Product Description
Canadian poet Karen Connelly was a young woman when she left home to live for one year in Denchai, a small farming community in northern Thailand. This lyrical portrait of her true-life adventures radiates wit and literary charm. The swampy jungles, the lure of hedonistic Bangkok, the austere, ambient Buddhism, and the torrential rains serve as backdrops for Connelly’s carefully crafted prose. Her account combines a keen sense of adventure with an affinity for Thai … More >>
4 Responses to “The Dream of a Thousand Lives: A Sojourn in Thailand”
From what I’ve heard people who’ve known me a long time say I’m “well read”. That’s easy, for reading is my favorite pastime.
I’m now over 50 and may have read thousands of books in my lifetime, only 2 of which I read from start to finish without stopping. “The Dream of a Thousand Lives” is one of those two books.
Karen Connelly has a style of writing that can only be described as “a gift” (if not genius). Little wonder that she’s won so many prestigous awards at such a young age. This is the first book I’ve read from her as author. It was such a pleasureable experience that I was almost angry went her story came to its end. The first thing I did afterwards (true) was get on Amazon.com and order more of her work. I can hardly wait for it to arrive!
Rating: 5 / 5
karen has captured the spirit, the calm, the beauty, the mystique, the sensitivity and the occasional frustration of rural thailand. her’sojourn’ of her year in denchai is storytelling at its best. my 6 days and nights in a village in north-eastern thailand cannot compare, even remotely, to her experience in the north… but i know a little about how she feels about these marvellous people. she knows how lucky she was. if you have been to thailand then the reading of this book guarantees your return. never been? read this book and i guarantee that your first visit is imminent. the most enjoyable book that i have ‘consumed’.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is by far the best written book I have ever read. The Dream of a Thousand Lives chronicles the year Connelly spends as an exchange student in Asia. Tired of “the marvels of Calgary,” Connelly sets off to Thailand with curiosity and a briefcase full of licorice and loose-leaf. As Connelly explains, the ants devoured the licorice in the first week, but the paper survived.
Connelly never resorts to decorative travel writing, but sticks to a witty and unfailingly honest account of her time in Thailand. The book, (originally titled “Touch the Dragon” in Canada) consists of a chronological collection of the author’s journal entries, detailing her time in Denchai (living at a the Thai Liquor Store owned by her first host family) to her travels to Bangkok and Chang Mai.
Connelly possesses a rare ability to convey the strange labyrinth of lives and experiences she encounters in the small farming Village of Denchai into a lyrical fluid narrative. This is a book that you will not be able to put down.
Rating: 5 / 5
Superb book. I couldn’t put it down – bought it yesterday & read until I fell asleep then finished this morning. I felt as though I was there, travelling with her. She has a great sense of humor that is splashed throughout the book. I truly had a sense of how she felt on her year long visit there. I’m so glad she shared her memories.
Rating: 5 / 5