The Sad Part Was is a collection of short stories by writer and artist Prabda Yoon, and what an intriguing set of short stories it is! They vary in theme and form, with experimental stylistic turns – one short story is contained in a sentence’s parenthesis, others play on words or concepts, and in my favourite, a short story character breaks the fourth wall to rail against Yoon himself.

The stories have introspective and slightly off-kilter angles, with some callous situations, like truckers shrugging over the disappearance of a vampire, and some sweet, like a woman whose son has never seen snow but still brings her some every day.

The Translator’s Note hints at the skill needed to translate these stories from Thai to English – Mui Poopoksakul won a PEN award for her translation.