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Product Description
Quill & Quire
Karen Connelly was deemed something of a prodigy in 1993, when, at age 24, she won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Touch the Dragon: A Thai Journal. Connelly has continued to astound, most notably with her 2005 novel, The Lizard Cage, about a Burmese political prisoner, which won the Orange Broadband Prize for New Writers in Britain. Connelly’s latest offering can be considered a non-fiction prequel to The Lizard Cage. In this new book, we learn how the author constructed the characters and researched the events contained in her much-praised novel. Burmese Lessons is really two books in one. The first half is a haunting and poetic account of the author’s visits to the oppressed Burmese capital of Rangoon. The latter half is mainly set in neighbouring Thailand, where Connelly has a passionate but troubled affair with the charismatic leader of a Burmese guerrilla group. Connelly fans will be enthralled. Together, the two distinct sections reveal aspects of a writer’s life that are normally kept hidden. However, the two halves are so different in tone that they do not sit comfortably between the same covers. The Burmese portion unfolds like a dream and, at times, like a nightmare. The Thai half is written in a more down-to-earth, conversational style filled with true confessions, including some startling revelations about Connelly’s life at age 17, just as she was leaving her hometown of Calgary for the Thai adventure that spawned Touch the Dragon. Connelly’s eureka moment in Burmese Lessons occurs one spooky night when she is lost in Rangoon and stops to ask some rail yard workers for a drink of water. One of the workers is a “feral” boy, somewhere between nine and 12 years old. Connelly is mesmerized by this child labourer who, the author decides, shall be one of the central characters in a novel. That night provided the genesis for The Lizard Cage. If nothing else, Burmese Lessons will entice you to read or reread Connelly’s novel. But despite its flaws, her new book also shows that the expectations foisted upon a prodigy in 1993 were not misplaced.
Review
“Passionate and poetic.” —The New York Times Book Review
“[Burmese Lessons] boldly examines Burma’s tumultuous climate and nuanced cultural ethos with colorful prose and gritty self-reflection.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Karen Connelly has given her heart to Asia. I bow in gratitude to this writer whose love story is personal and political—and true.” —Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life and The Woman Warrior
“A tour de force. At once beautiful literature, an intimate account of a moving journey, a nuanced portrait of another country, a complex yet quietly honest reportage, this book is also a page-turner. It will, I believe, become a classic in the new genre that mixes personal memory with public events.” —Susan Griffin, author of A Chorus of Stones and Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy
“Sweeping in its historical research, devoid of personal commentary (or indeed experience), I highly recommend Burmese Lessons. In quietly beautiful, searching prose, Connelly shows us the small stories. . . . Burmese Lessons shows us more than a place, or a person in a place: it shows us a way to be in the world: open, seeing, breathing, awake.” —Jamie Zeppa, Literary Review of Canada
“Beautifully written. . . . The book is rich with a nostalgia for Connelly’s youth, and the passion of it, when she flung herself into unknown cultures and the arms of dangerous lovers.” —The Globe and Mail (interview)
“Extraordinary.” —More
“A harrowing account of life under Burma’s military dictatorship—the terror, the treachery, the brutality, but also the astonishingly resilient serenity, camaraderie and fatalism of the Burmese people. . . . An insightful, riveting book.” —B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction jury citation
“A poetic love story with all the strengths of her previous works, a tale of a wounded country and a gifted political activist struggling to transform it.” —Maclean’s
“[Connelly] compels admiration for her brave intrusions into dangerous and awkward situations, and above all for her candour.” ––National Post (Open Book feature)
“Connelly has continued to astound. . . . [Her] fans will be enthralled.” —Quill & Quire
“With Burmese Lessons, [Connelly] explores a relationship that defined who she is today.” —National Post
“The enchanting story of a highly erotic love affair, one made wonky and dangerous by politics. . . . The book goes far beyond memoir. . . . Her personal loss has become her book’s gain.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“Connelly is a sensualist, as a writer; this memoir is redolent with the smells of food, the stink of bodies, the weight of stones carried on her head as she helps the women in a camp build a well, the sharp, deep pleasures of sex, the edgy frustrations of sex denied, for the sake of propriety. . . . Readers familiar with The Lizard Cage will experience several shocks of recognition of characters and images and ideas . . . especially the sweet wisdom of monks, and the fleeting encounter with a feral boy who becomes one of the most memorable characters in Canadian fiction.” —The Globe and Mail
Praise for Karen Connelly:
“[Karen Connelly] shows us what autobiography usually veils: the human spirit not at its most defiant and brave, but as it really is and can only be.”
— The New York Times
“[Burmese Lessons] boldly examines Burma’s tumultuous climate and nuanced cultural ethos with colorful prose and gritty self-reflection.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Karen Connelly has given her heart to Asia. I bow in gratitude to this writer whose love story is personal and political—and true.” —Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life and The Woman Warrior
“A tour de force. At once beautiful literature, an intimate account of a moving journey, a nuanced portrait of another country, a complex yet quietly honest reportage, this book is also a page-turner. It will, I believe, become a classic in the new genre that mixes personal memory with public events.” —Susan Griffin, author of A Chorus of Stones and Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy
“Sweeping in its historical research, devoid of personal commentary (or indeed experience), I highly recommend Burmese Lessons. In quietly beautiful, searching prose, Connelly shows us the small stories. . . . Burmese Lessons shows us more than a place, or a person in a place: it shows us a way to be in the world: open, seeing, breathing, awake.” —Jamie Zeppa, Literary Review of Canada
“Beautifully written. . . . The book is rich with a nostalgia for Connelly’s youth, and the passion of it, when she flung herself into unknown cultures and the arms of dangerous lovers.” —The Globe and Mail (interview)
“Extraordinary.” —More
“A harrowing account of life under Burma’s military dictatorship—the terror, the treachery, the brutality, but also the astonishingly resilient serenity, camaraderie and fatalism of the Burmese people. . . . An insightful, riveting book.” —B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction jury citation
“A poetic love story with all the strengths of her previous works, a tale of a wounded country and a gifted political activist struggling to transform it.” —Maclean’s
“[Connelly] compels admiration for her brave intrusions into dangerous and awkward situations, and above all for her candour.” ––National Post (Open Book feature)
“Connelly has continued to astound. . . . [Her] fans will be enthralled.” —Quill & Quire
“With Burmese Lessons, [Connelly] explores a relationship that defined who she is today.” —National Post
“The enchanting story of a highly erotic love affair, one made wonky and dangerous by politics. . . . The book goes far beyond memoir. . . . Her personal loss has become her book’s gain.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“Connelly is a sensualist, as a writer; this memoir is redolent with the smells of food, the stink of bodies, the weight of stones carried on her head as she helps the women in a camp build a well, the sharp, deep pleasures of sex, the edgy frustrations of sex denied, for the sake of propriety. . . . Readers familiar with The Lizard Cage will experience several shocks of recognition of characters and images and ideas . . . especially the sweet wisdom of monks, and the fleeting encounter with a feral boy who becomes one of the most memorable characters in Canadian fiction.” —The Globe and Mail
Praise for Karen Connelly:
“[Karen Connelly] shows us what autobiography usually veils: the human spirit not at its most defiant and brave, but as it really is and can only be.”
— The New York Times
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Burmese Lesssons by Karen Connelly,
This review is from: Burmese Lessons: A Love Story (Hardcover)
Excellent. Strong visual evocation writing, the author's distinct voice provides humour, compassion, fact, and honesty. (In no particular order.) The historical information was valuable and the brief sex scenes are combine humour and sensuality. I'd recommend her other book "Touch the Dragon" as well. It's difficult to define the correct category for the book. Personal memoir, historical, political, travel, reflective opinion. I read profusely; I might read this one twice.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews) 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A personal memoir that illuminates a country's struggle,
By Live2Cruise "Live2Cruise" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Burmese Lessons: A true love story (Hardcover)
Reading this book was a sometimes difficult, but profound experience. Karen Connelly brings to life her experiences in Burma and Thailand, and illuminates the Burmese struggle for independence from a military regime, in this memoir/ love story.
In bits and pieces, we get the history of Burma and the revolutionary dissidents, as well as an overview of the various rebel groups, representatives, and artists/ writers who have been imprisoned and tortured by the regime for their efforts at shedding light on the brutalities occurring in their homeland. Connelly interviews several of these people throughout the course of the novel. She has an insider's view into the underground in which the dissidents move; she soon realizes, however, that she is naive as to the delicate workings and history of this world in ways she did not realize. She meets Maung, a leader of one of the dissident groups, who has pledged his life to the cause. The two fall in love, and for the majority of the novel, the story moves back and forth from the larger scope of the Burmese struggle to the more intimate world of Karen and Maung's budding love. The writing is diamond-like, hard and brilliant, and spares nothing. Scenes of torture and brutality are described unflinchingly; there is nothing watered down here. This is what makes it effective at what the author intended-- to bring Burma to life, to expose the effects of a military regime on ordinary people, to juxtapose a passionate, sweet love affair with the bitter realities of living in refugee jungle camps, malaria, war, and death. The one shortcoming, for me, was that this relentless honesty carried into the very intimate relationship between Karen and Maung. I always appreciated the candor of Karen's thought process about her relationship with him, her relationship with Asia, and her life as an author-- it made her human, flaws and all. But the vivid, detailed descriptions of the sexual relationship between Karen and Maung felt to me a bit self-indulgent, as though these bits became more of a personal journal than a memoir. I'm a big fan of brutal honesty, but these scenes felt a bit voyeuristic to me, and in the end, not necessary to the overall message of the book. That aside, it was a very worthwhile read which sheds light on a struggle that's not mentioned on the news. The author's quest is an admirable one and her writing has a lovely flow to it that makes it difficult to look away even during the most horrifying of scenes. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It Seems the Personal is Political...,
By Jim Robinson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Burmese Lessons: A true love story (Hardcover)
I am a big fan of Connelly's "Touch the Dragon" (or, by its other title, "Dream of a Thousand Lives") and so I was happy to see she'd written another memoir. This book is deeply, intimately personal, and at times I admit I squirmed during the descriptions of Connelly's sexual relationship with her Burmese lover. However, I think by telling her story in such a close, subjective way she has given us (the readers) a visceral experience of what it's like to be a person caught up in political and personal currents that are overwhelming and dangerous. I learned a lot about Burma and its brutally sad recent history--I would have loved the book if it had been "just" a political account of the Burmese resistance fighters because Connelly is such a vivid, gripping writer--and, more surprisingly, I learned a lot about what it means to be a privileged Westerner whose relationship to the rest of the world is always complicated and fraught with shame, fascination, and envy. (Just before I read "Burmese Lessons" I finished "The Places In Between" by Rory Stewart; it's similar to Connelly's book in that it details a Westerner's immersion in a troubled Asian country--Afghanistan, in Stewart's case; I liked Stewart's memoir very much, but he never explored his interior life and its reaction to the turbulent world around him. I hate to stereotype, but it was a very male account in its focus on movement and historical details. He did bond with a wonderful dog on his journey; it's the one thing that elevates his story into something touching and human. Connelly's book is not stereotypically female [I'm getting in trouble here!]; it's androgynous in that it embraces the internal and external world with gusto and humor and poignant sadness). I write too much. I loved this book. I look forward to more from Karen Connelly!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Read it for the love story -- look elsewhere to get the scoop on Burma,
By Doran Blue - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Burmese Lessons: A true love story (Hardcover)
I was ready to give up on this book. I found the author full of herself. We learn how difficult it is for her to be taken seriously because of her youth and beauty. She tells us of how she is envied by others because of her freedom, artistic nature and adorable house in Greece. She notes how Burmese will be the sixth language she will learn. Etc.
Additionally, she takes herself and her work very seriously. She fights injustice. She will write a book about Burma. Once the love story kicks in, however, I did find the story engrossing. (Unlike other reviewers, I thought the descriptions of sex were a key component to filling us in on the nature of the relationship.) Perhaps inadvertently, Connelly portrays the difficulties, if not the impossibility, of bridging two cultures. Some of her issues with her dissident boyfriend seem to be universal (does he love me or my body? why can't he leave work for once and come home for dinner?). Yet her idealism does not blind her to the impossibility of truly sharing her life with a jungle fighter. I must agree with Marla [character in the book] that Connelly had no business risking the safety of the Burmese she encountered to share what she does here about the Burmese situation. But she does tell a story of women loving and living with men fighting for a cause, and that is worth reading. |
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