Memoir · English edition
He still had some breath left. He went to spend it in Thailand.
Michael is fifty and has pulmonary fibrosis, checked once a year at the CHU hospital in Liège. No treatment, no miracle. Just breath, a little less of it every season.
So he leaves for three months in Thailand. First with Gabriel, his best friend: nights on Khao San, the tigers and the pool tables of Pattaya. Then with Chu, the woman he loves: Bangkok, where he waits for her every evening in the lobby of Saint Louis Hospital, the beaches of Koh Samui, and Isan, where her family takes him in and where dinner is served on a boat in the middle of a lake.
Between the temples, the steps you count one by one and the Thai customs you learn while laughing, The Season of Breath is a true story, funny and luminous, about the art of living with an illness nobody can see. Translated from the French The Season of Breath.
Around the book: the articles
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Slow travel in Thailand: fewer stops, more time, less fatigue
Fewer stops, more time, a pace that follows the heat: my method for organising a restful stay in Thailand, from choosing your bases to getting around gently.
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Where does La Saison du souffle sit in the author’s work?
Two personal narratives, a Liège crime series, travel guides: the book is not isolated. Here is how it fits. #LaSaisonDuSouffle #Reading #MrSchaka
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What do you discover when you reread La Saison du souffle?
Some books are reread to check, others to understand what you had missed. This one belongs to the second kind. #LaSaisonDuSouffle #Reading #MrSchaka
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What to listen to while reading La Saison du souffle?
The novel is full of background sound: rain, boats, markets. A short listening list to accompany the reading — and a reason to turn it off. #LaSaisonDuSouffle #Reading #MrSchaka
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Where to read La Saison du souffle in Bangkok?
A novel about Bangkok reads better in some places than in a hotel room. Five spots where book and city answer each other. #LaSaisonDuSouffle #Bangkok #MrSchaka
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How to read La Saison du souffle without getting lost?
Two voices, two cities, one breath: four simple markers to follow the novel without turning back every ten pages. #LaSaisonDuSouffle #Reading #MrSchaka
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La Saison du souffle and Je respire encore: choosing your next read
A travel memoir or a more intimate testimony: two starting points for discovering Mr Schaka’s personal books. #TheSeasonOfBreath #Reading #MrSchaka
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La Saison du souffle: reading Bangkok through the Saint-Louis lobby
A hospital lobby can become a reading landmark: revisit the waiting described in the book’s official introduction. #TheSeasonOfBreath #Reading #MrSchaka
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Gabriel and Chu: following the companions in La Saison du souffle
Two companions feature in the journey introduced on the site. A reading grid helps follow their roles without inventing their thoughts. #TheSeasonOfBreath #Reading #MrSchaka
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Bangkok Without Walking Too Much: Boats, Metro and Taxis
Seeing Bangkok without walking too much: river boats, metro stations with lifts, Grab and metered taxis, and a daily rhythm built around the heat. My tips and 2026 prices.
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