Prajuab Thirabutana

It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that this small story of an strongly traditional (and intensely poor) village in Thailand is a fabrication concocted by an anthropologist using the medium of fiction to present their findings. But there is something that is too engaging, too wise and too naive about this story for it to be the product of anyone other than who it says it is, an academically gifted young woman who lifts herself, and is lifted, out of the narrow confines of her situation, telling an authentic story of poverty and self-sufficiency, and making a few wry observations about the character of the 'First World's' attempts to render assistance to the 'Third World' on the ground. And in a sense, when towards the end of the story a a certain fictional element is revealed, you realize your own prejudices about what it means to know poverty are being confronted. In the end you can only know what the author chooses to reveal, and in those fictional moments the author tellingly takes back control of her own story. I'd rate this book very highly. I am reminded of, in a very positive way, of the stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder (which hopefully the reader understands were the authentic stories of young woman in the pioneer world of the American west of the late 1800's).… (meer)