Burmese Lessons

by Karen Connelly

Orange Prize–winner Karen Connelly’s compelling memoir about her journey to Burma, where she fell in love with a leader of the Burmese rebel army.

When Karen Connelly goes to Burma in 1996 to gather information for a series of articles, she discovers a place of unexpected beauty and generosity. She also encounters a country ruled by a brutal military dictatorship that imposes a code of censorship and terror. Carefully seeking out the regime’s critics, she witnesses mass demonstrations, attends protests, interviews detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and flees from police. When it gets too risky for her to stay, Connelly flies back to Thailand, but she cannot leave Burma behind.
 
Connelly’s interest in the political turns more personal on the Thai-Burmese border, where she falls in love with Maung, the handsome and charismatic leader of one of Burma’s many resistance groups. After visiting Maung’s military camp in the jungle, she faces an agonizing Maung wants to marry Connelly and have a family with her, but if she marries this man she also weds his world and his lifelong cause. Struggling to weigh the idealism of her convictions against the harsh realities of life on the border, Connelly transports the reader into a world as dangerous as it is enchanting.
 
In radiant prose layered with passion, regret, sensuality and wry humor, Burmese Lessons tells the captivating story of how one woman came to love a wounded, beautiful country and a gifted man who has given his life to the struggle for political change.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Memoir, Biography, Canada, Asia, Book Club

400 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2009

About the author

Karen Connelly was born in Calgary, Alberta, in 1969, to a large working class family. She's the author of eleven best-selling books of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. She has read from her work and lectured in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. She has won the Pat Lowther Award for her poetry, the Governor General’s Award for her non-fiction, and Britain’s Orange Broadband Prize for New Fiction for her first novel The Lizard Cage. Karen has served on the board member of PEN Canada and has been active in the Free Burma movement. A proficient to fluent speaker of several languages, she divides her time between her home in rural Greece and her home in Toronto, Canada. She is married with a young child.

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. Parts of it I loved and I had a hard time putting down the book. But about half-way through at the beginning of the love story I stalled. I struggled through a couple of chapters before becoming engrossed in the book all over again.

[Susan Sherwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Karen Connelly's novel "The Lizard Cage," which the author wrote after this compelling memoir "Burmese Lessons: A True Love Story," I better understand Connelly's background and qualifications for "The Lizard Cage." Sponsored by PEN Canada, Connelly went to Burma and Thailand in 1966 to get information on Burmese political prisoners. While she was in Burma, she observed first-hand the tyrannical ruling military in a violent street demonstration by Buddhist monks in Rangoon. She also interviewed Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest at the time. When Connelly attended a Christmas party she met and began a complicated cross-continental relationship with Maung, a handsome and charismatic Burmese dissident and opposition leader. In spending time helping at a resistance camp in the jungle, the author was keenly aware of the contrasts between cultures and perspectives. So, this memoir is not only about Connelly's love for the Burma, now known as Myanmar, but also with Maung. SPOILER ALERT: Although she was deeply in love with Maung and would have liked to marry him and bear his children, she realized that his struggle for democracy in Burma would forever supersede their relationship, and she could not do it.

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given the rave reviews from many sources, and Connelly's reputation as a writer, I found this memoir altogether disappointing. The book centers on her love affair with Maung, a charismatic Burmese Freedom fighter. In the background, Connelly writes about the struggles and suffering of the Burmese, which was why she was in Burma and Northern Thailand. Much ado was made over her graphic descriptions of her sexual encounters, and while we are all "young, dumb, and full of c--" at one point in our lives, a lot of it was self-centered drivel. What saved this from being a one star read was that, periodically, Connelly has some unique insights and she can write well, especially towards the story's end.

[Rachael Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unflinchingly honest. Exotic locale, politics, cultural contentions and obsessive love--what more can you ask for? The fact that this is memoir and not fiction only makes me wish I'd been so brave.

[Zwel Lwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

She is a remarkable author. After publishing Lizard Cage which won Orange prize, she thought she was finished with Myanmar because she spent ten years on it . However, she felt compelled to write a memoir about her connection with Myanmar and Myanmar people's struggle for democracy and her love affair with Maung who was from ABSDF.
This woman can really write.
When she and he had a quarrel, she described the room that lacked barrier between them except a fridge which was no use either. She sat on the mattress against the wall and so did he at the other end of it.

She also mentioned that there were unequal roles of men and women in Burmese community . Women were not the high ranking officials in ABSDF and had fewer opportunities to go to town to upgrade themselves by learning. As far as i read, she hasn't written about the execution that took place on Feb 12. For me, that execution was one of the ugliest things that happened in the cause. Students became armed and they craved for power and some turned into the men whom they had run away from. A group of students were accused of being military spies and tortured for months and brutally murdered on February 12 which is Union Day for Burma.

Now, I am reading her experience in MaeSot. A town filled with brothels which are mostly filled with Burmese women. Exploitation and brutality are common there. If a defiant woman refused to have sex with customers, she was beaten and raped till she became obedient. It is called ' seasoning '. Despite such inhumane things going on for decades, Thai government did so little to stop them. It might be because Burmese ppl at border are illegal and so their existence is for exploitation.

The atrocities happened to Karen people are touched on in Chapter 29. As a Burmese, I feel deeply ashamed at such crimes committed by my own race. She made a vow that she would live in conscious mourning. This is what I also should do. Those perpetrators are still among us with impunity. Another story that broke my heart is the one told by her guide who was a KNLA member. He met her for the first time and, knowing she was trying to write a book about Burma, he offered his service as her guide. One day, he shot a young Burmese soldier and searched on his body to find money and other valuable things, he found a letter that the soldier wrote to his mother in a small town. It read that he was saving money to send her money to open a Monhinga shop. Her guide cried like a child. The Burmese soldiers. The Karen soldiers. Refugees. Each one has history and family. When will human race deserve to live in peace and love in peace?

Now, I am reading MoeTheeZun 's account of executions that took place in the camp. It was Maung's responsibility although he was away from the camp when it happened.

Besides those tragedies, she openly depicted her sexual relation with Maung . He sounds critical at her being able to have orgasms. He said that Burmese women were quiet and seemed frightened at orgasms and men's orgasms were functional. I do not know why he seemed perplexed by her enjoying sex.

Overall, it was almost an effortless reading. I appreciate her decision to bring up women issue in the camp and on the border.

[Aban (Aby) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burmese Lessons, an account of Connelly's brief time in Burma and in Thailand in 1996, is a love story in more than one way. She writes with great affection for Burma and its people and the grace and beauty she found in both. She also writes about her love affair with a young Burmese dissident.

I loved Connelly's book "The Lizard Cage". "Burmese Lessons" provides the reader with insight into the creation of the earlier book. Connelly spent her weeks in Burma interviewing political dissidents including the most famous of all, Aung San Suu Kyi. It was through her interviews, and through living with dissidents, that she learned about the repression of the Military Junta and the cruelty of life in Burmese prisons.

I enjoyed reading about the people Connelly met and the places she visited. She has a gift for description.

I found Connelly's introspection and her amazing openness about her love affair both touching and appealing. She writes with humour, self-deprication, and yet with great seriousness when it comes to issues that concern her. She has had an interesting life, parts of which are slowly revealed in this book. I would love to read more of her books!


I think that anyone who enjoyed "The Lizard Cage" will enjoy "Burmese Lessons" as well. I know I did!

[Kelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started off real slow. Not very exciting at first, but then finally picked up in pace. I personally thought it was stupid that this woman would put herself in danger when she didn't need to. She is no hero for doing this. When one can avoid trouble then smartly do it. I can't feel sorry for people who would deliberately put themselves in danger.
It is just like someone climbing Mount Everest then they make they news because they got frostbite and lost a leg, etc. How stupid...don't climb the mountain in the first place.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting and gripping memoir of the author's life in Burma and Thailand. There is a political side to the memoir and a love story woven in which makes the story very complex and eye-opening. I found myself transported back in time to this beautiful country with all its political upheaval and unrest.

[Diane C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

One aspect of this book is the (admitted by the author)self absorbed story of her romance with a Burmese rebel, but the dominant aspect of the book is the struggle of the Burmese people and life lived in hiding, either in Thailand or on the border in rebel camps.

I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about what's going on in Burma.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Connelly was already a published writer and world traveler with extensive experience in Asia when, in her mid-20s, she visited Burma on a tourist visa seeking material for a new book. Soon she was drawn to the Burmese people and culture, interested in the protests going on and in love with a guerilla fighter. This is her memoir of that period in her life. I appreciated the chance to learn more about life in refugee camps on the Burma-Thai border in the 1990s as well as glimpsing Burmese culture. I could have done without the descriptions of her sexual encounters and orgasms. Her editor should have helped this young writer understand boundaries.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen Connelly spent a year in Thailand as a 17 year old student. I read her book about that experience and found it interesting but immature. In Burmese Lessons Connelly returns to Thailand and to Burma as a 27 year old writer. Her intention is to interview Burmese writers, artists and others, especially women, who have been imprisoned and censored. The interviews that she shares in the book are interesting. She says that people who have spent years in jail crave personal relationships, and spend little time talking about their tortures and prison conditions but instead focus on things like the relationship they developed with small animals that were in their cells – she concludes that the personal is their only shelter.

But most of the book is her personal story about living in Burma and among the Burmese in Thailand. I liked her intensity and her engagement with the people and their struggle. She does more than just observe from a safe, sanitary distance. She provides a picture of war that is not the military battlefield but how war affects the goodness of people and the lives of women and children. She spends several weeks living in a jungle camp and contracts a fairly severe case of malaria. .She falls in love with Burma and the Burmese people, literally since she falls in love with a revolutionary Burmese man who leads on of the several anti-government factions living in the jungles on the Thai-Burmese border. At times I was annoyed at all the information about her love life, but I realized that for her war invaded the personal and could not be described outside of the personal experiences.

I was struck by how little I know about Burma – I call it Burma because that seems to be how the people refer to the country; Myanmar is the name chosen by the ruling military junta. I had never heard of any of the writers and leaders she interviewed, except of course, Aung San Suu Kyi. I doubt that most of the writings have been translated into English. She spends a good bit of time with the Karén people. A fair number of Karén refugees live in North Carolina and many worked as housecleaners at UNC. I got to know several of them since I arrived at work at 6 am when the housecleaners were still working. They were gentle, fun people and excellent workers. One group had only a single Karén-English primer and after many unsuccessful attempts to find others, I made copies of that one for the group. I also made copies of a Karén religious text that they only had one copy to share among about 2 dozen people. That was my total knowledge of Burma before reading Connelly’s book.

[BookMarc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would suggest to you that Karen Connelly is not a writer. Instead, I would put forward the argument that she is an artist who paints pictures with words. The sentences she writes exude literary color and vibrancy like thousands of Bollywood dancers all dressed in the brightest and most eye catching Saris performing their greatest routine. On more than one occasion I found tears streaming down my face when I took myself out of the narrative. I had become overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the pictures she had painted through the strokes of her words. At times I felt submerged in the environments described to the point I was almost feeling the Buddhist serenity and smelling the Burmese foods. The page truly is her canvas upon which she paints vivid imagery using the brush of her heart and the paints of her soul.
'Burmese Lessons' dissolves Ms Connelly's personal experiences and the day to day lives of the Burmese people, who live under a military dictatorship, into a memoir. Like the proverbial tea and sugar they start out as separate entities but one is added to the other and the stirring of a relationship takes place that has Ms Connelly drinking from the cup of love. Outside of this cup the Burmese table, on which the cup sits, is covered with dishes filled with oppression and injustice. Intimately linked to the Burmese culture Ms Connelly puts her safety on the line so we too can sample the foods that cover this table, digest the sociopolitical situation and taste for ourselves the life changing events of which she partook in the mid 1990s.
Reading this book was the literary equivalent of making love one last time to your soul mate in a four poster bed, on a balmy night, on top of the finest satin sheets and never wanting that night to end. It was bittersweet...full to the brim of joy and love yet overflowing with hurt and pain. So wonderful is the writing that the book itself is like a living, breathing entity that is full of life, love and sorrow. If you want to read a factual work that will move you and leave a lasting impression on your heart then look no further than 'Burmese Lessons'.

[Міля Байрачна · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Karen Connelly's "The Lizard Cage" I knew I had to read her memoir about her life in Burma and Thailand. The book broke my heart. Compassionate and inspiring, Karen enters another world, where political dissidents struggle constantly, life on the jungle border is deadly, and a woman, especially a Western woman, is not expected to enter the fray. Forced to sit by and observe the struggle agonizingly from the sidelines, Karen falls in love with Maung, a Burmese revolutionary.

It may be harsh when I say I disliked Maung throughout the book, but by the end I detested him. Maybe because Karen poured her heart and soul into this story, and I felt myself bond with her; she became a sister, a friend. My fury at Maung lies in his emotional torture of her, his evasiveness and the underlying idea that a women must sacrifice her own identity, passion and life for her partner's career and like it. I admire Karen for refusing to take that path. Knowing Maung married someone else in the end made my furious in only the way a sister or close friend can be. How dare he? He hurt her so much, I was hoping he'd be alone and regret losing her forever. But, sadly, this is not a novel, but real life. Karen's story is one of the courage of a women struggling not to be an outsider in a culture she has adopted, struggling to help those around her while fighting to understand her own identity.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gripped me from the first page. It is a memoir about the author's time living in Burma and Northern Thailand when she was doing research for a book about Burma. The description of the people she met, interviewed and the friends that she made was fascinating. I enjoyed being allowed to have a glimpse into the very secretive world of Burmese life. I also admire her willingness to take risks to tell the story that needs to be told about the way the Burmese people have to live under their present rulers and what people are doing to try to change the government.

I found the description of her experiences of her time with the Burmese political resisters in Northern Thailand fascinating, because I spent ten days on a hiking trip in that area. While we were on our hike, we heard guns and later found out that war had once again broken out between Thailand and Burma. We were able to see the Burmese soldiers camps across the border even before the fighting began. Because of this conflict, we were unable to go into Burma for a day trip. It made the book even more interesting to be able to visualize the area that the author described.

Maybe I'm a prude, but I didn't think we needed to know quite so much about the author's sex life when she and Maung were having their affair. I found it was a bit distracting from the intensity of the story she was telling.

[Wavelength · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I started reading Burmese Lessons, I felt I had found a kindred soul. Seeing Burma through Karen Connelly’s eyes was almost as good as traveling there myself. I, too… "am infected with the desire to grasp meanings, which makes it difficult to keep things simple.” I, too… “have closed my eyes and stirred a spoon around my gut.” I appreciated her descriptions of the Burmese people, “The eyes look at me so directly; their aliveness is shocking…. In most Western cities, strangers avoid eye contact. If you smile at a stranger or talk to a child you don’t know, many people will disapprove.” As I tagged more and more passages, my connection grew deeper. Connelly meets a leader of one of the resistance groups and begins an intense relationship with him. His connections allow her to visit the resistance camps in the jungle along the Thai-Burmese border. Here she directly experiences the sacrifices being made all in the hope of creating political change. In the end, she has to decide if their cause is her cause. Does she want to live a life of uncertainty, secrecy and deception?

An excellent memoir;I can't wait to read The Lizard Cage.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

What did I like about this book? Connelly's descriptions of Bangkok were dead-on; she made you smell and taste Bangkok with her vivid and accurate visual images. I learned so much about Burma, the Burmese people, and the situation there and am challenged to read more. I liked her focus on women in the Burmese political struggle. Her descriptions of the border camps were eye opening. The love story was missing something for me as I guess it was for her. Their love seemed more sexual and less romantic and committed than I had hoped. However, that being said, these are two people in a very difficult environment and love may not have the opportunity to grow at a slow, romantic pace. It was quite fast and furious. This is a good read and I certainly do recommend it to anyone with an interest in Asia and human rights.

[Debbie Maskus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plight of the Burmese garnered my attention, and I felt Karen Connelly might do the subject justice. The book started with much promise, but halfway through the book, the central theme became Maung. Karen mentions her love of Burma, and the yearning to be in Burma, but I miss the raison d'etre. The grueling conditions both in the jungle and in the city provide no clue to this love with Burma. The people and the culture are amazing, but their spirit is not fully captured. The plight of the Burmese saddens the reader, and I think of all the freedom and comforts that the majority of Americans possess. Karen Connelly shows the contrast of the haves and the have-nots, but also the spirit of the have-nots.

[Jane Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an amazing story told by Karen Connelly, a Canadian who spends part of her year in Greece (lucky!)
At age 28 she travels to northern Thailand and into Burma. She meets several Burmese refugees turned revolutionaries, interviews Aung San Suu Kyi, witnesses military attacks on demonstrators, falls in love with a revolutionary leader, lives in a border jungle camp and practices Buddhist meditation. Since she had spent her youth living with a Thai family she speaks Thai and tries to learn Burmese. Connelly digs beneath the surface of Burmese politics and her own life, holding nothing back. We read about her memories, fears, anxieties and sexual inclinations. Sometimes there is too much information (the sex part), but she is one gutsy traveler who knows how to tell a story.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Connelly writes with an honesty that is refreshing. She writes about meeting with dissidents and protesters in Rangoon while researching for her novel, The Lizard Cage. The Lizard Cage is a powerful book written about the military juanta and how the people are being abused by their own government. Lessons lacks the power of her fiction because it is swamped with too much detail and repetition. The book (460 pages) would have been better if a third of the book had been edited out. Writing needs to be concise. She does a particularly good job of describing life in refuge camps.

It is worth reading but needs skimming. See my blog for a review of The Lizard Cage.

http://bevd.edublogs.org/

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting story, but it lacks the flow of either Touch the Dragon or The Lizard Cage. Still, it was a very engaging book, and I read it in one sitting. This book has one of the most memorable passages I've read in a long time: Karen is on the street and walks into a demonstration. She's pulled into an alley by monks who are hiding from the military. I love this passage because it illustrates the generosity of the Burmese, even in situations that are clearly dangerous for them.

This book includes fascinating information about Burmese refugee camps on the Thai border. If you're interested in this aspect of Southeast Asia, it's worth reading it for this alone!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has numerous flaws, in my eyes. It is meandering, too long, gives much cultural and political information without building to any meaningful statements, and is written by someone who seems rather self-absorbed. It is meant to be a love story, and it kind of is... although I think it maybe more Connelly's love for southeast Asia that is truly described than her love for Maung, which seems more sexual fascination and obsession with an idea of someone who loves her and maybe, could be, the father of her children. I stayed interested long enough to finish the book, and did really enjoy learning something about Burmese culture and politics. But it was a bit of work.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was the first one I ever won when joining the Goodreads family years ago. I never got around to reading it until now. I wish I would have read it sooner! It is a very nice read Since I spent several months in Thailand myself it brought back a lot of memories and the descriptions were right on.
In discussing the conflicts in Burma the author did not overwhelm the reader but educated them a little at a time. I now want to read her award winning book, "Burma".
I would recommend "Burmese Lessons" to one and all readers. It is a history lesson, a political lesson, a love story and a cultural lesson, all rolled into one!

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Goodreads. Just won this book!
Received my copy - thanks again Goodreads.

I was excited to read about Burma and the military dictatorship the Burmese people live under since I know nothing about this subject. The book was very informative and gave me a good feel for the oppressive lifestyle the Burmese people are forced to live. I have to say I liked the first half of the book better than the second half probably because the last part of the book focused more on Maung, her lover, than on the Burmese people and their cause. I thought it was a good book and I recommend it.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I have to say that I won this book from Goodreads.

It was a good book, although it took me forever to get through it. The author brought to attention the situation in Burma and it has informed me a lot. That was what is interesting in the book. But the second half of the book it shifted focus to Maung. I would have liked more to learn more about Burma and the people, and why Karen Connelly love the country since I do not see that...

I would recommend it to others who are curious about Burma.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

this author is getting better and better. this is much better written than her "one room in castle" which admittedly was pretty depressing, her looking for her lost sister (in the basque country, from an od? or suicide? or foul play?), but this one too is pretty damn depressing too. burma was and is really really fucked up, and beautiful. its seems connelly has the corner on beautiful writing and very depressing things. Even her love affair depressed me :(
i
must
stop
reading
books
about
burma
and
karen connelly's
sex
life.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Dell Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

My actual rating: 3.75
I found this on the shelf at Goodwill and was drawn to it because it is about Burma. This account of Karen's journey to Burma to interview dissidents leads to a heart wrenching experience. I feel like we were in some kind of bubble while living there as I didn't realize all that was going on with those who opposed the government. Connelly exposes the reality of the situation and its toll on the lives of those in Burma and Thailand. A very thought-provoking account. I really enjoyed it because of my time in Burma.

[glenn boyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just lived 3 years in Yangon (Myanmar, formerly known as Burma), this autobiography contains many vivid images and significant portrayals of the country and people I love during some of its darkest hours. An amazing portrayal of a part of the ethnic resistance that has gone on for decades. Even to read of the protest that occurred in the street were I lived brought again a chill to my being. If you haven't read Karen's The Lizard Cage, you have missed one of the most significant Canadian novels of recent years.

[Norma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good down to earth story of how a young woman finds herself in Thailand and her involvement with the Burmese dissidents of the Thai/Burma border. Self-awareness is one of it's themes and ultimately an important aspect of the decisions made. I found it interesting and informative, especially the reasons for the ultimate decision. The author is originally from Calgary, so it's always fun to support a local author.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just returned from Burma (Myanmar) I found this book very enlightening on the political situation and what some of the people have experiences in the name of democracy. A very poor country whose people deserve much more - a higher quality of life, a more stable and progressive government. I as constantly amazed to what lengths people will go to fight for what they believe in. Not a true love story but a truly amazing lifestory.