- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Flamingo; New edition edition (19 July 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006530826
- ISBN-13: 978-0006530824
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
378,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #17 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia > Myanmar (Burma)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Praise for Stalin’s Nose:
‘Crazy, charming, a delight’
- John Le Carré
‘A minor masterpiece of comic surrealism’
- The Times
Praise for The Oatmeal Ark:
‘So polished, so clever, so artful, so innovative; a remarkable, beguiling journey’
- Michael Thompson-Noel, Financial Times
Product Description
A brilliant, tender evocation of contemporary Burma from the award-winning author of Stalin’s Nose and The Oatmeal Ark.
‘One of the most original and extraordinary travel books for years’ was how Alexander Frater described The Oatmeal Ark in the Observer, and now here is a new book from Rory MacLean. In this marvellous book this extraordinary writer expresses the pain of Burma with great tenderness, using novelistic techniques to weave together the patient endurance of its stricken inhabitants, together with their fragility and immense charm. Through his intense studies of the lives of the individual Burmese he encounters he makes us feel the weight of the regime under which they labour, from the girls who work on the building-sites under appallingly exploitative conditions to the drunken pirates who profit from the chaos.
Not only that, but Burma is surely a country of great interest here, being a part of the Eastern Empire about which the British are so nostalgic; and being such a lovely, fragile country under the iron hand of an oppressive military regime, the opposition led by the determined, tiny figure of Aung San Suu Kyi, it has a compelling quality about it that outweighs either Eastern Europe or Canada. Rory MacLean continues to be one of the most exciting and – in literary terms – adventurous of modern travel writers.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This evocative book has haunted me since I first read it last year.
Rory MacLean weaves the story of his search for traditional Burmese culture (in the form of an antique basket)together with the tragic and profoundly moving lives of some contemporary Burmese. His harrowing and potentially deadly experience at the work's climax, takes his story and experience of Burma far beyond traditional travel literature, as his terror, on the one hand, and frustration and sadness about the destruction of Burmese traditions, on the other, grippingly recall the fear and loss of his earlier subjects.
As he was in his earlier works, the author, is an intriguing character in this book. His uniquely personal involvement in the story and first person narration make the experience immediate and compelling, and as the reader finds herself drawn into his accessible story of the quest, so she gains rare knowledge of what might have remained unknowable: Burma and its people. The basket story not only creates suspense and unifies the book; in a small way, it brings the reader into the drama and emotion experienced by contemporary Burmese.
This book transcends its genre, and warrants reading and rereading. I highly recommend it.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a poignant, sympathetic and deeply moving read. With grace and style the author has woven together living voices from a lost land.
If you are thinking of visiting Burma, this is a book to read before you go. Because no one should merely be a tourist in their tragedy. If you would never visit Burma under present circumstances, then this is a book to read. Because the people need you to hear their voice. And if you have already visited Burma, then you should read this book. Because in it's sadness it is filled with beauty and perfume and peace.
If you are thinking of visiting Burma, this is a book to read before you go. Because no one should merely be a tourist in their tragedy. If you would never visit Burma under present circumstances, then this is a book to read. Because the people need you to hear their voice. And if you have already visited Burma, then you should read this book. Because in it's sadness it is filled with beauty and perfume and peace.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Delicately told, a blurred, dreamlike account of a quest pursued through the country most people still know best as Burma. The quest, ostensibly, is for a particular type of basket, rare and elusive. In the larger view the book describes a quest for the personality of a nation. This personality is gradually revealed, through various uncomfortable and often uneasy adventures, and through all manner of fleeting encounters. The story is told with great sensitivity, and the picture is far from pretty.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Under the Dragon
I am going to Burma soon and wanted to read a book that was informative but also gave me a feel of what to expect and Under the Dragon was a perfect fit. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Ms. M. A. Hamilton
Sheer Delight
Having been to Burma this book brought back wonderful memories of extraordinary people. With every page I was back in this extraordinary country. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Book and travel lover
A lovely land lost
This is a beautiful book, written with words that filled me with wonder and a great sadness.
The beauty is in the words and the lovely country and people. Read more
The beauty is in the words and the lovely country and people. Read more
Published 21 months ago by R. Rhodes-james
Insightful and Entertaining
I have been thinking about going to Burma myself and have decided to read up on this magical yet heavily oppressed country to help inform my decision. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2010 by Kristy Revell
A sad story of a sad country
In his book "Under the Dragon" the author Rory Maclean points out, that there is also another way to travel to a country. Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2000
Background and current situation in one enjoyable book
A fascinating and timely insight into Burma, its current sad situation and the historical forces and events that brought them to be. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2000
An enchanting travel book
There are so many travel books these days - many of them feel contrived and band-wagonning. I had feared this might be so before I started this book - but it was the most... Read more
Published on 30 Aug 1999
Absorbing and illuminating
This is one of the contenders for the Thomas Cook travel writing award this year and deservedly so. Rory Maclean's writing is as candid as ever and his descriptions of the lives... Read more
Published on 20 July 1999
An interesting look at the life in Burma
MacLean weaves together an intersting story of life in Burma -- connecting the lives of those he encounters on a (sometimes mad) cross-country quest for a rare hand-woven basket. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 1998
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