the Friends Chapter 15
15 years ago
Friday, September 19, 2008
The Edge of the Empire: First Impressions
Alba gave me this book by Sanya Polprasid about the origins of the Thai people. Though it is based on currently accepted theory that the Thai migrated south from China, it is a novel and like all novels, authors have license to fictionalize. So I do accept the facts, broadly speaking, but not its details. In the introduction, the editor states that the book was written in "the classical style" and I am not sure what that means. In the first 30 pages of the book 17 characters have been introduced; there is no main character or hero.
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3 comments:
"The Edge of the Empire" reminds me of one end of the history. Perhaps, The edge is meaning one of histries.
And I tried to cinsider why there is no cheif character or hero in that book. I think only cheif character or only hero can not make yarn the history. Only people who live in then can make it. So there are 17 "common or not hero and cheif character" characters in there, I think.
Or perhaps the title refers to a people who have been pushed to the margins of history. Having 17 characters makes it hard to remember who is who and who did what. The effect of so many characters reveals that many Thai hated being under the Chinese yoke. One man or one woman may have been the leader in resisting Chinese domination, but they were not alone. Buncheewan is a particularly strong female character, as is her brother Boonpan.
I agree with your "Having 17 characters makes it hard to remember who is who and who did what."
When I read AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, which Agatha Christie wrote, I cound remember who is who. So I made a note to check Whe died and Who did.
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