Dream of a Thousand Lives: A Sojourn in Thailand by Karen Connelly

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Summary:

This memoir follows the Canadian author as she discovers Northern Thailand as a student stationed there for one year. Right alongside Karen, we learn about Thai culture and the beautiful— though often very hot— seasons and landscapes. The author doesn’t hold back; we share in her frustrations, her lessons, and her triumphs as she attempts and fails and attempts again to assimilate into a foreign culture. In the end, Thailand becomes more of a home to the author than she could have imagined.

Comments:

Thailand claimed Karen Connelly as its own. This was the account of her earliest travels abroad, but they didn’t end here. How could they? By reading this captivating memoir, readers can understand the appeal of cultural anthropology. The appeal of Thailand. And the appeal of forfeiting everything we know and diving into another world… very much like ours in some aspects and completely foreign in others. There is so much to learn from memoirs like this one.

Would I recommend this book?

To anyone interested in the open-minded journey of discovering other cultures— not just Thailand, but anywhere. Connelly’s memoir is a guide on how to treat the unknown world.