Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand August / September 2015 - Art & Education Issue | Page 57

Travel & Lifestyle

THE BOOKLIST

Zara Adcock of Bookommended has hand selected this four books for the
Education & Art issue of Wanderlust. If you have a voracious appetite for learning
and all things art, these books are bound to satiate — if only for a short while.

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A TIME
TO DANCE

BY PADMA VENKATRAMAN

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Set in Chennai, India, this mellifluous novel-in-verse
is narrated by Veda, a rising dancer of the traditional
bharatanatyam form, who after winning a prestigious
dance competition and revelling in the praise, is in an
accident that results in the amputation of her lower right
leg. Devastated, but refusing to give up on her life-long
passion for dancing, Veda is fitted with a prosthetic and
takes beginners classes determined to relearn how to
dance. In these lessons she realises that while her physical
prowess and flexibility are admirable, her dance lacks
spiritual and emotional meaning and foundation.
Veda’s religious journey through loss and recovery
may be the centre of this story, but these themes are well
intertwined with truthful portrayals of the challenges and
emotions of a becoming an adult, young love, culture,
location, class, tradition, and family.
This is an insightful yet easy read that imprints deeply,
one poem at a time.
Nancy Paulsen Books, 2015, paperback, 336 pages,
Bookommended Price: 640 THB*

ARTS AND CRAFTS
OF THAILAND

BY WILLIAM WARREN,
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUCA INVERNIZZI TETTONI
A Bookommended Rare Book
Vibrant Arts and Crafts of Thailand are all around us,
but how well do we really know their stories? Woven
into every hill-tribe textile, shown in every motif, and
gilded into every temple tier are meaning, purpose, and
history. From rural villages to royal palaces, from the home
coconut grater to the prow of 19th century royal barge,
no art or craft is left undocumented. Warren never strays
from his topic, but readers will glean all sorts of intriguing
historical facts as he discusses history, origin, influences
of other cultures, and the symbolic, religious, ceremonial,
ornamental, and practical purposes of each object.
Balanced with swoon-worthy photography and design,
this concise and expansive volume will not only earn your
respect for Thai arts but will also merit a place on your
coffee table.
Consultant: Chaiwut Tulayadhan, Thames and
Hudson, 2001, paperback, second-hand, 160 pages,
230 photographs and illustrations, 177 colour,
Bookommended Price: 580 THB*

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