Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
DDC/MDS
| 959.1 |
Description
Thant tells the story of modern Burma, in part through a telling of his own family's history, in an interwoven narrative that is by turns lyrical, dramatic, and appalling. His maternal grandfather, U Thant, rose from being the schoolmaster of a small town in the Irrawaddy Delta to become the UN secretary-general in the 1960s. And on his father's side, the author is descended from a long line of courtiers who served at Burma's Court of Ava for nearly two centuries. Through their stories and others, he portrays Burma's rise and decline in the modern world, from the time of Portuguese pirates and renegade Mughal princes through the decades of British colonialism, the devastation of World War II, and a sixty-year civil war that continues today and is the longest-running war anywhere in the world.--From publisher description.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member bluehat
I have travelled and worked in Burma now since late 1995. The intriguing question for me is how the military junta survives there, when the economy and society is falling down around everyone's ears. other dictatorships fall at this point - but not this one.
U Myint's book gives a compelling
It is a wonderful book - not the least because the author's gift for explanation and description. In this he is not alone among those from Burma who can write so captivatingly.
U Myint's book gives a compelling
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account of Burma's history, adding his own personal story along the way, and as I read it, I am beginning to see more clearly just how closely today's Burmese people are caught up in thei own history - this may be at least part of the reason they are unable to get out from under the yoke of these particular oppressors. It is a wonderful book - not the least because the author's gift for explanation and description. In this he is not alone among those from Burma who can write so captivatingly.
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LibraryThing member pbjwelch
Excellent, highly readable and enjoyable overview of the country formerly known as Burma. My number #1 recommendation when a friend asks for an introductory book on Myanmar.
One correction: The correct date for the Portuguese travel writer Duarte Barbosa is the 1500s, not the 1600s. (He was the
An additional recommendation: Not a book, but an excellent DVD I've just watched that I want to recommend to anyone interested in the history of Burma during WW2: The film is by Kon Ichikawa, and is called The Burmese Harp. The story of an imperial Japanese Army regiment that surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of WW2, it follows the decision one of its members makes in disguising himself as a Buddhist monk and remaining behind. Made in 1956 and recently restored in high-def digital transfer, it "remains one of Japanese cinema's most overwhelming antiwar statements, both tender and brutal in its grappling with Japan's wartime legacy." It's in Japanese and Burmese with English subtitles. If you have a chance to find it in a DVD library or on-line, don't miss it. It is a movie you will not forget.
One correction: The correct date for the Portuguese travel writer Duarte Barbosa is the 1500s, not the 1600s. (He was the
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brother-in-law of Ferdinand Magellan and died in the Philippines on May 1, 1521--one month after Magellan.)An additional recommendation: Not a book, but an excellent DVD I've just watched that I want to recommend to anyone interested in the history of Burma during WW2: The film is by Kon Ichikawa, and is called The Burmese Harp. The story of an imperial Japanese Army regiment that surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of WW2, it follows the decision one of its members makes in disguising himself as a Buddhist monk and remaining behind. Made in 1956 and recently restored in high-def digital transfer, it "remains one of Japanese cinema's most overwhelming antiwar statements, both tender and brutal in its grappling with Japan's wartime legacy." It's in Japanese and Burmese with English subtitles. If you have a chance to find it in a DVD library or on-line, don't miss it. It is a movie you will not forget.
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LibraryThing member peacepalacelibrary
The grandson of U Thant, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, recounts the history of Burma, interwoven with family stories and leading up to the present events. A welcome source of information on this land in turmoil.
Type keyword "Burma" for more books and articles.
Type keyword "Burma" for more books and articles.
LibraryThing member Rosinbow
Traces Burmese history since the fall of the last Burmese king--Military dictatorship, colonialism, Japanese invasion, economy collapsing with the American Great Depression--afterword discusses monk's walk, but comes prior to the 2008 earthquake, which further devastated the country. The role of
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peace-loving Buddhism seems far away in this account of Burmese history--seems not to have had much impact on the politics within the country throughout its modern period. Show Less
LibraryThing member untraveller
Excellent read. A touch of humor, well-written, hugely informative, and written by an "insider'. tis easy to like this book which I acquired and read while in Myanmar.
LibraryThing member stampfle
For one so young (born in 1966) Thant Myint-U is the best Myanmar writer of our time. He has created a very readable book that shows how remembrances are shaped and reshaped with time, cutting from present day to the past and back. Contrary to what some other reviewers think, his final chapter:
As you read Thant's histories of Burma you can not help but feel sorrow and pity for the people of this area of Asia, as they first try to gain freedom from their own Kings only to be attacked, captured and ruled by the British and Indians for nearly one hundred years. They are attacked by the Chinese several times and finally they became embroiled in the horrors of WWII in Asia as a buffer between the British and Japanese. Having thrown off the grip of the British Empire after the war, as did several other South East Asian countries, they were faced with civil war and invasions by communists, Muslim separatists and other ethnic groups; US backed Chinese Nationalists and drug barons. The only way to save themselves from external intervention and domestic insurgency was to accept a strong military leadership.
With great shame, several countries might wish to scrape the record of their disastrous role in Burma from the parchment. Instead, they work on solutions to change the regime they have been instrumental in creating by placing sanctions on the suffering people of Myanmar. As Thant, so well points out - 'sanctions and isolation' is not a solution, merely a new Western form of aggression. He recommends 'engagement' (as does ASEAN) as a better path to helping the people.
One can only hope that governmental policy makers in the West will read this book and think of positive ways to help the people of Myanmar, not push them further and further toward the position of a `failed' state. Thant points out: "If Thailand and Indonesia had been under US and European sanctions for the past twenty years, they would not be democracies today."
I have added an extra star to this review since Thant Myint-U, while a personal friend of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, did not add extra emphasis to the Nobel Prize she was awarded in 1991. 16 years after the fact it seems that any mention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in any media must be accompanied by the words "Nobel Peace Prize Winner."
According to Wikipedia: The Nobel Peace Prize may be awarded to persons or organizations that are in the process of resolving a conflict or creating peace. As some such processes have failed to create lasting peace, some Peace Prizes appear questionable in hindsight. Since the award to Daw Ang San Suu Gyi in 1991 there has been no improvement in the civil war in Myanmar; no resolution of the many conflicts; only greater controversy in her name. It is reminiscent of the awards given to Teddy Roosevelt, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Yassar Arafat, Le duc Tho, and Henry Kissinger. It is interesting to note that both Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize - but we rarely, if ever, see mention of that next to their names. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi might wish to distance herself from this ilk and work toward greater welfare for the people of her nation and resolution of the causes of the current civil war in Myanmar. As Thant Myint-U points out: Supporting sanctions and isolation will not accomplish this.
By sharing with the reader his memories of his own family, who were significant names in Burmese history, Thant Myint-U has created exciting and believable histories of a wonderful people facing great challenges. By this device he has given greater realism to a strange history that otherwise would be difficult to understand.
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"Palimpsest" is probably the most important argument in his entire book and, if nothing else, should be read and reread by anyone who wishes to judge or take a position on the current situation in Myanmar. A palimpsest is used to describe objects placed over one another to establish the sequence of events at an accident or crime scene. Myanmar is certainly a crime scene, but as The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma shows the criminals may not always be who we thought they were. As you read Thant's histories of Burma you can not help but feel sorrow and pity for the people of this area of Asia, as they first try to gain freedom from their own Kings only to be attacked, captured and ruled by the British and Indians for nearly one hundred years. They are attacked by the Chinese several times and finally they became embroiled in the horrors of WWII in Asia as a buffer between the British and Japanese. Having thrown off the grip of the British Empire after the war, as did several other South East Asian countries, they were faced with civil war and invasions by communists, Muslim separatists and other ethnic groups; US backed Chinese Nationalists and drug barons. The only way to save themselves from external intervention and domestic insurgency was to accept a strong military leadership.
With great shame, several countries might wish to scrape the record of their disastrous role in Burma from the parchment. Instead, they work on solutions to change the regime they have been instrumental in creating by placing sanctions on the suffering people of Myanmar. As Thant, so well points out - 'sanctions and isolation' is not a solution, merely a new Western form of aggression. He recommends 'engagement' (as does ASEAN) as a better path to helping the people.
One can only hope that governmental policy makers in the West will read this book and think of positive ways to help the people of Myanmar, not push them further and further toward the position of a `failed' state. Thant points out: "If Thailand and Indonesia had been under US and European sanctions for the past twenty years, they would not be democracies today."
I have added an extra star to this review since Thant Myint-U, while a personal friend of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, did not add extra emphasis to the Nobel Prize she was awarded in 1991. 16 years after the fact it seems that any mention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in any media must be accompanied by the words "Nobel Peace Prize Winner."
According to Wikipedia: The Nobel Peace Prize may be awarded to persons or organizations that are in the process of resolving a conflict or creating peace. As some such processes have failed to create lasting peace, some Peace Prizes appear questionable in hindsight. Since the award to Daw Ang San Suu Gyi in 1991 there has been no improvement in the civil war in Myanmar; no resolution of the many conflicts; only greater controversy in her name. It is reminiscent of the awards given to Teddy Roosevelt, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Yassar Arafat, Le duc Tho, and Henry Kissinger. It is interesting to note that both Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize - but we rarely, if ever, see mention of that next to their names. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi might wish to distance herself from this ilk and work toward greater welfare for the people of her nation and resolution of the causes of the current civil war in Myanmar. As Thant Myint-U points out: Supporting sanctions and isolation will not accomplish this.
By sharing with the reader his memories of his own family, who were significant names in Burmese history, Thant Myint-U has created exciting and believable histories of a wonderful people facing great challenges. By this device he has given greater realism to a strange history that otherwise would be difficult to understand.
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LibraryThing member m.belljackson
THE RIVER OF LOST FOOTSTEPS is a remarkable, long and dense, yet smooth reading history of Burma, now Myanmar.
Though the tale would benefit from improved chronology, it is thorough with a strong vein of irony, which unfortunately
has not changed the Luck of Burma away from poverty, corruption,
Though the tale would benefit from improved chronology, it is thorough with a strong vein of irony, which unfortunately
has not changed the Luck of Burma away from poverty, corruption,
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isolation, mutiny, ethnic hatred, and horror. Show Less
Original publication date
2006
ISBN
9780374163426