Sirote Klampaiboon is an independent scholar known for his erudite analyses of current events and political insight. A graduate from the University of Hawaii, Sirote is now teaching Southeast Asian studies and human rights issues at several universities. He also co-hosts a morning programme on Voice TV, in which he discusses everything from politics to movies and cultural going-ons.
This month Sirote has released a book, a translation of Indian philosopher Amartya Sen's Identity And Violence (Attalak Lae Kwam Roon Raeng), a lucid study of sociological and political phenomena spanning everything from poverty, freedom, identity, and the tendency of extremism. We ask Sirote what is on his bookshelf right now.
_Kong Rithdee
What are you reading?
Amos Oz's Scenes From Village Life. Oz is among the most influential and well-regarded intellectuals in Israel. Loosely connected series of seven short stories set in a village not far from Tel Aviv with a little bit of Provence, the book is a microcosm of a modern Israeli village with a documentary element.
What's the book you've always wanted to read but still haven't? And why haven't you read it?
I want to but haven't been able to finish Thomas Pynchon's Against The Day. I was exhausted by it, but perhaps it's Pynchon at his best. A strong sense of loss in the hyper-postmodern reality. His first novel since Mason & Dixon that spares a space on coffee table.
What's the last book that made you cry, or choke?
Roland Barthes' Mourning Diary. "Many others still love me, but from now on my death would kill no one _ which is what's new."
What's the last book that made you laugh?
I can't think of any!
How many books are waiting to be read at home?
About 20.
What's a book about Southeast Asia that you'd recommend us all to read?
David Wyatt's A Short History Of Thailand. It's a must _ the best of an old-school historian that sheds light on all things that matter in semi-modern and semi-premodern Thailand.
What's your all-time favourite book on politics or political science?
Michael J. Shapiro's Methods And Nations. He's a professor in political science at the University of Hawaii. Mike is known for his wider command over a multiverse of references in cultural theory, film studies, philosophy, political theory, novels and so on. Arguably the best from one of the most cutting-edge theorists in his and my generation.
