Southeast Asian literature in translation
January 18, 2018 9:22 AM Subscribe
I'm going to Thailand and Cambodia this spring. I'd like to read novels and poems about these places, ideally in translation.
I found this 13-year-old question, but most of the recommendations are for books originally written in English. I'd much rather pick up something originally written in Thai or Khmer and translated into English. I'm not looking for travel guides (that's what the internet is for) but for a sense of the culture. I'd lightly prefer fiction and poetry over memoirs/nonfiction, but if you've read a nonfiction account that you found compelling and well-written, that'd be cool too.
I found this 13-year-old question, but most of the recommendations are for books originally written in English. I'd much rather pick up something originally written in Thai or Khmer and translated into English. I'm not looking for travel guides (that's what the internet is for) but for a sense of the culture. I'd lightly prefer fiction and poetry over memoirs/nonfiction, but if you've read a nonfiction account that you found compelling and well-written, that'd be cool too.
Stay Alive, My son is the heartbreaking memoir of Pin Yathay, a Cambodian who lost his entire family during the Khmer Rouge era. Originally written in French and translated to English.
posted by hibbersk at 1:03 PM on January 18, 2018
posted by hibbersk at 1:03 PM on January 18, 2018
Best answer: Tum Teav is the Cambodian classic novel. This is the English translation I have which is recommended. There's a huge literary gap due to deliberate French colonial policies and then the civil war, but when you get to Phnom Penh, go to Monument Bookstore and ask them this question and they will be able to show you local authors being published directly. Very few get published internationally.
I would avoid memoirs about the Khmer Rouge prior to visiting Cambodia and read them after visiting. They are overwhelming and will be mean more when you read them after you've been to Cambodia, and you are more likely to be able to see the country as more than the civil war. Stay Alive is excellent. There's a small graphic novel by a local painter locally published only about his life, including the war, that Monument carries, and they have an excellent history book produced for high school and university students in Cambodia translated into English on the war that includes a lot of local voices.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:05 PM on January 18, 2018
I would avoid memoirs about the Khmer Rouge prior to visiting Cambodia and read them after visiting. They are overwhelming and will be mean more when you read them after you've been to Cambodia, and you are more likely to be able to see the country as more than the civil war. Stay Alive is excellent. There's a small graphic novel by a local painter locally published only about his life, including the war, that Monument carries, and they have an excellent history book produced for high school and university students in Cambodia translated into English on the war that includes a lot of local voices.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:05 PM on January 18, 2018
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posted by cardinalandcrow at 9:39 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]