THE WHITE SHADOW
Saneh Sangsuk

 
... The sexual decadence of the Romans, the sexual decadence of the Greeks, the sexual decadence of the Chinese, of the Indians, of the Europeans, of the Thais, the sexual decadence of each nation and of each culture: one could easily write a book about this. Is it really certain that sexual decadence is indicative of the disintegration of each nation and each culture? Why is the way man copulates so complicated and varied compared to that of the other mammals and other living beings? Why are animals in a state of sexual arousal said to be in rut or in heat while our sexual urges are called love or desire? How is it that among primates, Homo sapiens is the species with the biggest sexual organ and the only one able to reproduce without taking seasons into account? Is this a reward from nature or what? Are bulls, buffaloes and male elephants sexually excited when they look at the mouths, eyes, chests, haunches of their females? The female of all mammals has udders exclusively to feed its young, but the udders of the female of the human race are also targets of desire. O non-persons, you would be better off placing your life-bestowing organ into a burning oven than in the yoni of the female, you would be better off slipping your life-bestowing organ in the mouth of a venomous snake than in the yoni of the female. Thus spoke the Buddha to mendicant monks caught in sexual congress.

 The scandalous 1994 Thai novel hailed as a world-class masterpiece