I picked this book, not quite knowing what to expect. And after just the first five pages, I was fully gripped.
What started as a pool-side read soon turned out to be a real serious one, that I was determined to finish it in one go, even if it meant staying awake all night. Which is precisely what 'Sightseeing' made me do.
Yes, the preoccupations may seem youthful, concerned as they are with romance and the unfairness of this world, but the treatment is anything but.
The setting happens to be Thailand but the themes are universal and added to the attraction is the lack of exoticism in the stories contained in this power packed book.
In fact, as I go from story to story, I find it hard to believe that this is a debut short story collection from a young writer, who happens to be just 25 years old.
Rattawut Lapcharoensap inhabits the skin of his protagonists so effectively, that even the setting soon seems immaterial.
The prose is snappy, colloquial and often funny. The opening story, titled 'Farangs,' is a brilliant and charming account of an adolescent boy's love for a bikini-clad American tourist.
At one level, it may seem like yet another boy falling in love with a girl kind of tale but at a deeper in one broad sweep it takes on the weightier issue of the effects of Western consumerism.
Another story that moved me deeply is called 'At the Café Lovely'. Its a coming of age story told in a rather heart-wrenching manner. In it you come face to face with two young boys who totally neglect their grieving mother after the death of their father.
The elder finds solace in prostitutes while the younger discovers for the first time the delights and sins available to adults. Though they soon discover the grave costs of those mortal pleasures.
In contrast, the story from which the book takes its name, 'Sightseeing,' is a moving portrayal of a young man's caring for his mother as she goes blind.
Often short stories, even the seemingly brilliantly written ones, leave the reader with a lot more to desired. But these tales which are imbued with a novelistic richness are complete in sentence, form and structure.
Each story is a remarkable take on life, whether you feel for the Cambodian girl who gives away her gold tooth to her best Thai pals, despite her house being torched or if you re-live one man's obsession with cock-fighting, you ultimately find yourself inhabiting a life few others can.
And that in itself leaves me in breathless anticipation of Lapcharoensap's first novel that is tentatively titled 'The End of Siam.'
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
While none of the stories in 'Sightseeing' are autobiographical, to some extent the characters' multi-faceted struggles reflect the author's own struggles.
Born in Chicago in 1979, Rattawut Lapcharoensap grew up there and in Bangkok with his Thai parents. The contrasting worlds made a strong impression on him.
He resented the shame of poverty he faced in the US and enjoyed the comfortable, middle-class lifestyle he experienced in Thailand.
This very disparity is represented in many of the stories in his debut collection. In 1995, he moved back to the US to finish high school and pursue higher education.
He did his undergraduate work at Cornell University and later earned an MFA from the University of Michigan. He received a fellowship from the University of East Anglia and spent him time there working on his first novel.
He is now back in the United States.
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:
"When he's really going strong, Lapcharoensap is a commanding, animated tour guide, and a lot more than that -- he can write with the bait and the hook of genuine talent. " - The New York Times Book Review
"In this accomplished debut collection of short stories, Mr Lapcharoensap displays a wicked command of language and an unerring sense of place."
- Wall Street Journal
"Anger, humour and longing are neatly balanced in these richly nuanced, sharply revelatory tales." - Publisher's Weekly
"Every story in this collection is dense with event, emotion and meaning. This debut shows more than mere promise: it is a fine achievement in its own right. " - The Guardian |
Deepika Shetty is a Producer with Prime Time Morning and takes care of the book segment 'Off The Shelf' as well. | 
