Big Issues for Bookclubs and other Browsers
1. So what do you think Thai Girl was all about? (See also question 8.)
2. Can the book be read at different levels?... as a simple romance and also as providing insights about Thailand. How did you see it when you read it and how successful is it for you at each of these levels?
3. Did you feel the book got bogged down in too much dialogue at any point? Eg the discussion with Samantha about choices and opportunity in life (chapter 7.) and the argument about September Eleven and the 'war on terrorism' (chapter 29). (See also question 7.)
4. Did it bother you that a principal character, Emma, only figures for the first third of the book and the final chapter, and Fon, the 'Thai Girl' appears for the final two thirds and then only sporadically? Is Ben sufficiently strong a character to hold the story together? Who do you think is the most important character in the book?
5. Did you find any bits funny, such as Odin the ladyboy restaurateur on Koh Chang?
6. Was the book successful in evoking the spirit and feel of Thailand? If you have been to Thailand, did it ring true and if not, has it given you an urge to go there?
7. Ben and his friends often put the world to rights on a range of issues over a beer and a spliff. Did you find these debates were handled in a way that was interesting/superficial/ irritating etc or that they were relevant or superfluous to the development of the characters and plot? The following are examples of issues you might like to think about.
- Young travellers in transition; decision time; putting reality on hold
- The traveller/backpacker; a genuine lifestyle or just a glorified tourist?
- The impact of moneyed travellers on a poorer society, no contact without friction
- How travellers treat the Thais; bridging the culture gap
- Western attitudes to developing countries; the Indo-Chinese wars, September Eleven and the 'war against terrorism'.
- Environmental degradation; cutting down the jungle in pursuit of the tourist dollar
- The toil of the rice farmer; the countryside in crisis
- Migrant labour as a means of survival and self-improvement
- Wanting the western lifestyle; globalisation and the snare of urban life
- The flesh trade in Thailand; rural poverty and the pressure to sell sex
- Traditional Thai modesty and sexual morality; the double standards
- The essential nature of the Thai girl; perceived as virgin or whore?
8. The book is dedicated to the migrant workers of Thailand, especially those from the poor villages of Isaan. Do you think this is relevant to the themes of the book or is it just pious twaddle? Is it a book about poverty? Or is it a feminist novel... about the exploitation of vulnerable women?
10. Were you disappointed by the ending? What's going to happen to Ben, Emma and Fon? Did you feel that nothing much happened at the end? Or in your view was the outcome the realistic and likely conclusion of the Ben's affair with Fon all along? Did you feel that the characterisation and emotional tension was sufficient to sustain your involvement to the bitter end? Did you use a lot of tissues and if so where in the book and why?
11. Did the book engage you all along or was there insufficient action?... nobody was murdered or eaten by sharks as in other backpacker novels. Did you want a car chase and a rumpy pumpy sex scene?
12. Did you hope Ben would be eaten by sharks? Was he an utter bastard of a middle class plonker who walked all over Emma and deserved what was coming to him when she gave him the heave-ho? Or was Emma a moaning minny, a pain in the proverbials, who Ben, if he'd got any balls at all, should have dumped as soon as he first saw the tottie in the go-go bars?
13. Was Fon modest, sweet and innocent, always working for her family as she claimed; was it she who was the victim? If so what was the damage and do you think this may be a common scenario in cross-cultural affairs? Or was she seductive and scheming, a worldly woman who knew exactly what she was doing and how to manipulate credulous foreign men in case there was something in it for her? Was she always truthful to Ben, do you think?
14. And now for the most important question... from a purely literary point of view of course. Ben grumbled to Emma that in Thailand she was always tired and complaining of headaches, with the inevitable negative consequences for their honeymooning. Did he, do you think, at any time during his Thai holiday make up for this lack of activity in the sack by doing it with anybody else?
15. Would you recommend the book to your friends or give them this website address?
"Book clubs are for boring old farts?" Instead you can blow your top and have your say about any of these issues by clicking on Readers Forum now.
