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hailzxmcc's review
3.0
The content of the book was fascinating and well informed. I had trouble connecting with much of it due to the formatting, but that is likely just a matter of personal preference. This case will always bewilder me and I appreciated how much work went into compiling the theories presented! I
paul_cornelius's review against another edition
4.0
Jim Thompson, the American "King of Thai Silk" (not the likely more famous Jim Thompson, the Texas author of hard boiled noir thrillers) remains a legend in Bangkok even today, some 54 years after his mysterious disappearance in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia. This book, originally published in 1970 and updated in 1998, by William Warren, someone who knew Thompson, does a fairly thorough job of going through all the theories about his disappearance--accident, kidnapping, political abduction, suicide. Where he fails, I think, is with the background biography. Warren came to Bangkok in 1959 and was present for a large part of the Thai Silk Company's growth. I wish he had spent more time on that, as well as more time talking about Thompson's life in the Fifties. I'm also guessing that Warren was still in Thailand in 1998, when he published the updated edition, because he was still reluctant to name names, places, and institutions associated with anything questionable about Thompson. Understandable, if he had to deal with Thai defamation laws, which provide for criminal penalties and where truth is not a defense.
Still, there is much here to go through. And I do like how Warren recreates the atmosphere of Bangkok from the late 1940s through the 1960s. Similarly, he gives wonderfully detailed descriptions of Cameron Highlands in the Sixties, too. There are many, many books out there about Thompson. But this one is a great one to start with.
Finally, funny thing. I've lived in Bangkok for 11 years, and I've gone past the street leading to Thompson's house many times. But I've never actually gone there. It is really built up in comparison to what Warren describes of the Sixties or even Nineties. So much of Bangkok is diappearing under concrete and condos. I had better pay a visit before something stupid happens.
Still, there is much here to go through. And I do like how Warren recreates the atmosphere of Bangkok from the late 1940s through the 1960s. Similarly, he gives wonderfully detailed descriptions of Cameron Highlands in the Sixties, too. There are many, many books out there about Thompson. But this one is a great one to start with.
Finally, funny thing. I've lived in Bangkok for 11 years, and I've gone past the street leading to Thompson's house many times. But I've never actually gone there. It is really built up in comparison to what Warren describes of the Sixties or even Nineties. So much of Bangkok is diappearing under concrete and condos. I had better pay a visit before something stupid happens.
ameliapagee's review against another edition
2.0
This book is about not only Jim Thompsons mystery but also his life.
I found Thompson's life interesting but the way the author wrote it made me want to bang my head against a wall ten times, scream in frustration so loudly that it would wake the neighborhood and punch a cushion with extra fluff. ( these are of course exaggerations)
The first few chapters were necessary which was good. The middle was also good. The ending however just went on and on and on and on and on and on and on. OH MY GOODNESS!!
The conclusion it came to in the end was so long and boring but useful to people who are actually researching about Thompson.
I would recommend this book to people that are patient,adults and people that are researching and are seriously interested in this book and Thompsons life.
So it answered a lot of my questions but it took like 1000 pages (I'm sure it's more than 200) it didn't have to be that long.
I always like to say what I learnt after I read any book so this I what I learnt: TOO MUCH UNNECESSARY INFO THAT I WILL PROBABLY NOT USE OR NEED UNLESS I BECOME A JIM THOMPSON HISTORIAN WHICH IS UNLIKELY
I found Thompson's life interesting but the way the author wrote it made me want to bang my head against a wall ten times, scream in frustration so loudly that it would wake the neighborhood and punch a cushion with extra fluff. ( these are of course exaggerations)
The first few chapters were necessary which was good. The middle was also good. The ending however just went on and on and on and on and on and on and on. OH MY GOODNESS!!
The conclusion it came to in the end was so long and boring but useful to people who are actually researching about Thompson.
I would recommend this book to people that are patient,adults and people that are researching and are seriously interested in this book and Thompsons life.
So it answered a lot of my questions but it took like 1000 pages (I'm sure it's more than 200) it didn't have to be that long.
I always like to say what I learnt after I read any book so this I what I learnt: TOO MUCH UNNECESSARY INFO THAT I WILL PROBABLY NOT USE OR NEED UNLESS I BECOME A JIM THOMPSON HISTORIAN WHICH IS UNLIKELY
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