What do you think?
Rate this book
The Glass Kingdom
Escaping New York for the anonymity of Bangkok, Sarah Mullins arrives in Thailand on the lam with nothing more than a suitcase of purloined money. Her plan is to lie low and map out her next move in a high-end apartment complex called the Kingdom, whose glass-fronted facade boasts views of the bustling city and glimpses into the vast honeycomb of lives within.
It is not long before she meets the alluring Mali doing laps in the apartment pool, a fellow tenant determined to bring the quiet American out of her shell. An invitation to Mali's weekly poker nights follows, and--fueled by shots of yadong, good food, and gossip--Sarah soon falls in with the Kingdom's glamorous circle of ex-pat women.
But as political chaos erupts on the streets below and attempted uprisings wrack the city, tensions tighten within the gilded compound. When the violence outside begins to invade the Kingdom in a series of strange disappearances, the residents are thrown into suspicion: both of the world beyond their windows and of one another. And under the constant surveillance of the building's watchful inhabitants, Sarah's safe haven begins to feel like a snare.
From a master of atmosphere and mood, The Glass Kingdom is a brilliantly unsettling story of civil and psychological unrest, and an enthralling study of karma and human greed.
It is not long before she meets the alluring Mali doing laps in the apartment pool, a fellow tenant determined to bring the quiet American out of her shell. An invitation to Mali's weekly poker nights follows, and--fueled by shots of yadong, good food, and gossip--Sarah soon falls in with the Kingdom's glamorous circle of ex-pat women.
But as political chaos erupts on the streets below and attempted uprisings wrack the city, tensions tighten within the gilded compound. When the violence outside begins to invade the Kingdom in a series of strange disappearances, the residents are thrown into suspicion: both of the world beyond their windows and of one another. And under the constant surveillance of the building's watchful inhabitants, Sarah's safe haven begins to feel like a snare.
From a master of atmosphere and mood, The Glass Kingdom is a brilliantly unsettling story of civil and psychological unrest, and an enthralling study of karma and human greed.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 18, 2020
311 people are currently reading
5996 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Osborne
38 books580 followersLawrence Osborne is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels, including The Forgiven (now a major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain), and Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe Novel, a New York Times Notable Book and nominated for an Edgar Award, as well as six books of nonfiction, including Bangkok Days. He has led a nomadic life, living in Paris, New York, Mexico, and Istanbul, and he currently resides in Bangkok.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 321 reviews
February 21, 2021
***3.5 Stars***
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
~ Sir Walter Scott
A twisty tale where the main character is a young American on the run with a suitcase full of stolen money. She settles in an upscale residential tower in Bangkok known as “The Kingdom” and befriends other occupants of the tower (mostly women).
The story is told from multiple perspectives. Not one of these main characters is likable. Sarah and the other tenants of the tower are secretive and devious. Even the staff snoop or scheme, and steal. No one’s ever what they seem.
The constant surveillance by the watchful inhabitants gave the novel an atmospheric tone with an ominous sense of foreboding. The writing if first-rate and it held my interest all the way to its karmic conclusion.
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
~ Sir Walter Scott
A twisty tale where the main character is a young American on the run with a suitcase full of stolen money. She settles in an upscale residential tower in Bangkok known as “The Kingdom” and befriends other occupants of the tower (mostly women).
The story is told from multiple perspectives. Not one of these main characters is likable. Sarah and the other tenants of the tower are secretive and devious. Even the staff snoop or scheme, and steal. No one’s ever what they seem.
The constant surveillance by the watchful inhabitants gave the novel an atmospheric tone with an ominous sense of foreboding. The writing if first-rate and it held my interest all the way to its karmic conclusion.
August 25, 2020
Sarah Mullins defrauds an elderly writer out of $200,000 and flees to Bangkok to hide out. Bangkok is a random decision, in fact most of Sarah’s decisions seem random. She is hardly a criminal mastermind and when she winds up in the high-end apartment complex called the Kingdom she is outmatched by both the other residents (most of them ex-pats) and the staff. They spy, lie and connive. I don’t see this book as doing much for Bangkok tourism.
I’ve had mixed experiences with this author’s books. They are all atmospheric and suspenseful to varying extents. Unfortunately, I thought this one was at the low end of the scale in both categories. There was not a single likable character. I’ll continue to read this author’s books, but this one was just ok for me.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I’ve had mixed experiences with this author’s books. They are all atmospheric and suspenseful to varying extents. Unfortunately, I thought this one was at the low end of the scale in both categories. There was not a single likable character. I’ll continue to read this author’s books, but this one was just ok for me.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
November 2, 2020
2.5 stars: What did I just read?? “The Glass Kingdom” by Lawrence Osborne is a bizarre story set in Thailand involving the occupants of a crumbling apartment building. The main character is the building as it sinisterly deteriorates through the novel.
To add to the strange atmosphere is Osborne’s inconsistent viewpoint, making it difficult to follow the thread. What is front and center is a sinister overtone. The character we most know is American Sarah Mullins who is a new resident at the start of the novel. She absconded with hundreds of thousands in cash from her former employer. Sarah skillfully planned her ruse for years. Her intentions were to lay low in Thailand until she could return to the United States. She meets a mysterious woman while swimming at the pool. This woman, Mali, has a group of women who come to her apartment at night and drink and smoke pot. It is Mali who takes a special interest in Sarah, and Sarah is duped in many ways by Mali. As a reader, I found it odd that Sarah who mindfully crafted a well thought out financial sting could fall so stupidly into Mali’s web.
With the frustrating switching viewpoints and the questionable character development of Sarah, I was about to abandon the story. But then Osborne added more creepy undercurrents to the apartment building and the people in it. At one point it looked like this was going to be a ghost/spirit story of sorts. It’s not. But it’s an eerie story. And I did want to know how this was going to end. I didn’t see the ending because it’s so strange. But Sarah…smart and stupid Sarah….her fate is the most creepy of all.
To add to the strange atmosphere is Osborne’s inconsistent viewpoint, making it difficult to follow the thread. What is front and center is a sinister overtone. The character we most know is American Sarah Mullins who is a new resident at the start of the novel. She absconded with hundreds of thousands in cash from her former employer. Sarah skillfully planned her ruse for years. Her intentions were to lay low in Thailand until she could return to the United States. She meets a mysterious woman while swimming at the pool. This woman, Mali, has a group of women who come to her apartment at night and drink and smoke pot. It is Mali who takes a special interest in Sarah, and Sarah is duped in many ways by Mali. As a reader, I found it odd that Sarah who mindfully crafted a well thought out financial sting could fall so stupidly into Mali’s web.
With the frustrating switching viewpoints and the questionable character development of Sarah, I was about to abandon the story. But then Osborne added more creepy undercurrents to the apartment building and the people in it. At one point it looked like this was going to be a ghost/spirit story of sorts. It’s not. But it’s an eerie story. And I did want to know how this was going to end. I didn’t see the ending because it’s so strange. But Sarah…smart and stupid Sarah….her fate is the most creepy of all.
September 11, 2020
Audiobook....read by Sura Siu
This was the first book I’ve read by Lawrence Osborne.
If all Osborne books are this good....I definitely want more.
I also - equally - would love to listen to more books by Sura Siu. Her audio-voice was outstanding.
The writing - and story is exquisitely original,
fresh, mysterious, dangerous, and luxurious.
It’s richly complicated - with many subtle and intricate layers.
Sura Siu pulled me into her storytelling with that charismatic youthful voice of hers with a slight devilishly sharp edge. I was putty in her command.
Sarah Mullins is a young American. From New York, she bolts to Thailand with a whole lot of stolen cash. ( $200, 000 to be exact). As a fugitive on the run in Bangkok - Sarah has a cover-story ( should she need one - and she does...saying she is a writer).
Ha.... not that her cover story explained how she could afford to pay her bills..... so sooner than planned, Sarah claims herself as independently wealthy. (a story of how both parents died when she was ten)....
Sarah meets another woman around her same age, Mali, a British financial assistant, who lives in the same building......who soon ‘smells’ that Sarah couldn’t
possibly be independently wealthy. She just didn’t elude the characteristics.
Suspicions, secrets, and lies begin.
Sarah and Mali met for the first time by the pool of the humongous four tower building with twenty-one floors - a once gorgeous first rate high end condo - [ called The Kingdom....and has many tall sliding windows], but now looks more retro in the way that Sarah thought was perfectly shabbily-decaying-fashionable for her comfort needs]
Besides Sarah’s new friend Mali, ( a natural born outgoing extrovert), Sarah meets two other of Mali’s friends. Ximena is from Chile and works as a chef in a French restaurant. Natalie, is a hotel manager.
The four girls meet in Mali’s apartment weekly for boozing and poker playing.
This story started out with a bang of intrigue....then continued with an engrossing tale-spin enthralling us with the city itself, hidden crime, hidden underworld, secrets, blackmail, fraud, and murder....with a totally surprise ending.
A wonderful thrilling and electrifying novel.
The audiobook is fantastic!
Going in blind worked well for me. I just don’t think anyone can go wrong choosing this book.
This was the first book I’ve read by Lawrence Osborne.
If all Osborne books are this good....I definitely want more.
I also - equally - would love to listen to more books by Sura Siu. Her audio-voice was outstanding.
The writing - and story is exquisitely original,
fresh, mysterious, dangerous, and luxurious.
It’s richly complicated - with many subtle and intricate layers.
Sura Siu pulled me into her storytelling with that charismatic youthful voice of hers with a slight devilishly sharp edge. I was putty in her command.
Sarah Mullins is a young American. From New York, she bolts to Thailand with a whole lot of stolen cash. ( $200, 000 to be exact). As a fugitive on the run in Bangkok - Sarah has a cover-story ( should she need one - and she does...saying she is a writer).
Ha.... not that her cover story explained how she could afford to pay her bills..... so sooner than planned, Sarah claims herself as independently wealthy. (a story of how both parents died when she was ten)....
Sarah meets another woman around her same age, Mali, a British financial assistant, who lives in the same building......who soon ‘smells’ that Sarah couldn’t
possibly be independently wealthy. She just didn’t elude the characteristics.
Suspicions, secrets, and lies begin.
Sarah and Mali met for the first time by the pool of the humongous four tower building with twenty-one floors - a once gorgeous first rate high end condo - [ called The Kingdom....and has many tall sliding windows], but now looks more retro in the way that Sarah thought was perfectly shabbily-decaying-fashionable for her comfort needs]
Besides Sarah’s new friend Mali, ( a natural born outgoing extrovert), Sarah meets two other of Mali’s friends. Ximena is from Chile and works as a chef in a French restaurant. Natalie, is a hotel manager.
The four girls meet in Mali’s apartment weekly for boozing and poker playing.
This story started out with a bang of intrigue....then continued with an engrossing tale-spin enthralling us with the city itself, hidden crime, hidden underworld, secrets, blackmail, fraud, and murder....with a totally surprise ending.
A wonderful thrilling and electrifying novel.
The audiobook is fantastic!
Going in blind worked well for me. I just don’t think anyone can go wrong choosing this book.
August 6, 2020
"The Glass Kingdom" is filled with beautiful prose that often echoes the closed-in feeling of the narrative. Think Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" set in Bangkok meets Jim Thompson's "The Getaway." Perhaps no one is who you think they are. Sarah, perhaps doesn't reinvent herself as much as Mr. Ripley does, but her flights of fancy from a publishing assistant in New York City to new person entirely encsconced in the towers of the Kingdom in Bangkok speaks the same language.
There's literally no reason for Sarah's decisions. But going to a new city in a new country with a suitcase full of cold hard cash gives a person a chance to reinvent themselves and to become whoever they want to be. You can hide out in a huge complex shut off from the world and creatively master a past as you meet new acquaintances. Here Sarah hangs out, cut off from her past and without a future.
Nevertheless, like Dante's Inferno with the different levels of hell or like Thompson's The Getaway where Doc and Carol fall step by step into hell unable to escape their past, Bangkok for Sarah is no safe haven and, in the end, not even the magnificent towers are safe. Sarah is falling step by step into the circles of hell, each level more frightening than the last. And, eventually, she comes to understand that, in the master chess game being played, she is but a pawn, not a queen.
One of the things that makes Osborne's writing so intense is how the setting with the tropical storms and the ever-present geckos becomes almost another character in the story. And, as the power grid slowly fails as the protests in the streets grow more violent, the lack of air conditioning adds an additional element to the sweltering heat from which there is no escape. Indeed, for Sarah, her small world closes in and there is no escape and no succor and no paradise at the end of the rainbow.
There's literally no reason for Sarah's decisions. But going to a new city in a new country with a suitcase full of cold hard cash gives a person a chance to reinvent themselves and to become whoever they want to be. You can hide out in a huge complex shut off from the world and creatively master a past as you meet new acquaintances. Here Sarah hangs out, cut off from her past and without a future.
Nevertheless, like Dante's Inferno with the different levels of hell or like Thompson's The Getaway where Doc and Carol fall step by step into hell unable to escape their past, Bangkok for Sarah is no safe haven and, in the end, not even the magnificent towers are safe. Sarah is falling step by step into the circles of hell, each level more frightening than the last. And, eventually, she comes to understand that, in the master chess game being played, she is but a pawn, not a queen.
One of the things that makes Osborne's writing so intense is how the setting with the tropical storms and the ever-present geckos becomes almost another character in the story. And, as the power grid slowly fails as the protests in the streets grow more violent, the lack of air conditioning adds an additional element to the sweltering heat from which there is no escape. Indeed, for Sarah, her small world closes in and there is no escape and no succor and no paradise at the end of the rainbow.
July 28, 2020
Lawrence Osborne has been called a present day Graham Greene, and I'd have to agree. His world is one of sun soaked danger in a monsoon ravaged, politically unstable Thailand, in which a young American woman fugitive believes she can hide away. Other books I've read by Osborne carry this same haunted quality in which a naive protagonist is far out of their depth, and thinking they're ahead of the game, finds themselves getting more than they bargained for. Here, the Glass Kingdom, a crumbling, formerly luxurious collection of condos and apartments, is the setting with geckos on the walls and monitor lizards in the garden, and a population of ex-pats, former bargirls, and a willing staff, and who can you trust? Held me from page one right through to the end.
July 18, 2020
Going into a Lawrence Osbourne novel, his readers know two things: first, there’s bound to be an arrogant American who becomes unglued in an exotic culture and second, if there’s a lot of money involved, the tale is going to end badly.
And so it is with The Glass Kingdom. A young American named Sarah Mullins pulls a con job on a famous and aging author whom she befriends by selling her letters in Hong Kong and siphoning off a few hundred thousand dollars. Her plan is to lay low in Bangkok at a glass-fronted complex named the Kingdom, where the wealthier tenants live according to social hierarchy. There she befriends a half-Thai woman named Mali and her glamorous ex-pat friends.
Osborne writes, “…here life was in limbo. Things never evolved or progressed. It was a paradise of enforced mental idleness…It was a refuge, a prison, a fantasy, and a luxury living machine all at once.”
No one is precisely who they appear to be and evryone is on the take. Lawrence Osbourne is rightfully called the master of atmosphere, and The Kingdom and its outside environs are characters in their own right. The stultifying heat, the frequent and unexpected power outages, the reptilian underlayer of bats, lizards and geckos that roam the complex freely, the civil unrest, the air ripe with decaying mangos and other fruit—all of these contribute to the seductive and menacing ambiance that the author painstakingly creates.
The glass façade of the Kingdom belies the lack of transparency of its inhabitants, for whom Sarah is no match. From the first page to the gasp-worthy conclusion, The Glass Kingdom holds readers in its thrall. It has much to say about class and social distinctions, the sheer naivete of Americans, and the consequences of human greed.
And so it is with The Glass Kingdom. A young American named Sarah Mullins pulls a con job on a famous and aging author whom she befriends by selling her letters in Hong Kong and siphoning off a few hundred thousand dollars. Her plan is to lay low in Bangkok at a glass-fronted complex named the Kingdom, where the wealthier tenants live according to social hierarchy. There she befriends a half-Thai woman named Mali and her glamorous ex-pat friends.
Osborne writes, “…here life was in limbo. Things never evolved or progressed. It was a paradise of enforced mental idleness…It was a refuge, a prison, a fantasy, and a luxury living machine all at once.”
No one is precisely who they appear to be and evryone is on the take. Lawrence Osbourne is rightfully called the master of atmosphere, and The Kingdom and its outside environs are characters in their own right. The stultifying heat, the frequent and unexpected power outages, the reptilian underlayer of bats, lizards and geckos that roam the complex freely, the civil unrest, the air ripe with decaying mangos and other fruit—all of these contribute to the seductive and menacing ambiance that the author painstakingly creates.
The glass façade of the Kingdom belies the lack of transparency of its inhabitants, for whom Sarah is no match. From the first page to the gasp-worthy conclusion, The Glass Kingdom holds readers in its thrall. It has much to say about class and social distinctions, the sheer naivete of Americans, and the consequences of human greed.
August 26, 2020
What did I just read? I honestly have no idea. You know, there are plot and character driven stories, right? Well, this one was more like a place driven book. About 80% of it was dedicated to describing the streets, buildings, weather, animals, pedestrians. Because of that I had no idea who any of the characters were, except that they were all selfish liars who used other people and stole from them.
The writing tried so hard to seem like you can't trust anybody but then it just showed everything from everyone's POV, completely destroying any mystery it tried to build. There was no plot, and the main character, who was supposed to be a clever con artist, was annoyingly naive and stupid. She stole a big sum of money and decided to sit and wait in an expensive rented apartment with seven empty rooms. Why? Don't know.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for my ARC.
The writing tried so hard to seem like you can't trust anybody but then it just showed everything from everyone's POV, completely destroying any mystery it tried to build. There was no plot, and the main character, who was supposed to be a clever con artist, was annoyingly naive and stupid. She stole a big sum of money and decided to sit and wait in an expensive rented apartment with seven empty rooms. Why? Don't know.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for my ARC.
March 4, 2021
Think Rear Window transplanted to an Bangkok atrium hotel of aging splendor.
Like the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, but smaller, seedier, and creepier.
The book starts out as atmospheric noir, then three quarters of the way in shifts into mode without adequate preparation or
And we never find out of apartment #77.
A NYT Best 100 of 2020 book.
180 w/m, 8 hrs.
Like the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, but smaller, seedier, and creepier.
The book starts out as atmospheric noir, then three quarters of the way in shifts into mode without adequate preparation or
And we never find out of apartment #77.
A NYT Best 100 of 2020 book.
180 w/m, 8 hrs.
August 26, 2020
If I could dine once with a living writer, Osborne would surely make my finals list. He is a reader’s and writer’s writer, where plot arises from his prowling prose and evocative atmosphere. Sinister and menacing at every turn, his narratives metaphorically create the invisible monsters of our youth as the setting for our stories. In Glass Kingdom, West meet East again, where his protagonists fall through the darkness and shadows in alien cultures.
Our lead female here is Sarah, a lonely young woman who defrauds a female writer in NYC that she once revered, then escapes to Bangkok (where Osborne has lived for years) to decide her next steps. The eponymous title belongs to the residential complex where she selects to stay, which was once “a zircon in the city’s rickety diadem,” until the financial crash of 1997. Consisting of four buildings of twenty-one towers each, it is now a decaying place, shaken by the crash but equal parts mysterious and transparent. Sarah’s naïveté is soon evident when she befriends three other women and tries to deal with the working class on the periphery—and sometimes the inside—of where she lives. “...she didn’t understand the context of the place in which she was living.”
The main character can well be the Glass Kingdom itself, where much of the story takes place. There is a scene where Sarah is taken on a walk by her new and enigmatic “Thai, or Eurasian” friend Mali, during one of the protests the city is known for—pro-government demonstrations around the royal palace. On their journey, Sarah and Mali visit several temples containing an ancient spirituality, which sparked Sarah’s epiphany that her life has been utterly worthless up to this point. “She had a venomous thought: that the Goddess [Guanyin] had come to life and reached inside her with a supernatural hand. She had revealed Sarah as an empty clown, a shadow actor in a drama…”
Many f the other characters, including Sarah’s new foreign friends, are ciphers either trapped in the Kingdom or exploiting from its open and concealed spaces. As the pages turn and the story progresses, the malice curls heavily around the expanse and evokes a claustrophobic presence, dense with the scent of the decaying garden below. Within its walls, abuse, grift, profiteering, and murder take place undercover.
If it is cat and mouse, who is the cat and who is the mouse? This book is not for everyone, especially is you want your thrillers straightforward and sharply drawn. But if you are an Osborne fan, it is a must-read. The wandering viewpoint adds to the vertiginous mystery. If I highlighted every exhilarating sentence or passage, the whole book would look as yellow as “the yellow flowers in the lobby denoting the owner’s loyalty to the authorities, even as civil unrest leads to frequent power cuts and the rainy season gathers oppressive force.”
Our lead female here is Sarah, a lonely young woman who defrauds a female writer in NYC that she once revered, then escapes to Bangkok (where Osborne has lived for years) to decide her next steps. The eponymous title belongs to the residential complex where she selects to stay, which was once “a zircon in the city’s rickety diadem,” until the financial crash of 1997. Consisting of four buildings of twenty-one towers each, it is now a decaying place, shaken by the crash but equal parts mysterious and transparent. Sarah’s naïveté is soon evident when she befriends three other women and tries to deal with the working class on the periphery—and sometimes the inside—of where she lives. “...she didn’t understand the context of the place in which she was living.”
The main character can well be the Glass Kingdom itself, where much of the story takes place. There is a scene where Sarah is taken on a walk by her new and enigmatic “Thai, or Eurasian” friend Mali, during one of the protests the city is known for—pro-government demonstrations around the royal palace. On their journey, Sarah and Mali visit several temples containing an ancient spirituality, which sparked Sarah’s epiphany that her life has been utterly worthless up to this point. “She had a venomous thought: that the Goddess [Guanyin] had come to life and reached inside her with a supernatural hand. She had revealed Sarah as an empty clown, a shadow actor in a drama…”
Many f the other characters, including Sarah’s new foreign friends, are ciphers either trapped in the Kingdom or exploiting from its open and concealed spaces. As the pages turn and the story progresses, the malice curls heavily around the expanse and evokes a claustrophobic presence, dense with the scent of the decaying garden below. Within its walls, abuse, grift, profiteering, and murder take place undercover.
If it is cat and mouse, who is the cat and who is the mouse? This book is not for everyone, especially is you want your thrillers straightforward and sharply drawn. But if you are an Osborne fan, it is a must-read. The wandering viewpoint adds to the vertiginous mystery. If I highlighted every exhilarating sentence or passage, the whole book would look as yellow as “the yellow flowers in the lobby denoting the owner’s loyalty to the authorities, even as civil unrest leads to frequent power cuts and the rainy season gathers oppressive force.”
July 4, 2022
SO behind here on Goodreads. Read this in early June. Lawrence Osborne brings Bangkok alive in this slow-burn, atmospheric thriller. This novel is disquieting in all the best ways. And that ending? Never saw it coming. Osborne is a treasure and I loved THE GLASS KINGDOM.
September 21, 2020
Lawrence Osborne sets his The Glass Kingdom mostly inside the grubby windows of Bangkok's Kingdom apartment complex with its decaying gardens and its four interconnected towers of twenty one floors each. Once elegant and populated by Thai nouveau riche grandees, the Kingdom is now inhabited by a mostly anonymous mix of farangs, salarymen, and déclassé Thais, all presided over by the mysterious Mrs. Lim. Like most others at the Kingdom, Lim is best known for her family's earlier status and wealth. Into these apartments comes Sarah Mullins (AKA Sarah "Talbott Jennings"), an American grifter about thirty years old with a fake name and poorly dyed hair who had earlier moved to New York from California solely to befriend and defraud a prominent elderly writer. Walking away with $200,000 from her sleazy con, Sarah washes up in Bangkok's Kingdom, trying to lose herself in the anonymous mass of farangs fleeing from their former lives. At the Kingdom, she's befriended by Mali, a Thai woman of similar age of uncertain background and uncertain means. Sarah — alone, adrift, aimless — falls in with Mali and her two casual weekly poker buddies. As Bangkok descends into borderline chaos and unrest, as the Kingdom descends into disrepair and its residents flee, Sarah herself descends into idiosyncratic disorder.
The Glass Kingdom is a novel of despair, dissolution, and darkness, replete with enjoyably tacky symbolism and propelled forward by low level dread about Sarah's inevitable comeuppance. Osborne has written a novel that manages to be interesting despite its minimal plot, its largely uninteresting and entirely unsympathetic characters. After all, shameless grifters conning other shameless grifters: it's difficult to care just who gets conned for how much by whom. But it's to Osborne's credit that the seedy, uncertain, and unsettling atmosphere that he creates for Bangkok and for the Kingdom make The Kingdom entertaining anyway.
The Glass Kingdom is a novel of despair, dissolution, and darkness, replete with enjoyably tacky symbolism and propelled forward by low level dread about Sarah's inevitable comeuppance. Osborne has written a novel that manages to be interesting despite its minimal plot, its largely uninteresting and entirely unsympathetic characters. After all, shameless grifters conning other shameless grifters: it's difficult to care just who gets conned for how much by whom. But it's to Osborne's credit that the seedy, uncertain, and unsettling atmosphere that he creates for Bangkok and for the Kingdom make The Kingdom entertaining anyway.
June 1, 2020
American Sarah Mullins has come to Bangkok, Thailand looking to hide away. She rents an apartment in the high-end complex called The Kingdom. She soon meets three other mysterious women there: the married Nat, who is a British hotelier; Ximena, the Chilean chef; and Mali, the most mysterious of them all. But political unrest causes upheavals and violence in the streets surrounding The Kingdom that begin to work their way inside the complex, causing feelings of unsafety for the residents and revealing its inhabitants’ secrets.
This is one of my favorite modern authors and he has not disappointed with this gem of a book. Mr. Osborne is a master at subtly creating uncomfortable, unsettling atmospheres that will send chills up your spine as you are pulled into his stories. He also is a master at describing settings that will pluck you right out of your easy chair and place you directly in the heart of the location, where you can clearly see each and every detail, smell each and every scent and odor, hear each and every sound. I lived in Bangkok every time I picked up this book. This authors’ books are completely unpredictable and I find them fascinating.
Do know that the book starts out slowly but don’t give up – there is much more here than there first appears. Excellent literary achievement digging deep into human morals.
Most highly recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
This is one of my favorite modern authors and he has not disappointed with this gem of a book. Mr. Osborne is a master at subtly creating uncomfortable, unsettling atmospheres that will send chills up your spine as you are pulled into his stories. He also is a master at describing settings that will pluck you right out of your easy chair and place you directly in the heart of the location, where you can clearly see each and every detail, smell each and every scent and odor, hear each and every sound. I lived in Bangkok every time I picked up this book. This authors’ books are completely unpredictable and I find them fascinating.
Do know that the book starts out slowly but don’t give up – there is much more here than there first appears. Excellent literary achievement digging deep into human morals.
Most highly recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
December 15, 2022
DNF. Story went a slow nowhere. I wanted to like this as his Bangkok Days memoir was a lot of fun. The Glass Kingdom is a mannered fish-outta-water tale that feels dated. I don't know why he gets compared to Greene, probably because he looks the part blurry eyed and brooding in a cream suit, posing next to a water taxi in Bangkok or holding a stuffed crocodile
Maybe I’ll give his On Java Road a try.
Maybe I’ll give his On Java Road a try.
March 13, 2021
Beautiful cover, boring story.
August 11, 2020
Lawrence Osborne has a way of painting an indolent, creepy, and decadent cast of characters, mostly ex-pats, who reside in a once glorious but now decaying rental/condo unit in Thailand. The unit is likely a metaphor for the characters, each with their secrets and lies., their lives falling apart as the Thai government falls apart around them.
Sarah, an American, has stolen $200,000 and runs off from New York to Thailand until her trail is hopefully extinguished. She is a grifter of sorts, scheming to get what she wants at the expense of others. She knows that her money will go a long way in Thailand and she hopes to stay there long enough to make a clean getaway to somewhere else.
Sarah meets a woman at the condo's pool and she takes up with her and 2 other women, playing cards and drinking one night every week. Each of them has secrets, is running from something, and their plans are not on the up and up. What is happening is eerie for the reader sees the masks that each character wears and is even privy to their innermost secrets but those around them are only open to guessing. None of them trust one another.
The setting is dark and eerie. The structure of the building is such that you can see into others' apartments and hear what is going on. The four women share a maid who gathers personal information for her own benefit and makes money by selling secrets.
None of these characters is likable. Each carries a burden that could be viewed as remorseful, but they are narcissistic and psychopathic, without much conscience if any.
What is fascinating in Osborne's books, is that the character's grandiose plans usually don't go the way they anticipate. Gradually, things start to go down hill, what was supposed to be victorious starts t0 degenerate into something unplanned and often depraved.
The plot is a bit complex but I had no trouble following it. I rolled with the punches and slid downhill with the narrative. If you're unfamiliar with Osborne, now is the time to read his literature. You will not be disappointed.
Sarah, an American, has stolen $200,000 and runs off from New York to Thailand until her trail is hopefully extinguished. She is a grifter of sorts, scheming to get what she wants at the expense of others. She knows that her money will go a long way in Thailand and she hopes to stay there long enough to make a clean getaway to somewhere else.
Sarah meets a woman at the condo's pool and she takes up with her and 2 other women, playing cards and drinking one night every week. Each of them has secrets, is running from something, and their plans are not on the up and up. What is happening is eerie for the reader sees the masks that each character wears and is even privy to their innermost secrets but those around them are only open to guessing. None of them trust one another.
The setting is dark and eerie. The structure of the building is such that you can see into others' apartments and hear what is going on. The four women share a maid who gathers personal information for her own benefit and makes money by selling secrets.
None of these characters is likable. Each carries a burden that could be viewed as remorseful, but they are narcissistic and psychopathic, without much conscience if any.
What is fascinating in Osborne's books, is that the character's grandiose plans usually don't go the way they anticipate. Gradually, things start to go down hill, what was supposed to be victorious starts t0 degenerate into something unplanned and often depraved.
The plot is a bit complex but I had no trouble following it. I rolled with the punches and slid downhill with the narrative. If you're unfamiliar with Osborne, now is the time to read his literature. You will not be disappointed.
January 3, 2023
Una ladra fugge da New York a Bangkok dove decide di vivere in un grattacielo. Ma sarà davvero un rifugio quello che trova o diventerà la sua prigione?
In questa storia i protagonisti sono i segreti: essi si possono custodire per sempre? O qualcuno riuscirà a scoprirli e a prenderceli? Quello che ci regala Lawrence Osborne è un thriller insolito, che inizia con lentezza come le nuotate che si concede Sarah, la protagonista della storia, ormai quasi certa di stare al sicuro in quel complesso residenziale, ma la sua generosità (come ad esempio l'aver accettato la donna delle pulizie) la metterà ben presto nei guai con un finale spiazzante e triste.
In questa storia i protagonisti sono i segreti: essi si possono custodire per sempre? O qualcuno riuscirà a scoprirli e a prenderceli? Quello che ci regala Lawrence Osborne è un thriller insolito, che inizia con lentezza come le nuotate che si concede Sarah, la protagonista della storia, ormai quasi certa di stare al sicuro in quel complesso residenziale, ma la sua generosità (come ad esempio l'aver accettato la donna delle pulizie) la metterà ben presto nei guai con un finale spiazzante e triste.
August 26, 2020
Lots of potential, then a let-down of a second half. It felt like someone took a lot of time and effort to build a house of cards and then didn't know what to do with it, so they just kicked the table leg and said, "Voila, done."
July 23, 2022
Il regno di vetro è il Kingdom, a Bangkok, un complesso formato da quattro grattacieli di ventuno piani collegati “su ogni piano da ballatoi divisi da porte di vetro che solo la chiave di sicurezza in possesso di ogni residente poteva aprire, quindi assolutamente privati. I primi due piani del complesso, invece, erano spazi comuni. Sotto, c’era l’imitazione di un giardino alla francese, con arbusti che morivano nel caldo e villette a due piani intorno – perché il Kingdom offriva anche queste sistemazioni più sontuose delle altre. Nei patii abbondavano leoni cinesi e teutoniche lattaie in gesso con cuffie dai lembi inamidati, fissate ai muri ricoperti d’edera di plastica.”
Quello che accade dentro il Kingdom è una realtà altra, incompatibile con ciò che accade fuori: “L’interiore e l’esteriore erano realtà incompatibili quasi sempre, non diversamente dal mondo dentro il Kingdom e da quello fuori.”
Al Kingdom, tutti i protagonisti hanno un segreto da custodire e quasi tutti sono traditi dal proprio segreto: "Quando ho detto che i segreti non esistono, intendevo che alla fine i segreti vengono fuori."
Tutti tranne uno. Il "giocatore di scacchi" nell'ombra, che uscirà allo scoperto negli ultimi capitoli.
"Questa era la legge della vita: gli umili e i pazienti arrivavano dove volevano. E con tutto il tempo che aveva avuto per progettare questa mossa, ora non dovette pensarci granché: l’aveva già ripassata mille volte col pensiero. Pertanto, finito il curry non si affannò per la sequenza delle azioni che doveva compiere. Spense la pipa, la mise nella borsa che aveva deciso di portare con sé e si recò alla piscina per dare un’occhiata al varano."
Sarah è giovane, ha con sé tantissime banconote per un totale di duecentomila dollari, che messe insieme non pesano più di un chilogrammo. Sarah ha il corpo agile di una nuotatrice. È in quella piscina del Kingdom che inizia a sentirsi infallibile.
"Tra gli archi grandiosi del giardino era apparsa una luna grigia, mezzo rannuvolata, e Sarah udì dalla piscina il rimestare dell’acqua perché il rettile era ancora in attesa nella vasca. Non molto tempo prima aveva pensato di poterne uscire vincitrice. Ma all’ultimo minuto aveva fatto un errore di giudizio; aveva sbandato. La partita a scacchi che voleva giocare da esperta l’aveva tratta in inganno."
L'errore copiuto da Sarah è stato quello di credere ingenuamente che un segreto si potesse custodire.
Ma, come recita un proverbio Thai “Kwam lub mai mee nai loke.
Non ci sono segreti a questo mondo.”
E questo Pop lo ha sempre saputo. Ecco perché il suo finale di partita inferto a Sarah è una mossa da grande maestro.
Un thriller mozzafiato, una storia raccontata da più punti di vista, dai personaggi riservati e subdoli, che non sono mai quello che appaiono. L'atmosfera che si respira leggendo il romanzo è quella minacciosa che caratterizza gli attimi che precedono l'arrivo dei monsoni, fino al suo sciogliersi quando si giunge a leggere la sua conclusione karmica.
“Non seppe mai quanto tempo rimasero a bere sotto le stelle, ma come se il peso degli anni fosse a un tratto scomparso danzò con loro sul bagnasciuga il mor lam sparato a tutto volume dalle casse del bar, e in quel momento l’unica cosa che gli riempì la mente fu la semplice idea che quella era la vita e nient’altro, e che la vita, come il karma, andava sempre avanti, infinita e ingiusta in ugual misura, come tutte le cose prestabilite ma impossibili da prevedere.”
Quello che accade dentro il Kingdom è una realtà altra, incompatibile con ciò che accade fuori: “L’interiore e l’esteriore erano realtà incompatibili quasi sempre, non diversamente dal mondo dentro il Kingdom e da quello fuori.”
Al Kingdom, tutti i protagonisti hanno un segreto da custodire e quasi tutti sono traditi dal proprio segreto: "Quando ho detto che i segreti non esistono, intendevo che alla fine i segreti vengono fuori."
Tutti tranne uno. Il "giocatore di scacchi" nell'ombra, che uscirà allo scoperto negli ultimi capitoli.
"Questa era la legge della vita: gli umili e i pazienti arrivavano dove volevano. E con tutto il tempo che aveva avuto per progettare questa mossa, ora non dovette pensarci granché: l’aveva già ripassata mille volte col pensiero. Pertanto, finito il curry non si affannò per la sequenza delle azioni che doveva compiere. Spense la pipa, la mise nella borsa che aveva deciso di portare con sé e si recò alla piscina per dare un’occhiata al varano."
Sarah è giovane, ha con sé tantissime banconote per un totale di duecentomila dollari, che messe insieme non pesano più di un chilogrammo. Sarah ha il corpo agile di una nuotatrice. È in quella piscina del Kingdom che inizia a sentirsi infallibile.
"Tra gli archi grandiosi del giardino era apparsa una luna grigia, mezzo rannuvolata, e Sarah udì dalla piscina il rimestare dell’acqua perché il rettile era ancora in attesa nella vasca. Non molto tempo prima aveva pensato di poterne uscire vincitrice. Ma all’ultimo minuto aveva fatto un errore di giudizio; aveva sbandato. La partita a scacchi che voleva giocare da esperta l’aveva tratta in inganno."
L'errore copiuto da Sarah è stato quello di credere ingenuamente che un segreto si potesse custodire.
Ma, come recita un proverbio Thai “Kwam lub mai mee nai loke.
Non ci sono segreti a questo mondo.”
E questo Pop lo ha sempre saputo. Ecco perché il suo finale di partita inferto a Sarah è una mossa da grande maestro.
Un thriller mozzafiato, una storia raccontata da più punti di vista, dai personaggi riservati e subdoli, che non sono mai quello che appaiono. L'atmosfera che si respira leggendo il romanzo è quella minacciosa che caratterizza gli attimi che precedono l'arrivo dei monsoni, fino al suo sciogliersi quando si giunge a leggere la sua conclusione karmica.
“Non seppe mai quanto tempo rimasero a bere sotto le stelle, ma come se il peso degli anni fosse a un tratto scomparso danzò con loro sul bagnasciuga il mor lam sparato a tutto volume dalle casse del bar, e in quel momento l’unica cosa che gli riempì la mente fu la semplice idea che quella era la vita e nient’altro, e che la vita, come il karma, andava sempre avanti, infinita e ingiusta in ugual misura, come tutte le cose prestabilite ma impossibili da prevedere.”
October 26, 2020
Heavy, heavy atmosphere of Bangkok Thailand is the central crux of this book. Primarily a 4 tower community of high rise 20-21 floors per tower entity of living arrangement that is called The Kingdom. The Kingdom has its own grounds, gates, security, and is a glass, vine and bridge world. All the towers are connected on each floor with bridges. There is a central pool on the 2nd level open to all eyes. Our central character is a rather (IMHO) unpleasant and dishonest American woman of about 30 years of age called Sarah.
The prose is exquisite. It's to a literary with the big L quality. And the conversations are filled with multi-ethnic and aesthetics twinges everywhere. Done extremely well. 3 notches over any average. The mood is intense and builds not from much plot action, but far more from varied and entwined perceptions. Primarily between 4 women residents that become friends and meet once a week for a card night "girl's night out" habit.
It grows on you for the drenching atmosphere. Government within various coups, maid or janitor, security people, restaurant chefs etc. etc.- all and everything is morphing in the duplicitous of endless types. What you see today? What was observable last week?
Sarah is "escaping" from her former life? She's rented for the long term a large unit on the 15th floor. Night time denizens on the bridges to little girls looking down from the one higher floor- you are living in a true "open cage" of Sarah's view for 300 plus pages. And it is going into places you fear it will, but not at all to the extent of outcomes.
The ending is horrendous and not unforeseen but it changes the entire genre of the novel. To me, it did.
People like Sarah that I meet in real everyday life always rather mesmerize me. I can't seem to grasp how any human can be that naive, trusting, simplistic to the cognition of others' intents. Good or bad intents.
This was nearly a 5 star read for me, but I do not recommend this book to those who are faint hearted or have aversion to the ex-pat world of cons. BEWARE!
The prose is exquisite. It's to a literary with the big L quality. And the conversations are filled with multi-ethnic and aesthetics twinges everywhere. Done extremely well. 3 notches over any average. The mood is intense and builds not from much plot action, but far more from varied and entwined perceptions. Primarily between 4 women residents that become friends and meet once a week for a card night "girl's night out" habit.
It grows on you for the drenching atmosphere. Government within various coups, maid or janitor, security people, restaurant chefs etc. etc.- all and everything is morphing in the duplicitous of endless types. What you see today? What was observable last week?
Sarah is "escaping" from her former life? She's rented for the long term a large unit on the 15th floor. Night time denizens on the bridges to little girls looking down from the one higher floor- you are living in a true "open cage" of Sarah's view for 300 plus pages. And it is going into places you fear it will, but not at all to the extent of outcomes.
The ending is horrendous and not unforeseen but it changes the entire genre of the novel. To me, it did.
People like Sarah that I meet in real everyday life always rather mesmerize me. I can't seem to grasp how any human can be that naive, trusting, simplistic to the cognition of others' intents. Good or bad intents.
This was nearly a 5 star read for me, but I do not recommend this book to those who are faint hearted or have aversion to the ex-pat world of cons. BEWARE!
August 30, 2020
“A stable authoritarian pattern was good for restaurants. The diners soon lost their anxieties about the loss of democracy and returned with relish to their steak tartare and dinner dates. Money remained money, and sex remained sex.”
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
December 17, 2021
Somewhere between 2.5 - 3
January 4, 2021
This is my fourth Lawrence Osborne novel (I have previously read The Ballad of a Small Player, Hunters in the Dark and Beautiful Animals). I go into his books now with a sort of expectation: it seems that they often start of deceptively quietly, explode in the middle and then descend into darkness during the second half. The Glass Kingdom is no exception to this.
According to press reviews and interviews, Osborne has been referred to as both “the best novelist you have never heard of” and “the heir to Graham Greene”. As far as I can work out from interviews, that second comparison unsettles him a bit (he says “And sooner or later I’ll get punished for it. Someone will say, ‘Let’s compare this a****le to the real Graham Greene.’” (asterisks mine)).
When I read Hunters in the Dark, a phrase Osborne used about some dancers struck me as relevant to his writing. I referred to it again when I reviewed “Beautiful Animals”. My review of The Ballad of a Small Player has mysteriously disappeared. That phrase is "footsure and elegant and distant” and I’m going to use it again because it seems a good summary of Osborne’s style. He writes with confidence, he writes many elegant sentences, he writes in a way that maintains a kind of distance for the reader. This latter is not really a criticism: it almost seems to add to the atmosphere Osborne seems to be aiming to create which is normally fairly seedy, dark and a bit oppressive.
There’s a clue to his writing style in the fact that nearly all of his six novels are being turned into movies.
In The Glass Kingdom, Sarah arrives at The Kingdom, a four tower apartment building in Bangkok (this is a city Osborne knows well). She arrives with a bag of cash and the intention to hide away. As the story begins, she meets another resident, a woman called Mali, and begins a tentative friendship with her and two other women who meet for weekly drinking and card playing sessions.
Very slowly, the mystery begins to deepen. What’s with the dogs that appear? Who is the Japanese man who practices his golf swing? We gradually learn about the internal working of The Kingdom where everyone seems to be a shady character but where we can’t quite see what they are each up to. We do flit from one character’s perspective to another fairly frequently, we are not just reading from, say, Sarah’s viewpoint. But Osborne is careful about what each character’s thoughts reveal to us. Everyone is watching everyone else, everyone is reading things into other people’s glances or statements, always suspicious, always trying to see what is really going on.
In the background, there’s Bangkok. In fact, although most of the activity in the book takes place within The Kingdom, Bangkok manages to play a significant part in the story. Characters leave The Kingdom at various points and this gives Osborne the chance to describe the city outside to us, to give us a flavour of a city he knows well. And all is not well in this city. There is violence, the threat of insurgents. The residents of The Kingdom try to carry on as normal, try to ignore the city outside, but the increasingly frequent and lengthy power cuts bring the reality home and gradually The Kingdom empties until ”The outer world of insects, riots, and disorder was openly penetrating the inner world of elevators, generators, privacy, and locks.”
You will have to read the story to find out why Sarah was trying to hide away and what happens to her and her friendship with Mali. And maybe you will find out who the golfing Japanese man is. Maybe you will learn a bit about the somewhat mysterious caretaker of the building, Pop, or the owner, Mrs Lim, or several of the other shadowy characters.
This is another absorbing story from Osborne, another one that starts slowly but draws you in without ever becoming overly dramatic. The movies of his books will, I think, be slow-burners that work because of the psychological element more than the action. I think they could be very good.
According to press reviews and interviews, Osborne has been referred to as both “the best novelist you have never heard of” and “the heir to Graham Greene”. As far as I can work out from interviews, that second comparison unsettles him a bit (he says “And sooner or later I’ll get punished for it. Someone will say, ‘Let’s compare this a****le to the real Graham Greene.’” (asterisks mine)).
When I read Hunters in the Dark, a phrase Osborne used about some dancers struck me as relevant to his writing. I referred to it again when I reviewed “Beautiful Animals”. My review of The Ballad of a Small Player has mysteriously disappeared. That phrase is "footsure and elegant and distant” and I’m going to use it again because it seems a good summary of Osborne’s style. He writes with confidence, he writes many elegant sentences, he writes in a way that maintains a kind of distance for the reader. This latter is not really a criticism: it almost seems to add to the atmosphere Osborne seems to be aiming to create which is normally fairly seedy, dark and a bit oppressive.
There’s a clue to his writing style in the fact that nearly all of his six novels are being turned into movies.
In The Glass Kingdom, Sarah arrives at The Kingdom, a four tower apartment building in Bangkok (this is a city Osborne knows well). She arrives with a bag of cash and the intention to hide away. As the story begins, she meets another resident, a woman called Mali, and begins a tentative friendship with her and two other women who meet for weekly drinking and card playing sessions.
Very slowly, the mystery begins to deepen. What’s with the dogs that appear? Who is the Japanese man who practices his golf swing? We gradually learn about the internal working of The Kingdom where everyone seems to be a shady character but where we can’t quite see what they are each up to. We do flit from one character’s perspective to another fairly frequently, we are not just reading from, say, Sarah’s viewpoint. But Osborne is careful about what each character’s thoughts reveal to us. Everyone is watching everyone else, everyone is reading things into other people’s glances or statements, always suspicious, always trying to see what is really going on.
In the background, there’s Bangkok. In fact, although most of the activity in the book takes place within The Kingdom, Bangkok manages to play a significant part in the story. Characters leave The Kingdom at various points and this gives Osborne the chance to describe the city outside to us, to give us a flavour of a city he knows well. And all is not well in this city. There is violence, the threat of insurgents. The residents of The Kingdom try to carry on as normal, try to ignore the city outside, but the increasingly frequent and lengthy power cuts bring the reality home and gradually The Kingdom empties until ”The outer world of insects, riots, and disorder was openly penetrating the inner world of elevators, generators, privacy, and locks.”
You will have to read the story to find out why Sarah was trying to hide away and what happens to her and her friendship with Mali. And maybe you will find out who the golfing Japanese man is. Maybe you will learn a bit about the somewhat mysterious caretaker of the building, Pop, or the owner, Mrs Lim, or several of the other shadowy characters.
This is another absorbing story from Osborne, another one that starts slowly but draws you in without ever becoming overly dramatic. The movies of his books will, I think, be slow-burners that work because of the psychological element more than the action. I think they could be very good.
August 27, 2020
In an interview recently, Mr. Osborne was speaking about living in Bangkok and said, “During the early part of COVID,” he says, “the power was going out every two days. And it would go out for a day, a night, and a day. I would just move to a hotel because I couldn’t deal with it. When I’d go back, there were a lot of reptiles and dogs [in the building]. An immediate invasion. If the power were off for a week in this building, it would just be reclaimed.”
This is PATENTLY FALSE. I’ve been living in Bangkok a number of years and was here for the beginning of COVID. I never heard of or experienced rampant power outages at any point while living in Bangkok, not personally, not through friends, and not through social media and message board posts. Also, I’m not a rich guy like Mr. Osborne. I live in the same kind of apartments that Thais do, whereas I’m sure Mr. Osborne has an amazing apartment with very few (if any) problems. The article in question specifically says he lives in an apartment next to a former prime minister, so I’m sure he lives in a nice place.
Furthermore, his claim that reptiles and dogs “immediately invaded” his building is also PATENTLY FALSE. Almost all apartments here, even the ones that regular working-class people live in, have automatic locked doors in the lobby that need a key card or thumbprint to get inside. Additionally, almost all apartment buildings have 24 hour security guards and maintenance people. There’s no way wild animals would run amok inside buildings. They wouldn’t be able to get inside, and the guards would even chase them away from the parking lots.
In the same article, Mr. Osborne also claims to have witnessed someone throwing a grenade at the house of one of the former prime ministers of Thailand. After his sensationalized claims of power outages and wild animals, I find his claim to have witnessed this extremely rare violent attack to be dubious at best.
To put it simply, Mr. Osborne is exaggerating dark and negative things about Bangkok to make himself sound more interesting and his life more exciting/colorful. I’m sure his novels are much the same.
Personally, I cannot stand it when writers exaggerate details about different places like this. It perpetuates negative stereotypes (or even racism) about these places and cultures.
He makes Bangkok sound so dangerous and unreliable, but I have a much better life here than I did back in the US. Bangkok is a world-class city with a low cost of living, comparatively speaking.
I’ve never experienced any violence here. Medical care is about the same quality as the US but is much, much cheaper. Public transportation is reliable. I pay a combined total of $30 USD a month for very reliable home internet and a cell phone. The list of benefits goes on and on.
Bangkok is an amazing city in its own right. There’s no need to make it sound so dangerous, dark, and dirty.
Since Mr. Osborne has chosen to sensationalize his life in the city in this interview, one can assume the behavior carries over into his writing. As such, I don’t see any point in reading his novel.
The interview in question can be found here:
https://www.fodors.com/news/arts-cult...
This is PATENTLY FALSE. I’ve been living in Bangkok a number of years and was here for the beginning of COVID. I never heard of or experienced rampant power outages at any point while living in Bangkok, not personally, not through friends, and not through social media and message board posts. Also, I’m not a rich guy like Mr. Osborne. I live in the same kind of apartments that Thais do, whereas I’m sure Mr. Osborne has an amazing apartment with very few (if any) problems. The article in question specifically says he lives in an apartment next to a former prime minister, so I’m sure he lives in a nice place.
Furthermore, his claim that reptiles and dogs “immediately invaded” his building is also PATENTLY FALSE. Almost all apartments here, even the ones that regular working-class people live in, have automatic locked doors in the lobby that need a key card or thumbprint to get inside. Additionally, almost all apartment buildings have 24 hour security guards and maintenance people. There’s no way wild animals would run amok inside buildings. They wouldn’t be able to get inside, and the guards would even chase them away from the parking lots.
In the same article, Mr. Osborne also claims to have witnessed someone throwing a grenade at the house of one of the former prime ministers of Thailand. After his sensationalized claims of power outages and wild animals, I find his claim to have witnessed this extremely rare violent attack to be dubious at best.
To put it simply, Mr. Osborne is exaggerating dark and negative things about Bangkok to make himself sound more interesting and his life more exciting/colorful. I’m sure his novels are much the same.
Personally, I cannot stand it when writers exaggerate details about different places like this. It perpetuates negative stereotypes (or even racism) about these places and cultures.
He makes Bangkok sound so dangerous and unreliable, but I have a much better life here than I did back in the US. Bangkok is a world-class city with a low cost of living, comparatively speaking.
I’ve never experienced any violence here. Medical care is about the same quality as the US but is much, much cheaper. Public transportation is reliable. I pay a combined total of $30 USD a month for very reliable home internet and a cell phone. The list of benefits goes on and on.
Bangkok is an amazing city in its own right. There’s no need to make it sound so dangerous, dark, and dirty.
Since Mr. Osborne has chosen to sensationalize his life in the city in this interview, one can assume the behavior carries over into his writing. As such, I don’t see any point in reading his novel.
The interview in question can be found here:
https://www.fodors.com/news/arts-cult...
August 11, 2020
Lawrence Osborne has a way of painting an indolent, creepy, and decadent cast of characters, mostly ex-pats, who reside in a once glorious but now decaying rental/condo unit in Thailand. The unit is likely a metaphor for the characters, each with their secrets and lies., their lives falling apart as the Thai government falls apart around them.
Sarah, an American, has stolen $200,000 and runs off from New York to Thailand until her trail is hopefully extinguished. She is a grifter of sorts, scheming to get what she wants at the expense of others. She knows that her money will go a long way in Thailand and she hopes to stay there long enough to make a clean getaway to somewhere else.
Sarah meets a woman at the condo's pool and she takes up with her and 2 other women, playing cards and drinking one night every week. Each of them has secrets, is running from something, and their plans are not on the up and up. What is happening is eerie for the reader sees the masks that each character wears and is even privy to their innermost secrets but those around them are only open to guessing. None of them trust one another.
The setting is dark and eerie. The structure of the building is such that you can see into others' apartments and hear what is going on. The four women share a maid who gathers personal information for her own benefit and makes money by selling secrets.
None of these characters is likable. Each carries a burden that could be viewed as remorseful, but they are narcissistic and psychopathic, without much conscience if any.
What is fascinating in Osborne's books, is that the character's grandiose plans usually don't go the way they anticipate. Gradually, things start to go down hill, what was supposed to be victorious starts t0 degenerate into something unplanned and often depraved.
The plot is a bit complex but I had no trouble following it. I rolled with the punches and slid downhill with the narrative. If you're unfamiliar with Osborne, now is the time to read his literature. You will not be disappointed.
Sarah, an American, has stolen $200,000 and runs off from New York to Thailand until her trail is hopefully extinguished. She is a grifter of sorts, scheming to get what she wants at the expense of others. She knows that her money will go a long way in Thailand and she hopes to stay there long enough to make a clean getaway to somewhere else.
Sarah meets a woman at the condo's pool and she takes up with her and 2 other women, playing cards and drinking one night every week. Each of them has secrets, is running from something, and their plans are not on the up and up. What is happening is eerie for the reader sees the masks that each character wears and is even privy to their innermost secrets but those around them are only open to guessing. None of them trust one another.
The setting is dark and eerie. The structure of the building is such that you can see into others' apartments and hear what is going on. The four women share a maid who gathers personal information for her own benefit and makes money by selling secrets.
None of these characters is likable. Each carries a burden that could be viewed as remorseful, but they are narcissistic and psychopathic, without much conscience if any.
What is fascinating in Osborne's books, is that the character's grandiose plans usually don't go the way they anticipate. Gradually, things start to go down hill, what was supposed to be victorious starts t0 degenerate into something unplanned and often depraved.
The plot is a bit complex but I had no trouble following it. I rolled with the punches and slid downhill with the narrative. If you're unfamiliar with Osborne, now is the time to read his literature. You will not be disappointed.
August 22, 2020
“The Glass Kingdom”, by Lawrence Osborne, is set in a luxury Bangkok apartment complex made of glass, which is as much a character in the story as any human. We are immediately introduced, by the omniscient narrator, to a young woman, Sarah Mullins, who has re-named herself Sarah Talbot Jennings, and who has disguised herself to “make herself invisible for a while, to turn herself into a ghost”. What a mysterious and auspicious beginning to a fascinating and addictive story! Why is Sarah on the run? Who from? We don’t have to wait long to find out in this pace-paced atmospheric thriller.
Sarah soon meets her neighbor, also a young woman, named Mali, and Sarah decides to use Mali and her friends (Ximena and Natalie) as “light entertainment as time passed” and she waits for her disappearance from New York to be less notable. But that isn’t what happens; you’ll want to keep reading to find out.
Osborne’s characters are often inscrutable and difficult to relate to; maybe that’s a perfect metaphor for Thailand as well. For both the characters and the setting there is always a sense of dread that something bad is about to happen, that no one can be trusted, including our all-knowing narrator. Every time I read about Bangkok I’m fascinated by its “otherness”; and in “The Glass Kingdom”, it is as if Osborne is describing a sci-fi planet, both transparent and opaque, perpetually moist and dedicated to hedonism.
For other unusual novels set in inscrutable Bangkok, I recommend any of the books by John Burdett, starting with “Bangkok 8”.
Sarah soon meets her neighbor, also a young woman, named Mali, and Sarah decides to use Mali and her friends (Ximena and Natalie) as “light entertainment as time passed” and she waits for her disappearance from New York to be less notable. But that isn’t what happens; you’ll want to keep reading to find out.
Osborne’s characters are often inscrutable and difficult to relate to; maybe that’s a perfect metaphor for Thailand as well. For both the characters and the setting there is always a sense of dread that something bad is about to happen, that no one can be trusted, including our all-knowing narrator. Every time I read about Bangkok I’m fascinated by its “otherness”; and in “The Glass Kingdom”, it is as if Osborne is describing a sci-fi planet, both transparent and opaque, perpetually moist and dedicated to hedonism.
For other unusual novels set in inscrutable Bangkok, I recommend any of the books by John Burdett, starting with “Bangkok 8”.
August 24, 2020
I've spent years living in Bangkok, a city I love for its contradictions, and this novel made me feel instantly as though I were transported back there. The atmosphere is wonderfully drawn; Osborne is masterful at place description.
However, where this book fell down was in both plot and characters. We're often told things that seem contradictory to what we've seen happen, ie that a group of four 30-something women ("girls" as Osborne would call them) are all good friends when we know they've only spent 2 or 3 distrustful nights together. The characters often also willingly tell each other a lot of information that seems strange for them to divulge. Details that at first seem important never come to pass again. At times it felt the author was feeling his way blindly through the plot as the characters do the Kingdom during power outages.
A reviewer here mentioned perhaps the plot is lackadaisical like the tenants during the hot and sticky days of Bangkok, and perhaps this is true, and the plot ultimately serves as more atmosphere. Alas, I cannot review the book I wish this was, one with wonderful atmosphere AND a tight crime plot, but only the book it is.
I'm still giving this book 5 stars, because overall, I really enjoyed reading and savoring it. It's my first book by this author and I'm excited to read his others.
However, where this book fell down was in both plot and characters. We're often told things that seem contradictory to what we've seen happen, ie that a group of four 30-something women ("girls" as Osborne would call them) are all good friends when we know they've only spent 2 or 3 distrustful nights together. The characters often also willingly tell each other a lot of information that seems strange for them to divulge. Details that at first seem important never come to pass again. At times it felt the author was feeling his way blindly through the plot as the characters do the Kingdom during power outages.
A reviewer here mentioned perhaps the plot is lackadaisical like the tenants during the hot and sticky days of Bangkok, and perhaps this is true, and the plot ultimately serves as more atmosphere. Alas, I cannot review the book I wish this was, one with wonderful atmosphere AND a tight crime plot, but only the book it is.
I'm still giving this book 5 stars, because overall, I really enjoyed reading and savoring it. It's my first book by this author and I'm excited to read his others.
August 2, 2020
I saw that another reviewer described The Glass Kingdom’s narrative as indolent, and that is an apt description. The novel offers plenty of atmosphere and occasionally lovely turns of phrase, but the plot creeps along at a languorous pace that (purposely?) matches the sticky, heat-soaked days during which the story takes place, and the inhabitants of the Kingdom felt to me more like sketches than fully realized characters. I did not enjoy this world, did not care about any of the characters, and found the ending unsatisfying. I DID feel transported to Thailand, and the book’s setting came alive for me, if not those who inhabited it.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.
August 29, 2020
OMG! If I could invite myself over for a High Tea in Bangkok with this author, I would... Spectacular! I am going to read all of his other books. I came across Lawrence Osborne in a NYT book review by Louise Doughty. I am stunned beyond repair!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 321 reviews