![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The English Governess at the Siamese Court. by Anna Leonowens
In 2004 I read Siamese Harem Life, the second book written by Anna Leonowens about her life in Siam and loved it. That book, which is largely considered to be almost entirely fictional, nevertheless told a story focusing entirely on the role of women in the court. Leonowens was able to focus on issues that were interesting, whether or not her examples were real or not. I enjoyed it greatly. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for this book. It’s the first book in a long time that I decided not to bother finishing. I read about two thirds and just couldn’t bring myself to finish it with so many other books waiting to be read on my bookshelf.
I’m not sure why I enjoyed one so much and didn’t care for this one at all. In the intervening three years I have learned a great deal about travel writing but I think the difference is greater than this. The issues in Siamese Harem Life seemed more real, the stories more cohesive and the author a lot less judgemental. In this book the chapters were very short and jumped all over the place. The author came across as terribly judgemental, and I found myself not liking her at all. I felt like I was wasting my time reading it, learning nothing much about Siam or the colonisers. So I stopped. I may go back to it at some point. But not for a while, it was very disappointing.
In 2004 I read Siamese Harem Life, the second book written by Anna Leonowens about her life in Siam and loved it. That book, which is largely considered to be almost entirely fictional, nevertheless told a story focusing entirely on the role of women in the court. Leonowens was able to focus on issues that were interesting, whether or not her examples were real or not. I enjoyed it greatly. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for this book. It’s the first book in a long time that I decided not to bother finishing. I read about two thirds and just couldn’t bring myself to finish it with so many other books waiting to be read on my bookshelf.
I’m not sure why I enjoyed one so much and didn’t care for this one at all. In the intervening three years I have learned a great deal about travel writing but I think the difference is greater than this. The issues in Siamese Harem Life seemed more real, the stories more cohesive and the author a lot less judgemental. In this book the chapters were very short and jumped all over the place. The author came across as terribly judgemental, and I found myself not liking her at all. I felt like I was wasting my time reading it, learning nothing much about Siam or the colonisers. So I stopped. I may go back to it at some point. But not for a while, it was very disappointing.