“Chalika, who was old enough to have a shadow of memory, could recall the time when the house was filled with sounds.”

First line of The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth

I can’t recall how I found out about The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth, but I know I was excited (and a little bit scared) to read this because it’s the first Thai novel that I’ve ever read! It’s always scary to start on a new country’s works because… what if you don’t like it?

Thankfully, this was not the case with The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth.

This book is hard to describe. When I started reading it, the lyrical quality of the prose reminded me of the fairytale vibes of Of Bees and Mist and I felt that it was a very good start. As I continued reading on, the prose continued to flow light water and I was reminded of the fluidity of Hamnet. But despite the beautiful words, I started feeling a bit lost because I didn’t really know what the book was about.

And then, at the halfway mark, I read a small story about a side character and realised just how accurate the title was – this book is like the blind earthworm making its way through a labyrinth, exploring the different stories that surround our central three characters: Chareeya, Chalika, and Pran.

As you can probably tell from the preceding paragraphs, the strength of this book is in its prose. The translator, Kong Rithdee, did a fantastic job and I felt completely immersed in the book even though I didn’t really like the characters. I think it’s the maze-like plot, but I never managed to connect with, or feel empathy for, Chareeya and Pran. The only character I liked was Chalika, but she didn’t show up as much as the other two characters.

Overall, this was a fantastic introduction to Thai literature for me! There was a bit of a rough patch in the second quarter of the novel, but I really enjoyed the start and was hooked from the second half onwards. If you have any Thai books to recommend, please let me know!

Featured Image: Photo from Canva