I was really looking forward to John Burdett's follow up to the entertaining Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo, and while I enjoyed it, it had some serious flaws. I guess I was pretty satisfied until 3/4 of the way through, when his plots started to wear thin. This might also be where the sneering anti-west/American attitude of Sonchai Jitleecheep started to grate on me. I don't remember this condescending tone in the first novel, which seems somewhat self-hating since Sonchai is half "farang" himself, which in most Asian societies makes you a sort of outsider as well. The American CIA agents seem to reflect the perceived attitudes of an intellectual Englishman. For example, the main murder victim Mitch Turner is a neurotic, muscle bound, religiously misguided lost soul. Of the other three CIA agents, one, described as a jaw-grinder, succumbs to the flesh trade falls in love with a whore and is murdered, while the female boss is a lesbian, who hires a girl out as well. There are some British drug dealers and an eccentric Japanese tattoo artist, and not to mention the corrupt police Colonel Vikorn and army General Zinna don't necessarily exhibit the best aspect of the Thai people either. However, all the customer sat the Old Man's bar are rough American ex-hippies. You certainly see more Europeans and rough working class Brits in Bangkok. The British, in particular, have a reputation to act like barbarian Anglo-Saxons sacking a city when they travel abroad. So in a sense there are few redeeming characters, however among the few are the Muslims. Hmmm imagine this, coming from a liberal Brit.Sonchai is devoutly Buddhist, but exhibits his own moral relativism as he helps run his mother's brothel The Old Man's Club, and succumbs to the charms of the beautiful and successful working girl Chanya. There seems to be a sort of apologetic attitude to the oldest profession in the world, as Burdett feels the need to offer a note at the end of the book saying that per capita the skin trade is much larger elsewhere. If you want a more balanced look into Thai people I recommend Rattawut Lapcharoensap's excellent book of short stories, Sightseeing. That being said, I like how he ties in post 9/11 concerns as well as current affairs by citing the Muslim sectarian violence in the south of Thailand, and most of the plots are compelling, but I would like to have seen more about the war between Vikorn and Zinna, which was one of the more compelling aspects of the book. As usual, there's plenty of local color and history. I think both of his Thailand mysteries have flaws, but are basically entertaining reads. He has set the stage for a third, as some unresolved plot points are kept open.
This second installment in the adventures of Sonchai Jitpleecheep, half-caste former-monk-now-Thai-cop, is both more straight-ahead and weirder than Bangkok 8. It’s not quite as phantasmagoric as the first – Our Hero manages to keep his asides from straying too far afield – but it introduces even stranger creatures into the zoo that is Bangkok’s seamy side. In this case, these creatures include CIA agents with various kinks, Moslems from southern Thailand, yakuza, rogue tattoo artists, and the prostitutes who service them, one and all. In between, Sonchai wrangles his gleefully corrupt police superior, his reformed-prostitute-now-businesswoman mother, and a beautiful working girl who may be the swizzle stick in this cocktail of corruption.Our Hero’s views on Western culture (mostly of the stick-in-the-eye variety) and the snippets of Buddhist theory and practice he brings to his detecting keep reminding us we’re not reading Chandler or Spillane here. That Burdett, a British lawyer in Hong Kong, is able to so convincingly channel the psyche of someone who is so very much not him is a continuing wonder. It may all be bullshit (our Thai members may be able to clue us in) but it feels very real, as do the settings and Songchai’s command of the red-light districts that dominate his working life.All is not iced Singha here. Once again, the American characters are stumblebums of varying kinds who fall under Thailand’s spell; Burdett leaned on this trope heavily in the first book, so it’s neither new nor original this time around. Burdett comes close to losing the fourth star for spending a section of the book recapping the tangled history of Sonchai’s beloved, essentially a lengthy flashback framed by her diary; luckily, the material is offbeat enough to keep us going through what otherwise is a long stretch of unrelieved narrative.Bangkok Tattoo is another walk on the offbeat side if you’re looking for that, or perhaps even if you aren’t. If you haven’t read Bangkok 8 yet, start there; it’s a virtuoso performance. Then come here if you want an encore.
What do You think about Bangkok Tattoo (2006)?
I immediately started this book following finishing Bangkok 8, which I found just short of brilliant. I'm sure Bangkok Tattoo is great, but at this point I cannot finish reading the book at this time. The narrative style of Bangkok Tattoo, while still first person like Bangkok 8, now constantly breaches the 4th wall, and is so jarringly different from the first book I cannot right now. Yes, I will continue reading at some point, but I need some time apart from detective Sonchai. The strangest part of the differences is the change in Sonchai's character. In book 1, he was a modest Buddhist, straight laced cop. Now, he seems to be a bit full of himself, this may be because of the change in his lifestyle (the secondary job at his mother's brother), more respect from his police Colonel, and his interactions with the American FBI agents in book 1. All of these reasons could come together for the shift in narrative and an increased confidence and arrogance in Sonchai, but it doesn't do anything to make him a likable Narrator, which is why at this point, I'm setting the book down.
—Arie
Once again I seem to be at odds with my co-reviewers; a glitch in my own system, I'm sure.When I started this book, I hoped it would be as good as Burdett's first.But as it progressed, I discovered that it was far more than an excellent whodunit. Burdett's insights into Buddhism and the way the discipline impacts the daily lives of the small and the great in Thai society I found little short of mesmerizing. For that alone I shall re-read it slowly and make notes, so that I can better hold my ground when entrapped in a drunken theological argument with other drunks.The characters are well-drawn; even the CIA suits are shown to have sudden human depths, that go beyond their brain-washed training. And while I've never knowingly met an agent, all seemed plausible.As ever, his best work is done with the Thai characters. I've lived in S.E.Asia for nearly three decades, and had begun to think I'd scratched the surface of this complicated society; Burdett has burrowed well beneath the skin (appropriate metaphor, considering the plot) and his descriptive and knowing literary style belies his obvious keen observation and affection for the Thais.His sexual descriptions and the mental processes involved between the characters involved is masterly. He understands obsession, does this author.This is a 'keeper'.
—Neil
I finished Bangkok 8 last week and loved it so much, I immediately went out and got Bangkok Tattoo. I did read the reviews on here before starting though, and was warned in advance that the whole "farang" kind of talking-down-to business was quickly tiresome, but I thought that people were probably exaggerating.Within the first 10 pages, I completely agreed. I kept on, however, on the strength of Bangkok 8. This second book was also really good. Not as great as the first, but still really good. Burdett surprised me again with his ability to completely surprise me at the end of the book. Nevertheless, I was irritated enough that I won't be reading the third book.I'd recommend reading the second book because the story itself is good, but with a strong dose of tolerance.
—Christy
