*This review is part of the Amazon Vine Program*
Ok, I have to admit, I'd never heard of Aung San Suu Kyi before this
book. Actually I had to go look up Burma on a map because it wasn't
something I recalled from any of my geography courses either. So aside
from that sad statement on the public school system and my failure at
learning more outside the system, I'm learning now, and that can't be
anything but good, right? That being said, this book, while a wealth of
information, was a very hard read, and a bit confusing at times as
well.
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of a famous general who
was a favorite of the people and assassinated at a very young age. When
her mother becomes ill, Suu leaves her husband and two sons in England,
and goes back to Burma (aka Myanmar) to be with her mother and care for
her. It is while there that she sees firsthand how the country is
struggling under the military rule imposed on it and finds herself
lifted up as a campaigner for a democratic Burma. This makes her quite a
few enemies though and despite her working towards a better future for
her country, Suu is imprisoned under house arrest for nearly twenty
years and faces several other hardships as a result of her involvement.
When
Popham is actually writing about Suu, there's a lot of detail. Right
down to the clothes she is wearing and what he apparently thinks she is
thinking and feeling. A lot of it seems to be speculation though and
considering the author has had very limited time with her, I wonder how
much of it is real. Her companions and of course the figures in the
opposing military parties are not written nearly as sympathetic.
Compared to Suu, everyone else is largely a downtrodden person that's
just made better by her being in their life whether they know it or not.
Maybe I'm exaggerating a little on that, but that did seem to be a
prevalent theme. I recognize she's a wonderful lady, but there's just a
bit too much worshipful prose about her in this book to make her seem
real to me.
The book is actually more of a history book though.
Every person in relation to Burma's military and political realm that
you can think of is probably listed in here. It's actually quite
confusing when paired with all sorts of acronyms beings used, intrigues,
plots and everything else. In addition, the timeline is a bit skewed
and jumps around as well, which just makes for hard reading when dealing
with something non-fiction. I did learn a lot, but I had to go back
and keep re-reading certain parts in order to learn those things as the
book just did not flow well and was a bit too wordy. I think
eliminating some of the non-informative parts (like what Suu was wearing
and what her companion thought of the bathrooms) would have helped make
the reading a little clearer and I could have read without distraction.
I also would have liked to read more about Suu than the military and
other people; there was a lot of her, but since I thought this book was
all about her it was surprisingly taken up by a lot of topics besides
Suu as well. This book actually would have made two very good separate
books had the author taken the time to separate the topics.
Lots
of information and I did learn things that I never knew before (plus
developed an interest in Burma). I just wish it had been pared down a
bit and placed in a sensible timeline, it would have made for better
reading.
The Lady and the Peacock
Copyright 2012
400 pages + Notes & Index
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