Kathie's Burma Bookshelf
 

I’m a reader and I always read about the places I visit. But I’ve never done as much background research for a trip as I’ve done for my upcoming Burma trip. Here is a list of the books we bought (haven’t finished reading all of them) for our 2009 trip. There were a number more that I tried to order, but are out of print, like Land of a Thousand Eyes.

Guidebooks:

Lonely Planet Myanmar (Burma), 10th Edition, May 2009
To Myanmar with Love: A Travel Guide for the Connoisseur

Fiction:
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
Burmese Days by George Orwell
The Flame Tree by Keith Dahlberg
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan

Memoirs:
Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess by Inge Sargent
In the Land of the Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe

Travel Writings:
The Trouser People by Andrew Marshall
Under the Dragon by Rory Maclean
Golden Earth by Norman Lewis
Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
The Native Tourist: A Holiday Pilgrimage in Myanmar by Ma Thanegi

Non-Fiction/History:
River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint-U
Down the Rat Hole by Edith Mirante
Perfect Hostage: A Life of Ang San Suu Kyi by Justin Wintle
Beyond the Last Village by Alan Rabinowitz
Pagan by Paul Strachan
Mandalay by Paul Strachan
Letters from Burma by Ang San Suu Kyi
The Shan Conundrum in Burma by Henri-Andre Aye
The Burman: His Life and Notions by Shway Yoe (pen name of James George Scott)

Photography:
Visions of Myanmar by JamesMuecke

Great resource, Kathie.

I wonder why Land of a Thousand Eyes bear such a high price tag used. I certainly did not pay that a year or so ago. I hope you manage to get your hands on a copy.

Thanks, Eks. I suspect there are Amazon resellers who watch for a book to go out of print and once it's no longer in print and not readily available, they price the book at an unbelievable price. $249.99 appears to be that price point. There is a book we've been looking for for years that is only available from an Amazon reseller at $249.99... and has been available from that reseller for that price for years!

I should mention that both of Paul Strachan's books are long out of print. I've had Mandalay for years, and the Pagan book we were fortunate to get from Powells - an immaculate copy at a reasonable price, $25.00.

Hi again, Kathie. You can buy it (Land of a Thousand Eyes) from Abe Books for about $20.00, but then you need to pay the shipping from Australia. I have purchased from Abe and they were reliable. I do think that the book is very much worth reading.

I find that the price of out-of-print books fluctuates quite a bit--you might also put it on a list with Half.com; they will send you periodic updates with the current price.


http://tinyurl.com/yz86388

Good idea, eks. I can ask some of my favorite booksellers to watch for it for me.

Cheryl is already preparing her website for our trip, and made a page of these books so you can see them. http://www.marlandc.com/Burma/books.html

If you click on the book, it will take you to the Amazon page for it.

I just finished Under the Dragon and I have the two guidebooks. Have you found anything similar to Dawn Rooney's Angkor book for Bagan? The new Lonely Planet actually has quite a lot of info but I haven't been able to find anything else (for the Bagan temples).
Have a great trip, am really looking forward to hearing about it.

This is the best resource that I know of:

http://www.ancientbagan.com/ancient-...nts-temple.htm

Maybe Kathie knows of others.

Thank you for this valuable resource, Kathie. What a distinctive and delightful idea to provide the book page on your trip website as well.

The website Craig cites is excellent. The best book we found is Paul Strachan's Pagan. It's a large book, not the best for taking along to see the temples, but it has so much more info than the LP guide. Of course, this is one of the books on my list that is out of print. But it's worth looking for it.

I absolutely LOVED Finding George Orwell in Burma. Read it a few years ago--and then read it again last year (can't remember the last time I read a book twice!) Makes me want to go even more each time I open it up.

Thanks for that link Craig, that is a great resource!

I've looked through the Strachen book but I don't own it, and wouldn't want to bring it along even if I did.

My book group would like to select a title set in Burma. Can Kathie or anyone recommend which of the above (excluding guidebooks and photography books) might lend itself particularly well to reading and discussion by a group looking to acquaint itself with Burmese culture? Those of us with a heartier interest could then go on to read more extensively, but the more of us who can be drawn to the subject matter, the better.

Thanks for any thoughts.

ttt

Shamelessly moving this to the top since my book group is eager to read something set in Burma. I am hoping to capitalize on all the Burma expertise on this board. Many thanks if you can help us select a title.

Hi marya, Four of these books immediately come to mind: The Glass Palace (about the British overthrow of the last King), The Piano Turner (a dream-like book about Burma of a hundred years ago) Under the Dragon and In the Land of Green Ghosts. These are very different books. Land of Green Ghosts is the most emotionally wrenching. Glass Palace has a lot of history, Piano Turner is very atmospheric, Under the Dragon is more contemporary.

Hi Kathie, I have just logged on and seen your fantastic report. As you know I am going there on 31st Jan for 2 weeks. I have managed to get a local agent to put together an itinerary, but I shall read your report with great interest - it will help me along the way.

Dogster - I have taken your sound advice and done the whole trip with an agency in Yangon - the only input I have had is the flight with air Asia to get there! I have also taken your advice and have been doing LOADS of research for my ongoing journey to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The only think I am having difficulty with is a Reasonable flight from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang - I have been quoted horrendous figures. I promise I will post my trip report for my travels as a "give-back" for all the help I have received here.

Thank you, Kathie.

I just read about this book/map; sounds worth ordering:


http://www.asiabookroom.com/AsiaBook...279/ss/d/rtd/1

Here's two: both by Karen Connelly

The Lizard Cage (fiction)

Burmese Lessons (now short listed for Canada's biggest non -fiction literary prize)

Karen Connelly is also the author of Touch the Dragon, her journal describing the year when she lived in a small Thai village on Rotary Scholarship. I've read this one three times.

Riveting reading! Enjoy...

I'm topping this for any new additions to this list.

It's not a book, but I'd highly recommend this New Yorker article for a good in-depth analysis of recent events and the historical context:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...6fa_fact_osnos

It's quite a long article (typical NYer fashion), and the web link is only to a preview of the article. So you'll have to get it from your local library or something. But I found the read well worth the slight trouble of obtaining it.