Stone Giants

Photo by Walter Mason

"Below these bruised and battered countenances...stands a causeway. On either side of it are seated fifty-four stone giants, twenty feet tall as they squat, restraining or, as though taking part in a tug-of-war, pulling at, the long stone serpent with a multiple fan-shaped head, which forms the balustrade. The two opposing teams are recruited, one from the gods, the other from devils, whose sullen, ferocious expressions contrast with the benevolent, calm-eyed determination of their antagonists."

Osbert Sitwell, Escape With Me! (1939)

Monday Blogcrawl

I am anxiously awaiting the forthcoming release of the anthology Phnom Penh Noir, which features a chilling story from my dear friend Suong Mak. It will be in stores at the end of November, so keep an eye out for it. Until then, here are some interesting Cambodia-related items from the www:

A Filipino writes about visiting Siem Reap

• Some great video footage of a holiday in Cambodia
• The Independent reports on exactly how Cambodia mourns the death of Father King Norodom Sihanouk. And a report on the memorial services in Siem Reap from the Phnom Penh Post
• There's a private island off the coast of Cambodia, and Penny Watson in the Sydney Morning Herald enjoys the sound of its waves
• Some disturbing questions about the veracity of claims of one of Cambodia's more famous "victims" - from the Cambodia Daily
• A Japanese researcher says he knows how Angkor was built
• The Phoenix brings us a nice story about a Cambodian dance troupe in the US
• A fabulous Khmer music video with a chunky shirtless dude. And some Khmer dance campery
• The Station Winebar in Siem Reap sounds kind of fun, and Travelfish brings us the lowdown
• I wasn't aware of this new-ish book from Francois Bizot. A review from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

"For despite European contacts with both Cambodia and Laos during the sixteenth and and particularly the seventeenth centuries, including travel on large sections of the Mekong itself, it was not until the nineteenth century that anything like a detailed map of the Mekong was finally produced. This state of affairs at first seems puzzling, until one remembers that the Europeans who were the first to see the Mekong and travel on its waters were interested in other things than cartography. They sought souls, trade and power. Provided they survived, charting the river, however essential it was to providing a means for their travel, was a secondary concern."

~ p. 43, "The Mekong" by Milton Osborne 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! 

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 My Teasers:

"Phnom Penh has only attained its fixed status as a capital city recently. This is true despite the fact that it was Cambodia's capital for about thirty years in the fifteenth century, and for short periods in succeeding centuries."

~ p. xii, "Phnom Penh: A Cultural History" by Milton Osborne 

 PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!