In 1988, Dr. John Casey, a professor visiting Burma, meets a waiter in Mandalay with a passion for the works of James Joyce, and the encounter c... read full description
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Jan 19, 2011
Bernie
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I was given a copy of Paschal Khoo Thwe’s From the Land of the Green Ghosts by a couple from our church. He is from India and she from Burma. The copy was signed by the author! The autobiographical book is divided into three parts. In the first part Pascal describes his young life, his family, food, the fascinating cultural life of Burma, particularly his own Padaung ethnic group, the beautiful Burman countryside, and the political history of Burma. We see here the general happiness Pasch
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Jan 02, 2011
Anthony
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Pascal Khoo Thwe is a Padaung villager from Burma's (Myanmar's) highlands who offers his memoirs in FtLoGG. I was reading this in preparation for a trip to Myanmar, which clarified some of the country's history between the demise of the Aung San, revered as the founder of modern Burma and assassinated in 1947, to the flagging days of Ne Win's military dictatorship, succeeded by General Saw Maung in 1988. While a university student in the late 1980s, he meets a Cambridge don who successfully re
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Jan 19, 2012
Harry
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From the Land of Green Ghosts is an autobiography. Pascal Khoo Thwe is from the Padaung ethnic minority in Burma — best known for the brass neck-rings worn by the women which elongate their necks — and was brought up with both the local animist traditions and Catholicism; the two religious traditions seem to have coexisted rather more easily than a strict reading of Catholic theology might allow.
He went to a Catholic seminary but later decided he didn’t want to be a priest, and inste More...
He went to a Catholic seminary but later decided he didn’t want to be a priest, and inste More...
Apr 30, 2011
Jennifer (JC-S)
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‘Central Burma is an alien land, the abode of evil spirits, green ghosts and the like –‘
Pascal Khoo Thwe was born in 1967, in a remote village in Burma. This memoir details his life from his childhood as a member of an extended family of a headman of the Kayan people in southern Shan State; his journey through conflict-ridden Burma; and finally his life in Britain.
Pascal Khoo Thwe is a member of the Kayan Padaung tribe – best known for the brass neck rings worn by women whic More...
Pascal Khoo Thwe was born in 1967, in a remote village in Burma. This memoir details his life from his childhood as a member of an extended family of a headman of the Kayan people in southern Shan State; his journey through conflict-ridden Burma; and finally his life in Britain.
Pascal Khoo Thwe is a member of the Kayan Padaung tribe – best known for the brass neck rings worn by women whic More...
Jul 16, 2009
Anne
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I read this sometime during our recent 6-month kitchen-that-became-much-more-than-that remodelling of our home. I just saw it under a screwdriver bit box and some blue painter's tape on my nightstand, and realized I hadn't said anything about it. This was an engrossing read; terrifying, pathetic, and unbelievable all at the same time. I was immediately overwhelmed with the Deus ex Machina experience of this remarkable young man, and his amazingly lucky opportunity to go to Oxford and study. J
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Jan 30, 2010
Ben
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With a trip to Burma coming up in a few weeks, I picked this book up at a used book store hoping to get better feel for where I was heading. Pascal Khoo Thwe's memoir was just what I hoped for: a moving personal account which also paints a good picture of Burmese and hill tribe societies in the 1980s in the period before, during and after the 1988 protests. Thwe is particularly remarkable for being able to look at his personal story through three lenses: that of his native Padaung tribe, that of
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Aug 01, 2011
Leonie
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I absolutely LOVED this book! It contains a lot of very valuable information on the country concerning many different aspects. Starting from the description of life as an ehthnice minority tribe's guy in the beautiful Shan hills, to the description of life as a student in Mandalay also during the crucial and sad year of 1988 in Myanmar and ending with life as a refugee amongst minority rebels in the jungle on the Thai border and the incredible escape to England. All this and the fact that this i
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Apr 26, 2008
Armelle
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An excellent read and shocking insight to the madness that has torn Burma apart. Highly recommended.
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Sep 06, 2009
Ardita
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From the country who gave me nightmares, comes a definitely amazing memoir of an minority ethnic who chose his fate to be student and finally speaks up for what has been happening inside his closed country. Khoo Thwe must have a photographic memory to be able to recount the whole details and a burning spirit to remember all the atrocities. His opinions and conclusions also aptly described the actual conditions of present Myanmar (Burma).
A must read for anybody who's doing any region More...
A must read for anybody who's doing any region More...
Sep 23, 2008
Anand
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As a young member of the Padaung tribe, a band from eastern Burma famous for their giraffe-necked women, Pascal Khoo Thwe lived in a world of spirits and jungles. Yet he also somehow developed a taste for British literature, and a chance meeting with a Cambridge professor in a Mandalay restaurant in the mid-Eighties eventually carries him far from the jungles to the lawns of Cambridge University.
That story would in and of itself be remarkable, but it is rendered all the more so by t More...
That story would in and of itself be remarkable, but it is rendered all the more so by t More...
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Aug 04, 2008
Jackpl
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This wonderful, terrifying book should be on your list.
It is a journal of the last 30 years in the life of Burma.
Terrifying because the thugs who own and run Burma regularly kill and maim whomever they please (by the thousands) in order to remain in power.
And they are still there this very minute.
They are worse than Hitler and Pol Pot and Al Queda.
And no one in the world cares!!!
The natural society of Burma has been sy More...
Jul 10, 2008
Becky
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This book was a really good way to learn about Burma. I had a little trouble getting into it at first, but once it got more into the politics and armed struggle in Burma I was very interested. It was really interesting to read the story of someone who was in the midst of the fighting. It gave a terrifying and heartbreaking discription of war from the perspective of a young person caught in the middle of it all. It's really amazing that he survived it all. It was a great way to learn more ab
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Jul 18, 2008
Zoeann
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I loved this book. The author is amazingly honest and humble about his extraordinary life. His description of the Burmese landscape is so beautiful, especially when he writes about the remote areas where he grew up. It is partially a story about why armed struggle is sometimes necessary. However it is more a story about how life is much more complex then the rhetoric used to talk about religion, war, socialism and freedom. I learned so much about Burma through Pascal Khoo Thwe's story. I
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Mar 25, 2008
Paul
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An enchanting real-life story describing in simple language, the journey of an ordinary boy through an extraordinary national journey.
Pascal was born to a hill-tribe in mountainous and remote Eastern Burma. Living in a closed community his life was relatively sheltered from the despotic regime that ruled the country. But as his education progressed and Pascal came into contact with mainstream Burmese society, he came to realise the brutality of the regime he lived beneath. Finally i More...
Pascal was born to a hill-tribe in mountainous and remote Eastern Burma. Living in a closed community his life was relatively sheltered from the despotic regime that ruled the country. But as his education progressed and Pascal came into contact with mainstream Burmese society, he came to realise the brutality of the regime he lived beneath. Finally i More...
Mar 12, 2008
Bobby
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A memoir in which the author does an excellent job of describing how it was growing up in war-torn Burma as a member of the minority Padaung tribe. I knew very little about Burma before I read this book and found it to be a great introduction to the Burmese culture and history. I'd certainly recommend it to those who are interested in learning about Burma and prefer a "lighter" non-fiction source.
My only criticism of the book is that at times, especially towards the end, I More...
My only criticism of the book is that at times, especially towards the end, I More...
Feb 28, 2011
Lena
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I read this book on my way to Thailand to visit a friend who works with Burmese refugees so I must say it was an appropriate read for the trip! I read this a few years ago but I remember I was fascinated by Pascal's personal life and struggles but also with the way he describes his home country's governing rulers and what it's like to live under rulers like that. Basically I remember it as a well written and amazing true story. Wow.
Dec 16, 2007
Matt
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Great book - an autobiography of a Christian Karen boy growing up in one of the northern tribal states in Burma. The premise is revealed in the book's foreward, so I'm not giving anything away here - as a college student, he has a chance encouter with a visiting Cambridge professor while waiting tables in Mandalay and ends up getting a Cambridge scholarship after effectively being exiled from his country.
The first part reads like a somewhat disjointed set of short stories about di More...
The first part reads like a somewhat disjointed set of short stories about di More...
Jul 19, 2009
Betsy
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After reading Amy Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning, I was really interested in finding out more about Burma/Myanmar and found this book. It is a memoir written by a Burmese student who eventually gets out of Burma to go study and live in England. His tale captures the state of affairs in Burma, which is pretty bad, and shows his tenacity in getting out to follow his intellectual pursuit.
Jul 27, 2011
Di
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This is a facsinating memoir of a truly amazing journey and he told his story so well, I could picture every place he went to and every person he met along the way so vividly... as if I had met them or been there myself. This book opened my eyes to the elements of Burma I did not know much about and I am so grateful to have read it.
Oct 15, 2007
Lynne
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This book takes you into the tribal world of the Padaung, and then into the uprising by students , monks, and average citizens against the repressive Burmese dictatorship in 1988. The author is able to capture what it is like to grow up in a world totally different from ours and then to describe what it is like to adjust outside of that world. I have been fascinated by Burma ever since we lived in Rangoon when I was little. Aung San Suu Kyi is one of my heros. Pascal Khoo Thwe meets her sons
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Jan 17, 2012
Shari
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Vividly and candidly written. Filled with touching and humorous accounts of the author's experiences in his hometown and in the jungle. It's ironic that in Cambridge he feels the same fear he felt in the jungle. Shows a good contrast of freedom and oppression.
Sep 28, 2010
Andrea
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This book should definitely be made into a movie. It is a true story that has so many unbelievable turns and coincidences. It is written in such an honest and insightful way, and really provides a vivid picture of the brutal fighting and horrible conditions that many have faced in Burma, but with a hopeful ending. This story really emphasizes how much one person can make a difference in another person's life.
Jul 28, 2011
Exhilirating book. I felt so happy at the end of this book. Incredible odds this young man faced to arrive where he did. If you are fascinated in Burmese history this is a great book with a personal touch. Highly recommend it!
Feb 10, 2012
Cathy
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I had this book on my Amazon Wish list for quite some time. I am not sure where I had originally had heard about it but I am glad I finally got a chance to read it after finding it in my local library. I am not very familiar with the recent history of Burma, this story gave me a whole new perspective of the situation in that part of the world.
Jan 05, 2009
Anna
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Gorgeous, emotional, and rather astonishing autobiography about one man's experience growing up in an ethnic minority tribe area in Burma and eventually arriving in Cambridge England to study literature.
Jan 19, 2012
Selina
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Very interesting insight into burmese ethnic minorities esp the padaung and their customs/traditions. His personal story is fascinating and certainly drives home the atrocities and suffering caused by the military regime of burma in the past decades.
Aug 06, 2011
Issi
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Excellent story of a young Burmese student and his life from university in Mandalay to refugee life on the Thai/Burmese border to finally University in Cambridge, reading English Literature!
Jan 27, 2010
Bamba
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Eloquent and engrossing read on what it means to be an ethnic minority in Burma - simple language and a good primer for those interested in Burma issues.
Jul 27, 2011
Cjsavage
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Beautifully written narrative by a truly gifted man. It is a window into a time and way of life that is, sadly, not long for this world.
Jan 06, 2009
Christina
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Great picture of tribal life in Burma and of the Burmese government's relationship with Burma's ethnic minorities.
