Off to Myanmar – Read these 5 books and come with me

I’ll be in Burma for the next 8 days.  Apparently, internet and mobile phone connectivity is quite bad si I guess I’ll be out of range.

If you’re interested in coming along with me in your imagination, here are 5 books you can read.

(1) The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh – A huge book about Burma, India and the North West Coast of Malaysia from the fall of Burmese king Thibaw till the mid 20th century. It helped me understand Burma’s place in the Imperial British scheme of things.

(2) Perfect Hostage by Justice Wintle – A biography of Aung San Suu Kyi and her father the Bogyoke Aung San. It’s factual. I think it’s accurate. Not the most riveting read, but probably necessary for understanding where Aung San Suu Kyi came from.

(3) Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin – A journalistic exploration of totalitarian Myanmar. Hugely resonant if one’s read George Orwell’s 1984. I’m taking this to read on my Kindle as I travel this newly opening country.

(4) The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker – A quick one about a daughter’s search for a father who’s disappeared into Myanmar. This one’s also on the Kindle, for bedtime.

(5) The Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo – This one’s in hardcopy and I’ll probably only get to read it when I get back. A memoir of a tribal Burmese childhood and then migration to the West. I’m interested in this because we’ll be visiting some minority areas.

Enjoy!

I’ll connect again when I get back.