Myanmar's murky border world
By Lesley Downer |
August 8, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
KAREN Connelly's passionate and poetic memoir begins with her arrival in Burma, now called Myanmar, in 1996 at the age of 27. Brash, naive and bubbling with confidence, she is enchanted by the country, but also determined to "catch at least a glimpse of the truth -- something beyond the beautiful images that are so readily available to the foreign eye."
When Connelly arrives, the country has been ruled by a military government for many years and many people are too afraid to answer her questions. She attends demonstrations and sees civilians beaten. Horrified, she flees to Thailand, where dissidents are working "on the border" -- a phrase, she soon realizes, that is more than just a geographical demarcation. "Even when people spend most of their time in Chiang Mai or Bangkok, they still talk about living on the border, or going there, or what was happening when they were last 'on the border.' ... The border is the invisible shifting country they inhabit now."
At a party in Chiang Mai, Connelly meets a man who calls himself Maung, the leader of an expatriate revolutionary faction, with whom she falls in love. From the very beginning, she realizes his mission will take precedence. Even when they make love in a jungle stream, she sees his bodyguard's cheroot gleaming in the bushes. Yet Maung's cloak-and-dagger world is irresistible; the more she hears of his dark side, the more alluring she finds him.
When Maung is off in the United States on a mystery mission, Connelly travels to the border herself, meeting gem traders, smugglers, prostitutes, refugees and rebels.
Wherever she goes, Connelly takes notes, eventually resulting in a book of poetry, "The Border Surrounds Us," and a harrowing novel, "The Lizard Cage," about imprisoned dissidents.
"Burmese Lessons" is an intimate account of a country, a relationship and a man -- all three of which remain elusive. In the end, Connelly's white skin and inescapable Westernness mean she can never be fully involved with Maung's cause. After all, she will always be able to pick up and leave. Unlike her friends, she has a passport out. "For you," one of them tells her, "it's notes on paper. For me it's my life."
When Connelly arrives, the country has been ruled by a military government for many years and many people are too afraid to answer her questions. She attends demonstrations and sees civilians beaten. Horrified, she flees to Thailand, where dissidents are working "on the border" -- a phrase, she soon realizes, that is more than just a geographical demarcation. "Even when people spend most of their time in Chiang Mai or Bangkok, they still talk about living on the border, or going there, or what was happening when they were last 'on the border.' ... The border is the invisible shifting country they inhabit now."
At a party in Chiang Mai, Connelly meets a man who calls himself Maung, the leader of an expatriate revolutionary faction, with whom she falls in love. From the very beginning, she realizes his mission will take precedence. Even when they make love in a jungle stream, she sees his bodyguard's cheroot gleaming in the bushes. Yet Maung's cloak-and-dagger world is irresistible; the more she hears of his dark side, the more alluring she finds him.
When Maung is off in the United States on a mystery mission, Connelly travels to the border herself, meeting gem traders, smugglers, prostitutes, refugees and rebels.
Wherever she goes, Connelly takes notes, eventually resulting in a book of poetry, "The Border Surrounds Us," and a harrowing novel, "The Lizard Cage," about imprisoned dissidents.
"Burmese Lessons" is an intimate account of a country, a relationship and a man -- all three of which remain elusive. In the end, Connelly's white skin and inescapable Westernness mean she can never be fully involved with Maung's cause. After all, she will always be able to pick up and leave. Unlike her friends, she has a passport out. "For you," one of them tells her, "it's notes on paper. For me it's my life."
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