cweichel's review
4.0
At times this book dragged. I had a hard time with her love affair - partly I think because in the first 1/3 it seems that she might be going to have a relationship with her guide in Burma. I personally had become attached to him, so when Maung came along I didn't like him.
However, Connelly certainly can write and it is her descriptions and phrasing that make this book work for me. I cared deeply about Myanmar and the people she wrote about. It is thought provoking, terrifying and heartbreaking all at the same time.
However, Connelly certainly can write and it is her descriptions and phrasing that make this book work for me. I cared deeply about Myanmar and the people she wrote about. It is thought provoking, terrifying and heartbreaking all at the same time.
canadianbookworm's review
4.0
This memoir of the author's time visiting Burma and her relationship with a Burmese dissident is honest and emotional, but also touches on the idea of identity. She initially visits Burma to write about a writer who is being imprisoned, but ends up falling in love with Burma and its people. She meets many interesting people struggling to gain democracy for their country who are or have been imprisoned and tortured for their actions. When she meets and falls for a leader of the dissident movement, she is forced to face up to her own expectations of life and what she is willing to do for love.
Her writing gives a true feel to the situation in Burma at the time, and the lives the citizens of that country are forced to lead. You can also see that she doesn't hold anything back regarding her own reactions to it all, and that honesty is what really makes this book.
No wonder it was picked as one of the 2010 Evergreen finalists.
Her writing gives a true feel to the situation in Burma at the time, and the lives the citizens of that country are forced to lead. You can also see that she doesn't hold anything back regarding her own reactions to it all, and that honesty is what really makes this book.
No wonder it was picked as one of the 2010 Evergreen finalists.
mikolee's review
4.0
This is one of the books that I had to parse out my reading times as I was so enthralled with the characters. True story of Canadian PEN member who travels to Burma to meet with imprisoned writers. It is in the neighboring Thailand where she meets and falls in love with one of the exiled guerilla leaders. Captivating book that brings alive the sights, sounds and smells of South east asia. Immediately brought me back to years ago living with a Karen Hill Tribe in the rainforest of Thailand. I am thrilled to seek out her other books now!
encgolsen's review
3.0
The first part of this memoir was really fascinating, but as it devoted more attention to the love story, I found myself less and less interested. I think the author was trying to be brutally honest, but some things are perhaps better kept private. I'm not sorry to have read it but I didn't really want to know about her urinary tract infection.
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