THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEEDINESS (Bangkok Post, 31 May 2015, Page22)
My interview with Bangkok 8 author John Burdett featured in the Spectrum Magazine supplement of today’s Sunday Bangkok Post. The interview also features two portraits by Bangkok noir artist Chris Coles …
By Kevin Cummings
Bangkok Post
31 May 2015
John Burdett is a British crime novelist. He is the best-selling author of Bangkok 8 and its sequels, Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts, The Godfather of Kathmandu and Vulture Peak. The Bangkok Asset, the sixth in the series, is due out as a hardback in…read more…
Thailand Footprint: Impressions left by the books, people, places and music of Thailand and South East Asia 
4 Responses to “THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEEDINESS (Bangkok Post, 31 May 2015, Page22)”
Fine, and interesting interview.
Thanks, Carl. I always appreciate it when you stop by for a read and more so when you take the time to leave a comment.
Hi, Kevin, interesting interview. I agree with most of his world view as he expressed it there. I read the first 3 of his novels and liked Bangkok 8 a lot, although it got A LOT of things wrong about Thais, and I don’t think Sonchai is a realistic character in the least. Still, the book was entertaining as hell. The following two, though, got into some spaces that were just too, too weird, a lot of extreme and gratuitous evil, with even less insight into the “Thai” mind, and I found the stories neither believable nor enlightening. And calling the one guy Mr. Khosana – means, simply, “advertise” – and the other Mr. Thanakhan – means, simply, “bank,” struck me as a meaningless and even pretentious literary device. (Remember, my degrees are in comp. lit., so I have some fairly informed opinions, at least that’s what I tell myself). Basically, I guess I got disillusioned with him as a novelist. Haven’t picked up the other ones because of that. But still, he does come across as an interesting, thoughtful guy. And I certainly don’t have any such literary work to put up and compare, so I’ll shut up now!
Enjoying ourselves in the U.S. Till August, then!
Your pal
Peter M
Peter – Thanks for the comment. Some of your criticism re Sonchai I have read elsewhere. I’m sure that may well be true. I think what people forget is that John has a world-wide audience and many of his readers of the Bangkok series have never been to Thailand and have no plans to do so. So those nuances would not be picked up by many. But I respect your opinion. I put down Bangkok Haunts for some of the reasons you state. So I am not here to agree completely or disagree completely. I do think you have made some valid points which could be helpful to some readers but not so much for others. I’m enjoying your NorCal picture adventures. Keep em coming! Kevin C