Has Anybody Read The New Andrew Hicks Book Yet?

[Ulysses G.]

PS When someone posts something negative about my books I think I should be permitted to post a rebuttal.

I think that most of us would agree with that, and I, for one, enjoy your replies.

[AA1]

Having just returned from a 'month in the country', I glanced through the threads I have been missing on ThaiVisa and was amused to see Garro's thread "Has anybody read the new Andrew Hick's book yet?".

The answer is "Yes. I have".

When I go to my little house in the country for a holiday, I go to relax in the peace, quiet and clean air. I escape Bangkok and do not have internet/email or television. My one compromise is my mobile in case of emergencies. I do also take a good selection of books to cover my mood at the time.

I am not a 'Mad Dog', even though an Englishman, as I do NOT go out in the midday sun.

In the heat of the day, I settle down in the shade of my terrace, with the fan turning above my head, a gin & tonic on the table beside me and a book (be it to relax and entertain or to educate).

One of the books which I took up this year was "My Thai Girl & I" which I found most entertaining. As Pab, who seems to be the only other person claiming on the thread to have read it, I too found that it made me laugh when I read of Andrew's experiences which coincided with mine and entertained when they were different. A good read with pictures to add to the stories. I would very happily recommend the book to you others.

Some people in their posts seem to think that if a book is about Thailand then you are automatically trying to teach them about Thai Culture! When I read an autobiography of any sort, it is to be entertained learning more about their life and what they have done rather than specifically about the culture that they live in although I might indirectly learn a little the culture as well - this is an incidental rather than the main point of the read.

3 other books I should mention.

1). Garro. I was amazed that it was you who started this thread as your book "Last Escape" was another of the books which I took up with me. Again much enjoyed and thought that the way you combined the present with the past very well done. I learnt a lot from it and very much admire what you have acheived. Keep up the good work.

2). "Kafka on the beach". A very good novel set in Japan. Sorry the book is still up in the country and cannot remember the Jap author.

3). For Ulysses G.!! "The Stories of English" by David Crystal and published by Penguin Books. A very educational book of between 5-600 full pages describing how English developed from the very early days and is still changing (I have learnt that it is I who have got stuck in the past - not the standard of English which is deteriorating!!). Also how English is co-developing (or as I would have said 'being adulterated') in the US, Australia, S. Africa etc. etc AND by Ali G!! Sorry Ulysses. I could not resit a little dig at you. Problem is when I select my books I do not even bother to see who published it. I like to read a full of books depending on my mood at the time so at any time I see a book that might entertain me I buy it and keep for that later moment!!

Getting back to the Thread again.

Yes.

I have read "My Thai Girl & I".

I enjoyed it.

I would recommend others of you to read it.

[Ulysses G.]

"Kafka On the Beach" is by Haruki Murakami who is a very popular, more recent author.

To be honest "The Stories of English" sounds like a real snooze, but I loved "Mother Tongue" and "Made in America" by Bill Bryson which were on the same subject. You might want to check them out.

AA1, for your information, all three of these books were published by major publishers.

[bannork]

Thanks Pab!

Yours are the first comments by someone who has read my new book, MY THAI GIRL AND I and I very much appreciate the nice things you say about it.

And I agree that most of the writings about Bangok are cliched urban stuff that says nothing whatsoever about Thailand. That's why in my novel THAI GIRL I tried to break the stereoptype with Fon, the 'Thai girl' who refuses to go with plausible farang, Ben. Truth or fiction?

As for my non-fiction, Thailand is still substantially rural and that of course is what MY THAI GIRL AND I is all about, the countryside.

Anyone else read it yet? I'm hungry for feedback.

Somebody told me there's a complimentary review by Jim Eckardt in The Phuket Gazette but I can't find it on their website.

Andrew

I enjoyed 'Thai girl' Andrew, the description of farang travellers especially hit home, I was the same in my 20s and 30s, travelling for experience and cheap thrills, on the edge of foreign cultures but not really in.

But your description of Fon frustrated me, she won't sleep with Ben because of the social stigma, fine, but what of the time Ben phones and she's unavailable? Are we to assume she's a mistress of some rich Thai, thus diminishing her moral standpoint?

The end feels like an anti-climax, having convinced the reader Ben is in love with Fon, his rapid immersion into the professional world once back in Blighty and presumably abandonment of Fon, leads the reader to conclude it was only a holiday romance after all; yet the whole book has implied it's more than that.

The book would have been fascinating if we had had much more of Fon's viewpoint running at the same time, the romance and life viewed from the 2 perspectives, but that would require indepth understanding of Issan women's thinking and culture, something that takes years to develop.

I haven't read your latest yet, but as a fellow Englishman married to a woman from Issan and a lover of Issan,I enjoy any sympathetic portayal of its people and region. Keep up the good work!

[garro]

Well Andrew, I finished your new book and must say that it was a very enjoyable ride. The book does exactly what it says on the cover. I have read other books about the ex-pat experience in Thailand and yours is by far the best. It gave an honest portrayal of life in rural Thailand and the growing pains of a westerner who moves there. Well done and I hope it sells well for you.

[lampard10]

Give me a break. Any expat worth his salt, doesn't need to go around reading books (good or otherwise) about Thailand. Get out there and live your own lives, guys. Have an authentic life experience of your own and form your own ideas and opinions.

Many do quite well here, without having to read anybody else's work.

So that means a cook doesn't read cookery books, a pilot doesn't read books about aircraft, a builer doesn't read books about buildings.

I guess you don't read books about playing with yourself!

[Andrew Hicks]

Well Andrew, I finished your new book and must say that it was a very enjoyable ride. The book does exactly what it says on the cover. I have read other books about the ex-pat experience in Thailand and yours is by far the best. It gave an honest portrayal of life in rural Thailand and the growing pains of a westerner who moves there. Well done and I hope it sells well for you.

Thanks so much for your nice comments about MY THAI GIRL AND I. After so much work creating the book, it's really great to get positive feedback on it.

I also much appreciate bannork's coments on my novel, THAI GIRL in the previous post. I agree that for a romantic the book's ending is a bit disappointing as you must have hoped that Ben would get the girl. But the ending was the whole point of the story.

I resisted a sugar sweet Hollywood ending as surely the whole affair was fated from the start. The book itself doesn't suggest there's more to the relationship than a holiday romance and a reader might interpret Ben's passion for Fon as nothing more than the immature dreaming of a young lad of twenty two. Perhaps inevitably Ben is fated to return home to a formal career in UK while Fon is left abandoned on her island. It is, you might say, Romeo and Juliet without the coffins.

So why does Fon refuse to go with Ben even though she's clearly drawn to him? Well, because she a Thai lady and unfathomable!

There are of course a thousand possible reasons. First and foremost, she doesn't need to as she has a good job as a masseuse and takes a big risk if she gives that up to go with Ben. Anyway he's told her he's up to his neck in debt and he hasn't offered her anything except his love and his passion. It's a safe future she'll want not irrational emotions. Anyway maybe she has a Thai man in Ban Phe and perhaps the child, Joy is theirs. Maybe she's a lesbian or a ladyboy. In Thailand nothing is ever what it seems.

And that is perhaps the central theme of the bok... of Ben the naive foreigner trying to understand the cultural mysteries of Thailand and Thai women. If as bannork suggests the book had a dual viewpoint explaining Fon's perception of their relationship then that genie would be crammed into the bottle and the book made less rater than more intriguing.

With Fon a mystery, the reader is then led to grapple with the agonies of a cross-cultural love affair, together with Ben, and to be kept in suspense as to the likely outcome. I'm gratified too that readers' messages to my Readers Forum often say that Ben's agonies with his 'Thai girl' are exactly as it happened to them.

Finally, I hope it's of interest to readers of Thaivisa to hear something from the author of a book that's being discussed on this forum and I hope it's not inappropriate for me to add my comments.

Andrew Hicks

[mahtin]

Thanks for those few kind words, Sabaijai. I think I must now be allowed the right of reply.

Yes, I'll come clean. Steinbeck, Irving, Grisham... I've read them all, but I guess I got my Johns in a twist. What's that word that means declining memory in later years?

As to your second barb, it too hits home. Speaking as a lifelong practicing feminist I am thoroughly ashamed to be associated with books called THAI GIRL and MY THAIGIRL AND I.

Having written it I had a big problem thinking of a title for THAI GIRL. As it's the story of a British lad who falls in love with and in Thailand I was going to call it "English Boy". But they told me they wouldn't publish it if I persisted with that title.

Frankly I think it's disgraceful calling mature woman 'Thai girls' just as I hate it when people talk about "bar girls". I give them respect and call them "bar ladies" every time.

The publishers said that the title of my new book should link back to the novel and suggested MY THAI GIRL AND I. They said it had the same ring as the title of some movie about Thailand with Yul Brynner and Jodie Foster in it. (Have I got this right Sabaijai?)

But no, the possessive implications in the title of 'my thai girl' are offensive and sexist and there's even an error of grammar. It should be "My Thai Girl and Me". So again it seems that my sly critic and I are in full agreement.

Actually both books are feminist works, a point that is expressly made on the back cover of the new one. So you'd better read them, Sabaijai and if you're embarassed about your friends seeing what you're reading you can cover them with brown paper.

You might even enjoy them.

Choke dee khrap!

Andrew Hicks

PS When someone posts something negative about my books I think I should be permitted to post a rebuttal. After all Thaivisa geezers love discussing literature and especially having the author commenting. It's been good clean fun and at one point the thread had five stars!

http://thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/2007/02/a...s-airwaves.html

Andrew, for your next book you should consider humour; this was great stuff!

[midasthailand]

I was just wondering if anybody had read the new book by Andrew Hicks yet? It's called 'My Thai and I' and is meant to be in shops already. I thought his last book,'Thai Girl' was a good read. I hear this one is a sort of auto-biographical.

Thanks for the mention, though it's a little premature to expect anyone to have read MY THAI GIRL AND I as it's only been in the shops about a week. Asia Books has done very well and it's in about 200 outlets country wide so I'm looking forward to the reviews.

As you may guess, MY THAI GIRL AND I is the story of how I met my wife Cat and how we set up home together in her remote village in Surin. I know nothing can be completely original but I think this one's a bit different as it's about five years of a friendship that's happily continuing today. My aim was not to just write about ourselves but about Isaan and rural life in general. This is where I am and it's what I have to write about.

I hope you enjoy the book and later can give some useful feedback.

As to my earlier novel "Thai Girl", reviewers have described it as 'the definitive novel about relations between Thais and foreigners' and as 'one of the biggest selling English language novels ever published in Thailand'. There's no Borat or Bean. It's just a simple story of an English lad trying to learn about Thailand through his friendship with a Thai beach masseuse. Fon is the sweet and modest 'Thai girl' who says 'no' and readers seem to like fall for her too.

I'm just preparing the seventh printing and today am going through a long contract with a film company in California which wants to option it for a movie.

I'm gratified that it has given pleasure to more than a few and from the feedback I get has meant a lot to some. Every author accepts that not everyone will like their book but I feel that in this instance I should come to the defence of "Thai Girl". Anonymous criticisms inflame my defensive instincts.

A few have criticised a passage in the book where my backpack characters sit on the beach and rant about Anglo-American foreign policy in the Middle East and 'the war on terror'. This dialogue was an elaboration of the opinions I have heard from young travellers many times. While the majority (though not all) of the characters are highly critical of Bush, this does not make me anti-American. The contrary is in fact the case.

I wonder though if these criticisms might occasionally have given offence?

Read the book and see what you think!!

Andrew

If your books are anywhere near as well constructed as your posts on TV then I will have to consider outlaying some of my hard earned dosh on them. Good post Mr Hicks!

[midasthailand]

OK, I'm confused. Will the real author please stand up? Is Mahtin a pseudonym for Andrew Hicks or is this person trying to pass him/herself (feminist) off as the author? HELP???

[mahtin]

OK, I'm confused. Will the real author please stand up? Is Mahtin a pseudonym for Andrew Hicks or is this person trying to pass him/herself (feminist) off as the author? HELP???

No, I am not Andrew, I just admire his work, and my Thai is from Khon Kaen.

[midasthailand]

OK, I'm confused. Will the real author please stand up? Is Mahtin a pseudonym for Andrew Hicks or is this person trying to pass him/herself (feminist) off as the author? HELP???

No, I am not Andrew, I just admire his work, and my Thai is from Khon Kaen.

Sorry about that, I re-read your post and realised that you had only added one line at the bottom of A post by Andrew that was not bounded by the quote box, hence my confusion. I assume you have a Thai friend from Khon Kaen?

[garro]

OK, I'm confused. Will the real author please stand up? Is Mahtin a pseudonym for Andrew Hicks or is this person trying to pass him/herself (feminist) off as the author? HELP???

I think the problem lies in the fact that Andrew's previous post has merged with Mahtin's post and it looks like he has written the whole thing.

[mahtin]

Sorry about that, I re-read your post and realised that you had only added one line at the bottom of A post by Andrew that was not bounded by the quote box, hence my confusion. I assume you have a Thai friend from Khon Kaen?

Messy editing - my fault.

My wife - coming up for 10 years.

[mizzi39]

Just finished "my Thai girl and I" and thought that it was a great read. Much better than most books I have read on "expat life" so khudos to Mr. Hicks . I would even go so far as to say that it is the best book that I have read in this category, unlike "Confessions of a Bangkok PI." which is probably the worst piece of trash ever printed (in my opinion). And who was responsible for that book coming to print? Hmm. Oh yes, Stephen Leather.

Edited June 3, 2008 by mizzi39

[MKAsok]

I've been a magazine writer and editor for the best part of twelve years and if I've learned anything it's that technically brilliant writing does not necessarily translate into compelling storytelling. Exceptional writers like John Burdett, who excell at both are just that: exceptional.

I read Thai Girl off the back of a Haruki Murakami book and, perhaps inevitably after this, found the writing so pedestrian I was tempted to stop reading it immediately. However, I was quickly drawn into the story and this is where the author's talent really lies: he has a natural gift for narrative. No matter that there's no strong plot; the dialogue, at times, is verging on the ludicrous (Andrew, I don't know where you did your research on 'yoof-speak' but it's pretty wide of the mark) and the characters mostly flat and in danger of degenerating into unsympathetic caracatures (although, in fairness, this is probably a more a consequence of the nature of the characters more than any defect in the ability of the writer). Despite these weaknesses, Hicks' raw talent for storytelling keeps the reader turning the pages and this is the prime directive in any kind of writing.

The real heart and soul of this book lies in the character of Fon (the 'Thai Girl'). Beautifully observed and drawn, a striking metaphor for Thai culture itself, it is through her that Hicks adeptly explores the central theme of most books of this genre: the difficulty, frustration, pain and, perhaps ultimately, the futilitly of the foreigner trying to come to terms with the mercurial nature of Thailand. It is to his credit - and I believe displays and reflects the respect he has for this country - that he chose not to use the hackneyed milieu of the Bangkok bar scene as a vehicle to achieve this.

One thing I particularly enjoyed (and Andrew, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure parody wasn't actually your intention and I hope you don't take this the wrong way) was the 'travellers' in this book came off as what I've always believed them to be - witless cretins. Their asinine discussion of world politics and their eagerness to spew forth ill-informed gibberish on any subject I found hilariously accurate, as I'm sure would anyone with half a brain who's spent more than five seconds on Khao San Road or any of the islands.

I also applaud your bravery in how you handled the ending of the story (although I'm not sure how this will affect your film rights - it's not very 'Hollywood' is it?), but, as I believe you have mentioned somewhere in this thread, to soft-soap the end the the story would have been a cop-out and negated the main point of the book.

As for the arguments made here that major publishers equal major quality, this is nonsense. A large proportion of books published by the majors fail and a large proportion of them that do succeed are literary and literally rubbish.

Anyway Andrew, if you happen to read this, well done for getting Thai Girl published. It's a good book and I'd recommend it to anyone. I'll certainly look out for your new book.

mk

[Andrew Hicks]

I've been a magazine writer and editor for the best part of twelve years and if I've learned anything it's that technically brilliant writing does not necessarily translate into compelling storytelling. Exceptional writers like John Burdett, who excell at both are just that: exceptional.

I read Thai Girl off the back of a Haruki Murakami book and, perhaps inevitably after this, found the writing so pedestrian I was tempted to stop reading it immediately. However, I was quickly drawn into the story and this is where the author's talent really lies: he has a natural gift for narrative. No matter that there's no strong plot; the dialogue, at times, is verging on the ludicrous (Andrew, I don't know where you did your research on 'yoof-speak' but it's pretty wide of the mark) and the characters mostly flat and in danger of degenerating into unsympathetic caracatures (although, in fairness, this is probably a more a consequence of the nature of the characters more than any defect in the ability of the writer). Despite these weaknesses, Hicks' raw talent for storytelling keeps the reader turning the pages and this is the prime directive in any kind of writing.

The real heart and soul of this book lies in the character of Fon (the 'Thai Girl'). Beautifully observed and drawn, a striking metaphor for Thai culture itself, it is through her that Hicks adeptly explores the central theme of most books of this genre: the difficulty, frustration, pain and, perhaps ultimately, the futilitly of the foreigner trying to come to terms with the mercurial nature of Thailand. It is to his credit - and I believe displays and reflects the respect he has for this country - that he chose not to use the hackneyed milieu of the Bangkok bar scene as a vehicle to achieve this.

One thing I particularly enjoyed (and Andrew, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure parody wasn't actually your intention and I hope you don't take this the wrong way) was the 'travellers' in this book came off as what I've always believed them to be - witless cretins. Their asinine discussion of world politics and their eagerness to spew forth ill-informed gibberish on any subject I found hilariously accurate, as I'm sure would anyone with half a brain who's spent more than five seconds on Khao San Road or any of the islands.

I also applaud your bravery in how you handled the ending of the story (although I'm not sure how this will affect your film rights - it's not very 'Hollywood' is it?), but, as I believe you have mentioned somewhere in this thread, to soft-soap the end the the story would have been a cop-out and negated the main point of the book.

As for the arguments made here that major publishers equal major quality, this is nonsense. A large proportion of books published by the majors fail and a large proportion of them that do succeed are literary and literally rubbish.

Anyway Andrew, if you happen to read this, well done for getting Thai Girl published. It's a good book and I'd recommend it to anyone. I'll certainly look out for your new book.

mk

Please forgive me for posting yet again but I just have to answer this one to say thanks, MKAsok for your very nice comments and to answer your questions, both pertinent and impertinent!

Your questions and the criticism are linked.... was I was sending-up my 'traveller' characters with the result that their 'yoof speak' was off the mark? And how had I reasearched their language?

Well I hope it was an accurate portrayal of them that was not unsympathetic but which did quietly poke fun. The idea that being a traveller is trendy is the product of immaturity and deserves gentle teasing. From Khao San Road onwards these young guys are posturing and cool and it always seems, annoyingly free of wrinkles.

So how did I research the dialogue for THAI GIRL?

Before writing my novel, I revisited many old haunts in SE Asia and fell in with many such travellers. Being always solitary, I kept notebooks in which I recorded details of conversations and language. In the book some of the booze fuelled dialogues on the beaches are thus almost verbatim.

From all this I picked up current idiom to back up my existing 'research', namely having two chilldren of that age, spending ten years as a lecturer at the University of Exeter, a similar southern university to the one that Ben and Emma attended and visits to Australia and to the web to find various dialect dictionaries. Finally my twenty year old son of heavily edited the manuscript for current idiom and deleted quite a bit that he though did not ring true.

So that's where I got my 'yoof speak' from.

Okay the action is now five years ago but even then what surprised me was how much hackneyed idiom like 'brilliant' and 'cool' were still in use. If it now jars, I'm glad it doesn't spoil the storytelling.

As to the ending, I have beside me a 17 page option contract with a Californian studio for the filming of THAI GIRL I queried the ending with them as to me it is the whole point of the story. They said they might be under pressure from their backers to make it more romantic but that they personally are keen to keep it as it is. As I've said before THAI GIRL is 'Romeo and Juliet without the coffins'.

At least with MY THAI GIRL AND I there's no such problem with yoof speak!

Andrew

[cluezo]

Who is Andrew Hicks?

Son of Mr & Mrs Hicks.

[MKAsok]

Thanks for your replies Andrew. I have to admit, I was always curious as to what your real feelings towards those characters were. And congratulations for being able to survive the interminable tedium of drunken conversations with such people for the purposes of research. You have truly suffered for your art. Best of luck with the new book.

mk

[johna]

Quote

"I'm just preparing the seventh printing and today am going through a long contract with a film company in California which wants to option it for a movie."

Dam that’s good news, now I don’t have to buy the book just wait until the movie comes out and get a pirate copy at Pantip Plaza.

besides reading hurts my lips

[garro]

What's next Andrew?

Another book?

[Andrew Hicks]

What's next Andrew?

Another book?

How about you, Garro? I hope there'll be another book from you too.

I can imagine you writing, 'Last Post, How I learned to survive without Thaivisa!'

No, My Thai Girl and I are taking it quietly here in Isaan. I'm doing my blog and going with the flow. But thanks for asking.

Yesterday I was posting on Thai Visa and I heard a scratching noise behind me. I looked round and there it was at last... a turtle with a moutache!

Choke dee.

Andrew