100 Best Books For Expats In Thailand To Keep Sharp

[Capealava]

Having lived in Thailand for 7 years now, I at times find myself starved for a good book. Something to make me think and realize how rare our lives are. Here is a list of Newsweek's best 100 books to start you off. http://www.newsweek.com/id/204478

[jackdanielsesq]

That is a great list of lists - now for a Crown somewhere - thanks.

BR>Jack

[syd barrett]

This list was compiled by persons who knows little about books.

Any intelligent fifteen year old could select this list of 100 books.

Where are the works of Sir Walter Scott, Calvino, Gadda, Belli or Montale? Where is Crevecoeur, David Karp, Deryck Cooke or Henry Chadwick? Bonhoeffer and Manzoni are missing. Why?

Three cheers for 'Lord of the Flies' which did made it into the top 100.

Edited July 1, 2009 by syd barrett

[alaninkarachi]

This list was compiled by persons who knows little about books.

Any intelligent fifteen year old could select this list of 100 books.

Where are the works of Sir Walter Scott, Calvino, Gadda, Belli or Montale? Where is Crevecoeur, David Karp, Deryck Cooke or Henry Chadwick? Bonhoeffer and Manzoni are missing. Why?

Three cheers for 'Lord of the Flies' which did made it into the top 100.

Really. I'm well past 15, and clearly not that intelligent as I could not have picked your list. I've got a UK degree which clearly does not help in this instance as I've only heard of 1 of your chosen 10 authors. And to think I've enjoyed so much of life without them. What have I been mising.

[angiud]

This list was compiled by persons who knows little about books.

Any intelligent fifteen year old could select this list of 100 books.

Where are the works of Sir Walter Scott, Calvino, Gadda, Belli or Montale? Where is Crevecoeur, David Karp, Deryck Cooke or Henry Chadwick? Bonhoeffer and Manzoni are missing. Why?

Three cheers for 'Lord of the Flies' which did made it into the top 100.

I agree with Syd Barrett (you love the italian literature!), the list is deeply incomplete and maybe reflects some marketing issue.

[cpofc]

speaking of books, many years ago, prior to the days of every second farang who lobbed here writing something entitled 'I married a patpong bar girl' or their biography of life in a Thai jail, they would have been banned 30 years ago anyway, I picked up a couple of books written by a bloke named Denis Segaller who came to Thailand in 1965 and never left. I am sure there are many Ex Pats here who will know of him, if not from the Bangkok Post alone.

His first two books 'Thai Ways' & 'More Thai Ways' are absolutely worth their weight in gold. I guess some of the content is a little dated now but it is still quite relevant. If you haven't read them and want to to learn more about this place and its people, these books are still an excellent resource. You can learb quite alot from these two books. Denis has an excellent writing style and a healthy sense of humour.

If you haven't read them I would urge you to give them a try.

[orchis]

It's a list of much-talked-about books that rarely get read.

[orangezeke]

quite a heavy american leaning to that list.

the bible gets a mention but the koran/talmut/etc doesn't ?

i've watched some of these movies...does that count ?

[WeeGB]

As each book is linked to where one can buy a copy on line, there seems to be a marketing ploy behind this list. Interesting topic though. The list also seems to lean heavily towards American writers, at the expense of the likes of Charles Dickens, Carlos Castaneda, Alexander Solzenhitsyn (never could spell that

), Alexandre Dumas, and many other European writers.

Should hopefully provoke some lively debate on the forum though.

[tim armstrong]

quite a heavy american leaning to that list.

the bible gets a mention but the koran/talmut/etc doesn't ?

i've watched some of these movies...does that count ?

Yes agree, just a bit of US bias. What happened to some of the other countries and their english speaking authors and Nobel Lauriates, and of course some translations of non english books. In fact most of the world outside of the US.?

[syd barrett]

On a lighter note, I am sorry not to see any Graham Greene included.

It seems that some authors that have been included are just nominated with the 'schoolboy obvious choice'.

How many times do I see 'A Clockwork Orange' in lists, when it should be the Burgess masterpiece 'Earthly Powers'.

Aldous Huxley is always represented with 'Brave New World' yet any of his other novels could be included (as better).

Virginia Wolfe is well nominated but how about Winterson, Bainbridge, Drabble or even Highsmith all fine female authors.

Edited July 1, 2009 by syd barrett