John Burdett quotes

John Burdett is a British crime novelist best known for his Bangkok-based detective series, featuring police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. His works blend elements of crime, thriller, and cultural exploration, often delving into the complexities of Thai society. He is acclaimed for his unique voice and insightful portrayal of cross-cultural encounters. Here are 18 of his quotes:

There are plenty of brilliant people who are too stressed out to read challenging literary novels.

John Burdett

Las Vegas is the expression, in glitter and concrete, of America's brittle and mutating id.

John Burdett

Don't ask me when I first mastered the obvious.

John Burdett

I think it is immensely difficult to get the U.S. interested in non-U.S. topics. I dont think this is because the average American reader is disinterested, but more because of publishers playing it safe: if a thriller based in L.A. is a sure winner, why spend money plugging one based in Paris - or Bangkok?

John Burdett

It is quite amazing how hard the subconscious works when it is made to understand that this life is not a rehearsal, there is no safety net and no assurance of any final closure. It is also quite appalling to realize how catatonic the imagination can become when we hedge our bets, opt for the safer direction at every fork in the path.

John Burdett

The great weakness of the West is that it has nothing with which to inspire loyalty except wealth. But what is wealth? Another washing machine, a bigger car, a nicer house to live in? Not much to feed the spirit in all that.

John Burdett

In Southeast Asia the world is understood to be a vast, complex network of interdependent relationships. So when global capitalism makes it impossible for small-time rice farmers to feed their families and make a living, it is a natural thing for anyone in the family who can find an alternative source of income to do so.

John Burdett

Shun security,' I advise aspiring novelists when they complain to me that they are stuck. 'Get disoriented. Maybe your agonizing writing block isn't agonizing enough. Your enemy is comfort.

John Burdett

Your fear of letting go prevents you from letting go of your fear of letting go.

John Burdett

To a Buddhist, contradictions only exist in a mind that has been forced to cultivate them.

John Burdett

Just studying Buddhism, then meditating and going to Buddhist monasteries, talking to Buddhist monks, combined with the Thai people themselves, changed the way I look at the world.

John Burdett

The world other than as advertised can be an amazing place.

John Burdett

The function of the West is to turn bodies and minds into products. It cannot understand that the rest of the world holds this to be an obscenity, a corruption of our nirvanic nature.

John Burdett

I discovered that Thailand was one of those countries, like Sri Lanka and India, where memory of past lives used to be commonplace. Go back a few generations, and you find people talking about earlier lives with total certainty.

John Burdett

Have you noticed anything strange about him? Strange? We humans insist on inhabiting a charnel ground - isn't that strange enough for spiritual creatures without splitting hairs? He seems to be two different men. His personality switches from moment to moment. Only two? Perhaps there is something wrong with your eyes. Look more closely and you will see he changes with every exhalation. So do I. So do you.

John Burdett

Have you seen anything strange about him? Strange? He insists on inhabiting an melting earth - isn't that strange enough without splitting hairs? He seems to be two different people. His personality switches from second to second. I heard something about it a long time ago.....what was it again?

John Burdett