted by Ahab at 9:36 AM on September 16, 2010
I recently read Catfish and Mandala, about a Vietnamese-American who bicycles through Vietnam. It is one of the best books I've ever read. Amazing.
posted by Brittanie at 9:38 AM on September 16, 2010
posted by Brittanie at 9:38 AM on September 16, 2010
I lived in Thailand for nearly 10 years and the book I enjoyed most of all while staying there was The River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekhong by Milton Osborne.
It's beautifully written and tells the jaw-dropping story of how a few very young Frenchman with little preparation but enormous willpower embarked on a years-long expedition up the Mekhong, which even in the late 19th century was still mostly unexplored and unknown by Westerners. Even though it becomes clear quite early on that their dreams of finding a profitable river trade route into western China are impossible, they persist. Along the way they are shocked by bloody Khmer court intrigue, stunned by the jungle temples of Angkor Wat, seduced by Lao maidens, terrorized by man-eating alligators and officious British civil servants, and find themselves sucked into a Chinese civil war. And the illustrations by the expedition's artist Louis Delaporte are wonderful.
For stories from a local perspective, Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, a young Thai who writes in English, is very good. Also available on Kindle.
Graeme Greene's The Quiet American is my favorite novel about the region.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:15 AM on September 16, 2010
It's beautifully written and tells the jaw-dropping story of how a few very young Frenchman with little preparation but enormous willpower embarked on a years-long expedition up the Mekhong, which even in the late 19th century was still mostly unexplored and unknown by Westerners. Even though it becomes clear quite early on that their dreams of finding a profitable river trade route into western China are impossible, they persist. Along the way they are shocked by bloody Khmer court intrigue, stunned by the jungle temples of Angkor Wat, seduced by Lao maidens, terrorized by man-eating alligators and officious British civil servants, and find themselves sucked into a Chinese civil war. And the illustrations by the expedition's artist Louis Delaporte are wonderful.
For stories from a local perspective, Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, a young Thai who writes in English, is very good. Also available on Kindle.
Graeme Greene's The Quiet American is my favorite novel about the region.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:15 AM on September 16, 2010
Saint Jack, The Consul's File, or Kowloon Tong by Paul Theroux
Far Eastern Tales or Collected Short Stories Vol. 4 by Somerset Maugham
posted by Right On Red at 12:28 PM on September 16, 2010
Far Eastern Tales or Collected Short Stories Vol. 4 by Somerset Maugham
posted by Right On Red at 12:28 PM on September 16, 2010
The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma is the best book available on that subject, not that it has much competition or anything.
posted by shii at 9:14 PM on September 16, 2010
posted by shii at 9:14 PM on September 16, 2010
Seconding Somerset Maugham's short stories
posted by The Lady is a designer at 2:23 AM on September 17, 2010
posted by The Lady is a designer at 2:23 AM on September 17, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Then again I musta been a weird teenager ;p because others I can dredge up from memories of that time/place/youth are:
"King Rat" by James Clavell,
"TanaMera" by Noel Barber (wonderful wonderful book, a love story crossing cultures ;p )
posted by The Lady is a designer at 7:40 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]