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Title: Twilight over Burma: My Life As a Shan Princess (Kolowalu Books (Paperback)) by Inge Sargent ISBN: 0-8248-1628-5 Publisher: University of Hawaii Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Tragedy and Hope
Comment: Like another reviewer, I must confess that I was a student at the Boulder, CO school where Inge taught German classes. While I was not her student, my friends were. Never once did they let on about Inge's previous life.
18 years old, I set out around the world. By 19, I was in Burma, a country I fell in love with, and visited so many times over the next decade. I also came to understand Burmese politics.
At age 35, after most of my adult life spent in SE Asia, I moved back to Boulder. Late one night, I saw Inge on a PBS station, describing her book. Wow!
I immediately bought the book.
Let me say this: Some people talk, others have no need to do so, because they have lived. Inge has lived, and continues to do so. This book is the story of just one portion of her life. Absolutely incredible, abolutely unbelievable, absolutely true.
Forget the naysayers here. This is the real deal. A wonderful book, simultaneously terrific and bittersweet.
Rating: 5
Summary: An unbelievable story
Comment: I must begin by admitting some bias as Mrs. Sargent was also my German teacher in Colorado in the late 70's. She never gave any indication of her previous life in Burma, nor of the tragic events that ended that life she knew. It is a powerful story of courage and perseverence. I would highly recommend this book and am anxious to read it again!
Rating: 3
Summary: Fairy tale in the Land of Regrets
Comment: Austrian student Inge Sargent married a Shan prince from Hsipaw. (She claims she wasn't even aware of his high status until she saw the welcoming throngs as they debarked on the shore in Burma. Imagine that little surprise if you were a new bride!) Eventually, the prince raises her to official consort-princess status. They raise two daughters and are deeply revered by the Shan people.
Inge's husband, Sao Kya Seng disappeared after the 1962 coup which brought the military dictator Ne Win to power. They keep her cynically in the dark about his fate for a long time.
My only objection to this book is that the author's portrait of herself and her prince husband is quite a bit idealized. Truly great autobiographies are a bit more self-critical and introspective. This book is too "fairy-tale" and good to be true to life. That is why I give the book three stars and not more.
If you are interested in more about Myanmar (Burma) and how the current regime came to power, this is good reading, nonetheless. It will give you some historical background about why there is a huge conflict between the military regime in Yangon (Rangoon) and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the dissent leader under house arrest.
The Shan state is one of many sub-nationalities that make up the very mixed Burmese nation. I was privileged to make a short visit to the Shan state a few years ago before it became difficult to do so. Burma was often called the Land of Regrets because it haunts people who visit and they long to return. It truly is the Land of Regrets. I hope things will change someday soon for the better, as it is a uniquely wonderful land.
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Title: The Trouser People: A Story of Burma in the Shadow of the Empire by Andrew Marshall ISBN: 1582432422 Publisher: Counterpoint Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: From the Land of Green Ghosts : A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe ISBN: 0060505222 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 05 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Glass Palace: A Novel by Amitav Ghosh ISBN: 0375758771 Publisher: Random House Trade Pub. Date: 12 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi, Heinn Htet ISBN: 0140264035 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: A Prayer for Burma by Kenneth Wong ISBN: 1891661280 Publisher: Santa Monica Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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