Jampee
Tawylert
Chitraporn
Tanratanakul (trans.)
Wall Against the Wind
$17.95
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Wall
Against the Wind is a true story of childhood and adolescence
of a young Isan girl. Written in novelistic style, Jampee Tawylert—a
remarkable and rare Thai woman author with little formal education—details
her own life growing up in a Thai rural village in the 1970s,
a time when trucks and concrete roads were rare and people still
walked along the oxcart trails between villages and rice fields.
Told
through the voice of Lamphai, Wall against the Wind is
a story of a young girl learning the hard lessons of life inside
a traditional rural family. This heartfelt narrative is a window
into understanding a Thai mother-daughter relationship and how
the young daughter drew strengths from her mother, who was like
a wall that shielded her against the natural wind of pain and
suffering until she learned how to be brave and strong enough
to survive on her own.
In
Wall against the Wind the author’s keen eye for details
and understanding of ancient customs, cultures, traditions, and
superstitions in the way of living from birth to death. The story
will not only introduce readers to an intelligent and observant
young Thai village girl, but will also bring them back to the
beautiful and less complicated past of Thailand that many Thais
have forgotten.
First
edition (2007) Trade paperback Heaven Lake Press, 275 pp.
“Wall
Againt the Wind introduces an authentic Thai voice: that
of the remarkable Jampee Tawylert, a northen Thai woman who,
like many, left her village school at 12 to work the land
and help support her family in the largely pre-industrial
1970s. The autobiographical tale is told in a novelistic style
through the eyes of a nominal protagonist, and is rich with
fondly recalled insight into an uncomplicated rural lifestyle
that many metropolitan Thai jetsetters heve long since forgotten.”
—Bangkok 101
“Anyone
who has an interest in Thailand and its peoples should read
this
book. It may shock many, and it will educate all. A damn fine
read.”
—Lang Reid, Chiang
Mai Mail
