If you are looking for an easier (and very useful) read in Thai, look for เด็าไม่เอาถ่าน. I read it in Thai, Korean and I just ordered the Japanese the other day. Lots of great sentences to mine. I suppose you should go and learn the alphabet first. Anyways, good luck!

@Nick: I’d recommend picking an author you’ve never heard of before. Go against the common wisdom and just pick a book that has an intriguing cover. The picture will be there to tease you through the years. The unknown author will add to the mystery. The more it feels like you are uncovering a secret that only you know about, the better.

@Ramses: Thanks. Feel free to do either or both. I like link love. :)

I also think the Thai script is attractive. And I think they chose a nice font for the novel. I’ve opened it several times already just to look at it. It’s a bit like looking at old Mesopotamian text inscriptions at a museum, only better because I’m daydreaming about one day understanding what it says. Thanks for the encouragement!

Also: Thai looks beautiful. Too bad I don’t want to learn it. Well, actually, I could certainly learn it as it’s a beautiful language. It’s just that I’m already doing Spanish (hardcore) and decided that German will be the next step (although I can already pretty much understand it, due to my Dutch).

Keep up the learning, and you’ll be able to read your Holy Grail(s) sooner rather than later.

I’d like to get hold of a Haruki Murakami book that hasn’t been published outside of Japan. That’d be a good book to aspire to read. I’d say it’d be his upcoming novel, but that’s one of the few English books I’m going to read while studying Japanese.

Months back I purchased the English and Thai versions of The Happiness of Kati.

It will make a fine Thai Holy Grail.

When I first started learning Japanese, I bought a random Japanese novel at a used bookstore. My goal was to someday become fully literate in Japanese and then read the book. Over the years, this mysterious book has been a huge motivator for me. I l…