Search results for ""Author Siburapha""

This volume brings together Siburapha’s most highly acclaimed novel, Behind the Painting, with three short stories highlighting the plight of the underclass: “Those Kind of People,” “Lend Us a Hand,” and “The Awakening.” Behind the Painting is the story of a Thai student studying in Japan who becomes infatuated with an older Thai woman. The novel reflects postwar Thai society in the vanity of the aristocracy and the pragmatism of the new elite; in the social more of concealing one’s true feelings; and in the restricted existence of unmarried women and the resulting pressure to marry, whatever the circumstance. Paralleling these Thai cultural themes are the universal themes of the fear of aging and the vagaries of love. Siburapha (Kulap Saipradit, 1905-1974) has enjoyed a checkered reputation in the Thai literary world. A popular and accomplished writer of romantic novels in the late 1920s, his later work tackled themes of social injustice and inequality. Imprisoned from 1952 to 1957, Siburapha subsequently sought asylum in China, where he remained for the rest of his life.

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One of Thailand's best-known and most highly regarded novels, portraying the romance of a young Thai man and a married older woman In that tranquil and apparently very ordinary picture, I see everything unfolding. Every scene, every part, from the beginning to the final act'Nopporn, a Thai student studying in Japan, is tasked with hosting a distinguished old family friend and his new wife, the beautiful, aristocratic Kirati. Despite their difference in age and status, and the social constraints of the day, Nopporn and Kirati are inexorably drawn to each other, and love starts to bloom. A stirring portrayal of youthful romantic obsession, and later attempts to come to terms with the frailty of passionate feelings, Behind the Painting also shows the constrained lives of many women of the time. First published in 1937, it is one of Thailand's best-known and most beloved novels.Translated by David Smyth

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