Book Review

I think the last time I wrote a book report I was in grade school and I sure it wasn't that great a review. I go in spurts with my reading. Some months, I'm a voracious reader going through book after book; other times, I think usually during baseball season and the beginning of football season, the book I've started will gather dust until its not worth going out of the house.

I bought about four or five books at Asia Books in Bangkok which is one of my favorite book stores. They have a solid collection of fiction and non-fiction books by authors that base their novels in Southeast Asia like Jake Needham and David Young and a lot of books that cover local subjects. I always seem to find something there that peaks my interest. There were a couple books about the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam that I should have picked up my last time there. Oh well, I think I'll pick those up in April.

Another Quiet American Stories of Life in Laos written by Brett Dakin describes Brett's experiences in Laos from 1998 to 2000 as a language and marketing consultant at the National Tourism Authority for the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

I enjoyed the book and loved the stories about someone working to help a developing country and despite the bureaucracy. I think that the feeling of Southeast Asia was perfectly captured. I saw a lot of similarities in the Lao way and the Thai way of doing things and can't wait to see Laos for myself.

One other aspect of the book that I enjoyed were the stories of the Lao people the author encountered. These were and are hard working people worried about their futures and being able to provide for themselves and their families. Not too much different than anywhere else in the world.

I'll get to Part 2 of the War Remnants museum probably by the end of the week. It just takes a little time to get the photos up and arranged and I've been working on a couple other projects.