Charmaine CraigRecensioni

Be prepared for a novel that is steeped in academic discussions and abstract philosophies, featuring characters who are all unlikeable and didn't quite seem human to me. Nonetheless, it's quite daring in its way and intellectually stimulating. At the same time, it also suffers from a degree of pretentiousness that might be useful in an academic essay, but is not quite convincing as a work of fiction. The very selfish characters are mouthpieces for philosophical (and often cruel) musings about selfhood, feminism, and morality. It was still an interesting read, if strangely inauthentic.½

I've gotten this e-ARC from Netgalley in return for my honest review. The cover captured my attention and I half expected it to be a thriller but it turned out differently. I honestly was surprised with the outcome of this novel.

This novel is written in the view of Tessa, a writer who has a very intense mindset that I do find her to be self-absorbent. She view others negatively and even thought highly of herself. She's intellectually above others literally, I would give her that, but she has that tendency to ensure everything goes her way or the highway. That's my impression of her lah LOL!

After reading through, I began to realize that the characters in this novel are so relatable! I would say this is like a story of my neighbours or friends, with similar experiences hence it felt so close to home! It truly captures the essence or diva of some women literally! After all those drama, even though from 1 person's point of view, can be quite daunting but the true reveal at the end sort of summed it up best LOL!

I'm surprised that I managed to finish it as I did find it hard to read at the start, so dry that I wanted to DNF it. Maybe I wasn't used to this author's way of writing so it took me awhile to get used to and when I finally grasps it, I've reached the end.

This was a Goodreads ARC win.

I hardly give up on a book after 20 pages or give a 1 star review.

Let me put it this way:

1. Rambling in word comprehension for me at least
2. Confusing and complicated plot - which I said the moment I read it and I didn't listen to myself when I entered it when I shouldn't have done so. Should have known when I saw philosophical and Albert Camus mentioned
3. No idea how 2 reviewers said it was coming of age when all the people were adults and one described as psychological fiction which I don't get at all since it had no undertones of one
4. One reviewer agreed with me which is a shock that she did not finish at page 50. Did not state if she liked the book which I would have liked to know.
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Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig is a novel of historical fiction that is based on the author’s own family history. It covers about 40 turbulent years in the country of Burma, now Myanmar, opening in the 1939 at the start of World War II and the threat of Japanese invasion and continuing on through the years of ousting British Colonialism and Burma’s civil war.

Unfortunately I struggled with this book, finding the pace extremely slow and the writing style dense, remote and inaccessible. The story is dark with scenes of torture, rape and violence. I knew very little about Burmese history other than it was a British colony at one time so I did find the political, historical and cultural information interesting but overall found the book overwritten and awkward. I eventually found myself skimming the book, avoiding the story in favor of the history.

Miss Burma has all the ingredients for an excellent novel and it would have been an excellent story if the author had been more focused on the characters. This book has increased my interest in reading more about this country and it’s history.

Some forty years of Burmese history are depicted through the narratives of one family. Benny, a Jewish officer working for the colonial English meets a local girl named Khin, who is part of the Karen people, a much oppressed minority who helped the British during WWII in exchange for a promised land of their own, one of many promises not kept. Though Benny and Khin have a language barrier, they form a life amoung the turmoil of civil war. And though their marriage will have its dalliances, their oldest daughter, Louisa, will go on to be crowned Miss Burma and provide a symbolic hope for the unification of the country, again another lie. The narrative is peppered with interesting characters, including Saw Lay and Lynton, two men integral to the lives of both Khin and Louisa, as well as American CIA operatives and glimpses of famous revolutionary dictators. But most remarkable is the realization that the author is actually writing about her mother, the same Miss Burma, who went on to lead a revolutionary quest for unification for the Karen people. Must have been quite the journey for this author to research the fragments of her mother's life into this remarkable novel.

Lines

Not so much as a touch from Khin. And now, posed with her before the chapel, he was told that they must ritualistically pay off a string of villagers blocking the boulder-strewn path that led to his Buick and by extension their new home, that private sphere created for the very purpose of satisfying their desire for closeness.

Rather it seemed to her that baptism was a desperation to submerge doubt in the rescuing waters of belief, a desperation to wash away aeons of suffering with the promise of salvation.

Another moment passed and, as if from a distance, he looked back at their hands, still clasped uncomfortably. Those hands appeared to be trying to hold on to the difficulty that he and Khin had encountered while apart, and trying to loosen themselves of culpability for having clawed their way through everything

She had done her time as the submissive daughter, as the symbol of integration, assimilation, subjugation: as “Miss Burma,” as “Ne Win’s whore.” She had done her time as the victim of ethnic woundedness, of slander, of the regime’s ruthlessness. Oh, she loved her parents. And she would be very sorry to leave her sisters. But her time in exile was over, and she was ready to stand up actively for those who were oppressed. One could achieve nothing of greatness without risk.

The author tells the story of a family living in Burma (Myanmar) during the volatile period when the British ceded control over the country to the Burmans resulting in war and violence against tribal groups. The story starts with Benny - who is of Indian and Jewish descent - and Khin - a member of the Karen tribe. For Benny it is "love at first sight" and he arranged a marriage with Khin, who is puzzled but receptive. They work through language and cultural barriers and start their married life. They have a child, Louisa, and things go well until World War II encroaches upon their lives. Japan invades and they are forced to flee for their lives. This begins the first of several flights into the jungle, times when Benny is captured and tortured, and times when Khin feels forced to do whatever it takes to survive. Through many ups and downs and political revolutions the family becomes a target and symbol when their oldest daughter, Louisa, enters a beauty pageant and becomes "Miss Burma".
This was a fascinating look at the history of a part of the world most US citizens know little about. But it was a tedious read at time, as lots of philosophizing is done by the characters throughout the story. It is based on the real backstory of her family, and I appreciated the chance to learn more about her people. Those who enjoy international fiction and the nuances of history will find this one of interest.

This book is full of lots of moving parts, and the purpose also gets muddied. On the one hand, Craig highlights an important and forgotten story about the Karen people in Burma. On the other hand, the novel is chock full of plot points that it felt as if I was reading a biography and history book at once. It's just so dense, and at the same time, Craig makes the mystifying choice--several times--to jump ahead in time and reveal a major plot point that we only hear about in an unconvincing dialogue between characters. Louisa is an interesting character, and I am disappointed the novel did not center around her. In short, this is an important history being told, but it relies too heavily on its own veracity to be credible to readers. Some different writing choices would have streamlined the novel and made it more interesting.

Historical fiction about Burma (Myanmar.). VERY INTERESTING. from the 1920's--1980's. When British were in Myanmar & then left with al the different factions trying to win control. snd half not as good as 1st part

2018
https://www.librarything.com/topic/279863#6335239

"We are bewildered most of the time and doomed to be lost to history. And yet we find that there are others who are unlike us in every conceivable way, yet to whom we are bound."
The book has at its heart a couple, a Jewish businessman born in Rangoon, and a Karen woman, one of the minority communities in Burma (Myanmar) and their long marriage (not a spoiler!). I know little or nothing about Burma, beyond having read two books about modern Burma -one about popular protest / opposition a few years ago, which was fascinating, and Guy Delisle's GN account of living in Burma.

This novel, which is based on the author's own family history, has a very different context, exploring the long history of oppression by the Burmese majority against minorities like the Karen. It's a massive history, but by focussing on the experience of one family, Craig makes the horrors of WW2 and invasion by the Japanese, political oppression, American intervention in the politics of the region - all very human, very personal. Like all the best fiction, it made me want to understand more about the region, and read more. And it seemed terribly timely, in the light of the current situation in Burma. I particuarly admired the picture of Khin, who despite everything the world threw at her, was tough, a survivor, whilst at the same time struggling.
"...when she thought of how in desperation to provide for the children she’d started trading in peanut oil and cheroots and betel leaf, becoming part of an imprecise network of traders hawking their wares at open markets across the hot, wet, forested hills of eastern Mon State—what she remembered was the hours and hours, the weeks and months of walking. Walking without the burden of anyone or anything but what she had to trade. What she remembered was the fog, the damp, the rain that came slanting across the sky like relief, the watchful trees, the hungry mothers at the markets, the muddy paths that ruined her feet, the vastness of the peaceful sky, and the fields and fields of rice. Certain days, she would head out into the depth of those fields—unsure of whether she was crossing into enemy territory—and the lush green stalks seemed to regard her, in turn, an indistinct figure walking in an indistinct place."½

I have finished Miss Burma, my fourth book from the 2018 Women's Literature Prize, and I very much recommend it . I don't think the title of the book, nor the book cover do the story justice. A fascinating look into the gradual emergence of Burma , through British colonialism, war time occupation by the Japanese, and the battle towards independence. Burma, or Myanmar is still in the midst of genocide of the Rohingya people. The story is told through many points of view, and it helped me understand what has happened in Burma and is continuing to happen .

It's told as a very personal story . Benny is an Anglo/Indian/ Jewish young man working for the British Customs service in Rangoon. Benny meets and falls in love with Khin, a young women from the long persecuted ethnic group of the " Karen'". After Benny and Khin marry, WW11 forces them to flee Rangoon with baby Louisa. Benny and Khin do not speak a language in common, and another man, Saw Lay, a dear friend of Benny's, and also an ethnic Karen , help Khin and Benny communicate. The story is told through several generations and we learn more from the adult Louisa and her husband. There are some scenes of war and torture , and overall , this is relatively dark read, but very thought provoking and insightful .

A fascinating and fairly complex story, well worth the read. 4. 5 stars.½

I found this book very disturbing and a man of Indian heritage returns to Burma to live, He marries, and along with a friend are accused of being enemies of the state. While he wastes away in prison, his wife must figure out how to keep the family together and alive. One of her ideas is to groom the daughter to win a beauty pageant. Not my favorite book, but like many things I don’t like because I would rather ignore the unpleasant history of other countries, it’s stuck with me long after the storyline of other books has been forgotten.

With Burma's successor state Myanmar currently in the news, this novel illustrates just how much violence and upheaval is part of the country's history. Set in the era of WWII and the following decades, this story of a family part of an ethnic minority whose daughter becomes a contestant in the Miss Burma pageant in the late 1950s. At times this book is a little hard to get into, but I hope the author continues to write and tell more stories about this part of the world.

I made it about one third of the way through this book and then gave up. The plot seemed promising in the beginning, but then it seemed to abandon the characters and devolved into a history of Burma. I enjoy historical fiction, but this was too heavy-handed for me.

Miss Burma is an engrossing and beautiful piece of literary fiction. It is more than that, though. It is the story of author Charmaine Craig's mother and grandparents, people cursed to live in interesting times. Benny and Khin, her grandparents, are the early focus of the story. He was an Indian-Portuguese Jew born in Rangoon, but raised in Calcutta. She was Karen, one of the repressed ethnic minorities of Burma. He had just returned to Burma when he saw her at a distance, fell in love, and asked to marry her. She agreed, perhaps out of a desire to escape the resentment of her family. They did not speak each other's language, but they found in each other an escape from loneliness and they found love. However, the habit of not communicating began and in time it overshadowed their marriage.

Their marriage and the lives of their children was contoured by World War II, the Japanese invasion, independence and the years of ethnic conflict and military dictatorship that has gripped Burma ever since. It was only in 2015 that a democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy took power and still the military continues to repress minorities, in particular the Muslim Rohingya. Elections just this month show that peace is fragile.

This is not a history of Burma, it is the story of Benny and Khin and their daughter Louisa who won Miss Burma 1956 and 1958, the novel opening with her victory. This is very much a story about trust, lack of trust, misplaced trust, trusting the wrong people and not trusting those you love. Again and again, Benny, Khin, and Louisa have to make decisions to trust or not to trust. Not always wisely. Through war, ethnic cleansing, prison, and separation, this story is mainly about love, family and marital love, love as a prison and love as liberation. There is a lot of wisdom here.

Miss Burma is a good book, engrossing and fascinating even before I realized it was about real people. I liked both Khin and Benny a lot, though sometimes I wanted someone to lock them in a room together and not let them out until they talked. Not talking was their problem and with not talking came distrust. Benny was often choosing the worst interpretation, making the cruelest judgments, a reflection of his own shame at what was done to him as a prisoner of the Japanese. If only they would have talked to each other instead of hiding behind shame.

Louisa, too, has to make choices about trust. Perhaps from watching her parents, she made wiser choices. The book ends before the real life Miss Burma moves into an entirely new chapter of her life–leading the Karen resistance. It makes me suspect and hope there will be a sequel.

Craig has tremendous sensitivity to the complex question of why two people can love each other and utterly fail each other. It's a complex question and one answered well, if painfully by Miss Burma.

Miss Burma will be released May 2nd. I received a e-galley from the publisher through Edelweiss.

★★★★
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/15/9780802126450/

This is a complicated review, as it was a complicated book.

I had to force myself through the first 3/4 of the book. The writing quality is good. The details are rich and fascinating. However, most of the characters are quite dislikable (it reminded me of One Hundred Years of Solitude in that regard, a book I despised despite how people squee over it). I expected the book to be about heresy - which it is, to a small degree - but I didn't expect it to be a cataloging of sexual "perversions" as well. And it really didn't need graphics descriptions of all the said perversions. It was like it went down a list - masturbation while watching horses mate, priest sex, fornication, extramarital sex, gay sex, pedophilia, unrequited lust, etc. I was left guessing - what kind of sex is next? The book was trying to show how earthly lusts can cause spiritual downfall, but it was overkill.

So why did I keep reading? I wanted to see where it was going. I wanted some sort of resolution, I suppose. The last 1/4 of the book was the most enjoyable because there were two excellent characters to follow. I could sympathize and cheer for them. Really, it would have been a stronger book if it didn't try to be a generational saga during the time of the Cathars. A book just on Arnaud and Echo (and the inquisitor) would have been fine. The Good Men is, at heart, about three generations of women and the horny village priest. Heresy is a minor theme, not the focus.

Not as good as I had hoped. The main character is too perverse.

Great first novel - character-driven, well-written, and a perfect ending. So much of the fiction I've been reading lately has such awful
endings - falsely happy or wrapped up too neat. (Recommendation written in 2000).½

Starred review in Kirkus