Sue Arnold

Let's start with a quotation from the book (page 80): "Then there was the man newly arrived from England who made derogatory remarks about the natives and their primitive ways. My mother said I mustn't repeat this but it was actually George Orwell. 'Don't be daft,' I said, 'George Orwell wasn't a racist. He liked the Burmese.' 'Well then,' said my mother, not at all dismayed, 'it was a friend of George Orwell's.'

This quote typifies the book. The author has nothing important to tell us and no first-hand experience. (Obviously, Orwell had to be included in some way or other, though.)

Half-way the book, the author writes: "Everything I have written up to now is hearsay." Half of the book are family anecdotes which tell us absolutely nothing. The second half of the book is the report of the author's journey through Myanmar in 1985, which tells us even less. The last chapter (20 pages) is an update, 10 years later, upon publication of this volume. Some books had better not be published.… (altro)