Behind the Painting and Other Stories

Born Kulap Saipradit (1905-1974), Siburapha has enjoyed a checkered reputation in the Thai literary world. While he won recognition as a popular and accomplished writer of romantic novels at the outset of his career in the late twenties, his later work of the post-war period reflects a more politically committed view of the role of the writer and the function of literature. Imprisoned from 1952 to 1957, Siburapha subsequently sought asylum in China, where he remained for the rest of his life. Thereafter his name became taboo until critics and readers rediscovered him in the more liberal atmosphere of the early seventies. This volume brings together Siburapha's most highly acclaimed novel, Behind the Painting, written in 1937, and three of his post-war stories. A confessional novel set partly against an exotic Japanese background, Behind the Painting skillfully evokes a young man's awakening to the frailty of his own romantic feelings. The short stories--including "Those Kind of People," "Lend Us a Hand," and "The Awakening"--convey genuine anger and passion. This volume offers the first English translation of Siburapha's fiction.