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No Bad News for the King: The True Story of Cyclone Nargis and Its Aftermath in Burma
An incisive, unprecedented report on life inside Burma from the author of Finding George Orwell in Burma
On May 2, 2008, an enormous tropical cyclone made landfall in Burma, wreaking untold havoc and killing more than 138,000 people. In No Bad News for the King, Emma Larkin, a Westerner who has been traveling to and secretly reporting on Burma for years, uses her extraordinary access and intimate understanding of the Burmese people to deliver a beautifully written and stunningly reported story that has never been told before. Chronicling the tragedy that unfolded in the chaotic days and months that followed the storm, she also examines the secretive politics of Burma's military dictatorship, a regime that relies on vicious military force and a bizarre combination of religion and mysticism to rule the country.
On May 2, 2008, an enormous tropical cyclone made landfall in Burma, wreaking untold havoc and killing more than 138,000 people. In No Bad News for the King, Emma Larkin, a Westerner who has been traveling to and secretly reporting on Burma for years, uses her extraordinary access and intimate understanding of the Burmese people to deliver a beautifully written and stunningly reported story that has never been told before. Chronicling the tragedy that unfolded in the chaotic days and months that followed the storm, she also examines the secretive politics of Burma's military dictatorship, a regime that relies on vicious military force and a bizarre combination of religion and mysticism to rule the country.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
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799 people want to read
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October 19, 2010
Emma Larkin's heart hurts. I mean, really hurts. About the orphans, and the cyclone, and the dead people everywhere... and all that Burma tragedy stuff. Sounds like the cyclone was real bad. Burma is such a rich case study in how the regime currently in power is forced to constantly make and remake the state and there is genuinely so much she could be talking about but just doesn't. How the government has held onto power tightly and without any sign of relenting in the wake of two huge tragedies-- first the revolt of the Buddhist monks, who effectively declared war on the government and deeply undermined the credibility of the regime, and second the cyclone, which killed untold hundreds of thousands and destroyed livelihoods for so many others-- Larkin seems limited to just being very upset and jaded about the situation without going any further beyond that. Seems like a real waste of her privileged access to the country just after the cyclone.
Near the end of the book she hits onto something of a vein of analysis but seems genuinely surprised by her own thought that maybe the Burmese regime kept out foreign aid agencies and governments after the disaster because they wanted to hang on to their sovereignty. i mean, look at the history of just about ANY other natural disaster and you'll see the way governments are greatly challenged in the wake of disasters and how many have lost legitimacy afterwards. ESPECIALLY when the disaster threatens exactly the mode by which the regime has held power-- cutting ties between the Burmese people and the rest of the world. That's what bugged me the most about this book, how little reflection she does outside of chatting with people at Burmese tea stalls and going into people's makeshift post-cyclone houses and asking them EXTREMELY inappropriate questions (i.e., "how did it feel when you lost everything?") for the interviews, my impression is that any amount of training... or even an awareness of the danger of retraumatization... would have greatly changed this book for the better.
This book/ woman is a case study in how when governments work to keep out foreign journalists/ scholars, they can end up with some really amateur stuff becoming the only work done on certain areas. I am tired of people cloaking themselves and their shoddy work in the authenticity of the Global South, not bothering to reflect on the intensely complex identity politics of foreigners undertaking research. All Larkin does in this book is get you hot and bothered about the bad bad bad regime in Burma, that's really it. There is other scholarship on Burma, including a book I recently enjoyed, A History of Modern Burma.
Also: avoid the audiobook edition like the plague. The reader just might out-heart-wrench Larkin herself. YUCK.
Near the end of the book she hits onto something of a vein of analysis but seems genuinely surprised by her own thought that maybe the Burmese regime kept out foreign aid agencies and governments after the disaster because they wanted to hang on to their sovereignty. i mean, look at the history of just about ANY other natural disaster and you'll see the way governments are greatly challenged in the wake of disasters and how many have lost legitimacy afterwards. ESPECIALLY when the disaster threatens exactly the mode by which the regime has held power-- cutting ties between the Burmese people and the rest of the world. That's what bugged me the most about this book, how little reflection she does outside of chatting with people at Burmese tea stalls and going into people's makeshift post-cyclone houses and asking them EXTREMELY inappropriate questions (i.e., "how did it feel when you lost everything?") for the interviews, my impression is that any amount of training... or even an awareness of the danger of retraumatization... would have greatly changed this book for the better.
This book/ woman is a case study in how when governments work to keep out foreign journalists/ scholars, they can end up with some really amateur stuff becoming the only work done on certain areas. I am tired of people cloaking themselves and their shoddy work in the authenticity of the Global South, not bothering to reflect on the intensely complex identity politics of foreigners undertaking research. All Larkin does in this book is get you hot and bothered about the bad bad bad regime in Burma, that's really it. There is other scholarship on Burma, including a book I recently enjoyed, A History of Modern Burma.
Also: avoid the audiobook edition like the plague. The reader just might out-heart-wrench Larkin herself. YUCK.
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January 13, 2023This was fine.
Emma Larkin's Finding George Orwell in Burma was more than fine. It was good. And some of the parts of Everything Is Broken are more than fine too. I get that she didn't want to do deep analysis into why Myanmar is as fucked as it is -- that's a whole other volume -- and wanted to front-load individual stories, but to me those aren't as interesting. I would have liked more about all the various types of fecklessness at play and the many banalities that, cumulatively, we call evil.
Emma Larkin's Finding George Orwell in Burma was more than fine. It was good. And some of the parts of Everything Is Broken are more than fine too. I get that she didn't want to do deep analysis into why Myanmar is as fucked as it is -- that's a whole other volume -- and wanted to front-load individual stories, but to me those aren't as interesting. I would have liked more about all the various types of fecklessness at play and the many banalities that, cumulatively, we call evil.
May 13, 2017
Bad-ass reporting does not add up to a book.
Emma Larkin--a pseudonym--has investigated Burma for more than a decade by the time this book was written, in 2010. Then, and for the three decades before, the country was ruled by a repressive military junta. So the mere fact of her getting into the country and writing about the government's many deficiencies, was an act of courage. I have not read her first book, which was about the connections between Burma and George Orwell, and is well regarded.
This book is about Burma in the wake of a horrible, deadly cyclone that killed 10s of thousands of people. It is a terrible tragedy, and Larkin's insistence on telling the story is a noble and brave one. The problem is, there's not much of a story to be told, as she is stymied again and again by lack of information, and is reliant on, instead, passing along rumors and reports of looking at a few digital pictures taken surreptitiously by locals.
It is clear that Larkin has a very visual imagination--the book opens describing two different maps of Burma, one before the cyclone, one in its immediate aftermath, for example--but the book has no pictures, partly for obvious reasons, partly for unclear ones. (The maps could have been reproduced, surely.) And her prose is not good enough to describe what she sees in a compelling way; the first part felt like drudgery. As did many other episodes.
There are a number of loose ends in the book--expected, I guess--but these accumulate so that the entire book feels like loose ends, clues never followed. It is possible to do this artfully, to show how the junta disconnected people from their identities, from reality, but Larkin does not do this and instead wants to generate outrage, but there is not enough here to do that. I mean, the junta was horrible, no doubt, but the book hardly makes the case. At about the same time, the Bush administration, for example, fucked up in the same ways regarding Hurricane Katrina. That's not because the U.S. is a ruled by a ruthless military junta (not yet!), but garden variety incompetence.
I realize that I am critiquing Larkin for not writing the book I wanted to read. And she's the one who put her life and freedom on the line, doing her reporting, while I'm sitting safely on my ass. Fair enough. But the book still doesn't convince, persuade, or enrage. It is altogether too disconnected, all the action happening at two degrees of remove.
And there are other weirdnesses, some caused by history, some by her own choices. She ridicules a vote that was being held immediately after the cyclone hit as political theatre. But that vote set the stage for the junta retiring and a new political era starting in the country, one led by a long-time adversary of the regime. I do not think the junta is really caving in, and the new leaders has proven to be ridiculously biased against Muslims. Likely, it's just a case of the military consolidating its power, moving into the background, and continuing to reap the benefits of years of rule without being the country's face. (Think of the changes in China over the last two decades for a model.) But, it's still the case that the vote was more than empty political posturing.
There's also a tic of treating some of the many ethnic groups that make up Burma as somehow un-Burmese. She talks about how the country was at war with these groups, as though they were somehow not also the country. Maybe it's just an awkward phrase, but it does appear odd given the difficulties of ethnic integration in the country, and makes one wonder about who Larkin is, and what her allegiances are. Again, that could have been explored in the book. Instead, it's just one more way everything here feels distant and unclear.
Emma Larkin--a pseudonym--has investigated Burma for more than a decade by the time this book was written, in 2010. Then, and for the three decades before, the country was ruled by a repressive military junta. So the mere fact of her getting into the country and writing about the government's many deficiencies, was an act of courage. I have not read her first book, which was about the connections between Burma and George Orwell, and is well regarded.
This book is about Burma in the wake of a horrible, deadly cyclone that killed 10s of thousands of people. It is a terrible tragedy, and Larkin's insistence on telling the story is a noble and brave one. The problem is, there's not much of a story to be told, as she is stymied again and again by lack of information, and is reliant on, instead, passing along rumors and reports of looking at a few digital pictures taken surreptitiously by locals.
It is clear that Larkin has a very visual imagination--the book opens describing two different maps of Burma, one before the cyclone, one in its immediate aftermath, for example--but the book has no pictures, partly for obvious reasons, partly for unclear ones. (The maps could have been reproduced, surely.) And her prose is not good enough to describe what she sees in a compelling way; the first part felt like drudgery. As did many other episodes.
There are a number of loose ends in the book--expected, I guess--but these accumulate so that the entire book feels like loose ends, clues never followed. It is possible to do this artfully, to show how the junta disconnected people from their identities, from reality, but Larkin does not do this and instead wants to generate outrage, but there is not enough here to do that. I mean, the junta was horrible, no doubt, but the book hardly makes the case. At about the same time, the Bush administration, for example, fucked up in the same ways regarding Hurricane Katrina. That's not because the U.S. is a ruled by a ruthless military junta (not yet!), but garden variety incompetence.
I realize that I am critiquing Larkin for not writing the book I wanted to read. And she's the one who put her life and freedom on the line, doing her reporting, while I'm sitting safely on my ass. Fair enough. But the book still doesn't convince, persuade, or enrage. It is altogether too disconnected, all the action happening at two degrees of remove.
And there are other weirdnesses, some caused by history, some by her own choices. She ridicules a vote that was being held immediately after the cyclone hit as political theatre. But that vote set the stage for the junta retiring and a new political era starting in the country, one led by a long-time adversary of the regime. I do not think the junta is really caving in, and the new leaders has proven to be ridiculously biased against Muslims. Likely, it's just a case of the military consolidating its power, moving into the background, and continuing to reap the benefits of years of rule without being the country's face. (Think of the changes in China over the last two decades for a model.) But, it's still the case that the vote was more than empty political posturing.
There's also a tic of treating some of the many ethnic groups that make up Burma as somehow un-Burmese. She talks about how the country was at war with these groups, as though they were somehow not also the country. Maybe it's just an awkward phrase, but it does appear odd given the difficulties of ethnic integration in the country, and makes one wonder about who Larkin is, and what her allegiances are. Again, that could have been explored in the book. Instead, it's just one more way everything here feels distant and unclear.
April 3, 2024
I found this book in a vintage book store in Brussels and I was amazed by the title (and yes of course because the author is called Emma). I don't know a lot about Burma or Myanmar and I figured this could offer an interesting insight. The book was written in the aftermath of the disastrous Cyclone Nargis in 2008. She points out how people died or survived, how they dealt with the enormous destruction and how the regime did nothing to help them. Foreign aid workers were only permitted after some time to the country and even when they could enter the country many were stuck in the old capital. I was shocked to read about the suppression that happened/is still happening inside Myanmar and how no one is safe. Also, it was interesting to learn about the bloody history of the country and how people suffered during the colonial period as well as WW2 and the role of Japan in it as well as the Allied forces. The following quote summarises the essence of the book quite well:
"In a society where nothing can be taken for granted, distorted truths, half stories, and private visions are, by necessity, woven into the popular narrative of events. Burma is a place where the government hides behind convoluted smoke screens. It is a place where those who sacrifice themselves for their country must go unrecognised and can only be lauded or remembered in secret. It is a place where natural disasters don't happen, at least not officially, and where the gaping misery that follows any catastrophe must be covered up and silenced. In such an environment, almost anything becomes believable."
"In a society where nothing can be taken for granted, distorted truths, half stories, and private visions are, by necessity, woven into the popular narrative of events. Burma is a place where the government hides behind convoluted smoke screens. It is a place where those who sacrifice themselves for their country must go unrecognised and can only be lauded or remembered in secret. It is a place where natural disasters don't happen, at least not officially, and where the gaping misery that follows any catastrophe must be covered up and silenced. In such an environment, almost anything becomes believable."
October 25, 2018
Ocena tej książki jest problematyczna. Owszem, dowiedziałem się z niej wiele na temat Birmy, która intryguje mnie podobnie jak Malezja, Chiny i Indonezja - najbardziej, jeśli chodzi o azjatyckie kraje. Styl pisania Larkin, czy też może tłumaczenie pozostawia wiele do życzenia. Autorka nie zrobiła researchu, jeśli chodzi o buddyzm. Nie ma u nas czegoś takiego jak bycie wcieleniem Buddy, bo nie ma to sensu. Są przypowieści o człowieku, który zapoczątkował tę filozofię, ale budda to symbol bycia lepszą wersją siebie. Żaden mnich ani praktykujący buddysta nie może być reinkarnarcją samego siebie. Niektórzy przywódcy duchowi jak Dalai Lama w buddyzmie tybetańskim, czy trungpowie czują się reinkarnacją poprzednich przywódców i jest to nawet często wyznacznik bycia kolejnym z nich. Po takich uproszczeniach ludzie potem mają mylne wyobrażenie buddyzmu. Drugi rażący błąd to być może kwestie tłumaczenia. Chodzi mianowicie o opowieść o duchownym, który przechodzi na wegetarianizm, by jeszcze bardziej celebrować drogę ku buddyjskiemu oświeceniu. Ktoś nakrywa go na jedzeniu jajka. Niemal zacytuje: ,,wyszło, że nie jest wegetarianinem wszakże jajko to produkt zwierzęcy”. Jajko jest wegetariańskie. Chodzi o weganizm. Ale może się czepiam, zrzućmy to na karb wiekowej opowieści, jednak może jakieś doprecyzowanie, by się przydało. Mam wrażenie, że autorka zmarnowała potencjał tematu. Ogólne informacje mogłam przeczytać w internecie i nie tracić tyle czasu. Zero struktury, prawie brak podsumowania (jest coś na kształt noty końcowej od wydawcy, która jest napisana gorzej niż sama książka. Plus za chęć opowiedzenia historii ludzi, którym dyktatura zamykała usta i za to, że mimo mojego narzekania sporo sie dowiedziałem.
April 25, 2014
This could have been so good, and instead was so skin-deep. Is the author capable of abstract thought? Only in the last thirty pages or so does she even try to synthesize what she's pulled together from the propaganda newspaper, rumors in the streets, known recent history, and a few stilted interviews with typhoon survivors.
This is a book I could have judged by its cover -- Everything is Broken struck me as a strange title, literal but available to be a metaphor for something larger. Well, it never became anything larger... it's a direct quote from a ruined typhoon survivor that the author finally accesses near the end of the book. His house and all his possessions were broken in the storm. That's it.
This is a book I could have judged by its cover -- Everything is Broken struck me as a strange title, literal but available to be a metaphor for something larger. Well, it never became anything larger... it's a direct quote from a ruined typhoon survivor that the author finally accesses near the end of the book. His house and all his possessions were broken in the storm. That's it.
March 26, 2023
One star is for the trouble of traveling through Birma with all these restrictions and author's persistence.
October 12, 2021
Harrowing and so so important
February 4, 2011
1/1 wives' book club choice for December 2010. This was a very open and explicit look into a country that I virtually knew nothing about. The author is clearly sympathetic to the hardship and struggles of the Burmese people; people who had very little before Cyclone Nargis and were left with absolutely nothing afterwards. Larkin portrays their military leader, Than Shwe, as a delusioned dictator who lacks any concern for the people of his country. I have no doubt that this is the case (as I later did a little research into his military regime), but I often felt that the author took more liberties than necessary in "imagining" how Shwe and his top military leaders may have felt or what they did.
The book does a very good job at looking into the catastrophe and its aftermath, including the difficulties UN and other aid workers faced in trying to obtain visas or bring much needed supplies into Burma. Sprinkled throughout the book were recollections from the people of the small villages in the Irrawaddy Delta region, the area that took the brunt of the storm. The author also seemed to have a good grasp of the political history of Burma including Shwe's rise to power. Overall, I felt that Everything is Broken was written with a lot of heart and sympathy for the plight of the Burmese people - you can almost feel the author's love for this country on every page.
The book does a very good job at looking into the catastrophe and its aftermath, including the difficulties UN and other aid workers faced in trying to obtain visas or bring much needed supplies into Burma. Sprinkled throughout the book were recollections from the people of the small villages in the Irrawaddy Delta region, the area that took the brunt of the storm. The author also seemed to have a good grasp of the political history of Burma including Shwe's rise to power. Overall, I felt that Everything is Broken was written with a lot of heart and sympathy for the plight of the Burmese people - you can almost feel the author's love for this country on every page.
April 4, 2011
Interesting book about the Burmese Junta which rules the country and Cyclone Nargis which destroyed parts of Burma in May of 2008. The Junta denied aid workers access to the damaged areas and the people who live there. Emma Larkin, the author of the book was allowed in on a Tourist visa but many were not. The suspicion that aid workers would spread their ideas about democracy and allow information about the world outside Burma to be disseminated was too great and the death of many countrymen and women too unimportant. A lesson in catastrophe and aid workers when totalitarian regimes refused to allow help into a country. Sad.
June 25, 2012
This book is as throughly researched as one could hope of a book about current events in Burma, but frankly, I was disappointed. The writing was good enough, but in the end it was my personal interest in Burma that got me through the book. It wasn't multi-dimensional and gripping like I remember Finding George Orwell in Burma to be. It's just reportage with a little poetry. And the stories are quite grim— and graphic.
Interesting, but definitely not essential reading.
Interesting, but definitely not essential reading.
May 15, 2017
In 2008, Burma was hit by one of the largest cyclones which ever hit it. The delta area was swept away by the cyclone, and many people underwent certain hardships. Reacting on the disaster, many international institutions and countries sent aids and supports. However, the strangest of them would be the military government of Burma.
Under the name of State Peace and Development Council, the military ruled Burma with iron fist, squashing dissenting voices while making dubious and mostly inept decisions. These characteristics were seen in their handling of the crisis. Riddled with paranoia, the international aid worker were restricted and hindered. Furthermore, their (especially General Than Shwe, the true leader of the Junta) beliefs on superstitions made the actions taken by them all the more erratic. These troublesome time made worse by the government decision to cut subsidies on fuels, an action which annoyed the monks and made them fueled one the greatest political uprising since 1988, which sadly, was quashed with chilling ruthlessness and efficiency.
In this book, the writer travelled around Burma and reported very well on the hardships and sufferings endured by ordinary Burmese. The strangeness of Military also an interesting thing to be expected from this book.
Under the name of State Peace and Development Council, the military ruled Burma with iron fist, squashing dissenting voices while making dubious and mostly inept decisions. These characteristics were seen in their handling of the crisis. Riddled with paranoia, the international aid worker were restricted and hindered. Furthermore, their (especially General Than Shwe, the true leader of the Junta) beliefs on superstitions made the actions taken by them all the more erratic. These troublesome time made worse by the government decision to cut subsidies on fuels, an action which annoyed the monks and made them fueled one the greatest political uprising since 1988, which sadly, was quashed with chilling ruthlessness and efficiency.
In this book, the writer travelled around Burma and reported very well on the hardships and sufferings endured by ordinary Burmese. The strangeness of Military also an interesting thing to be expected from this book.
March 5, 2018
i actually bought this book from the Bangkok airport and it took me a couple of days to read it.
it is about the cyclone nargis which hit Burma on may 2nd 2008.
the book is actually about the destruction the cyclone nargis creates in the country.
it is written by an American writer called emma larkin who had been visiting Burma since many years.
it is about how oppressive the government of Burma is and does not want aid from the united nations or other countries to come and help the people suffering.
there death , misery every where in the country.
people have to suffer a lot when the storm hits the country and over half a million people are killed in the disaster.
this is what the book was about , I gave it two stars....
it is about the cyclone nargis which hit Burma on may 2nd 2008.
the book is actually about the destruction the cyclone nargis creates in the country.
it is written by an American writer called emma larkin who had been visiting Burma since many years.
it is about how oppressive the government of Burma is and does not want aid from the united nations or other countries to come and help the people suffering.
there death , misery every where in the country.
people have to suffer a lot when the storm hits the country and over half a million people are killed in the disaster.
this is what the book was about , I gave it two stars....
July 31, 2018
Extremely well writen, researched and told in a way which transports you to Burma (Mynamar) I would liken Burma to North Korea in how the militery government shows no compassion for its people and there is a total dictatorship. I came away realizing more then ever about how many people suffer in this world, how are speachless and powerless they are. Someone once said: '... by simply being born in the United States - you have automatically won the lottery.' How true this is.
November 12, 2018
This book is now my top choice to recommend to people who want to read one book on Myanmar. Larkin is a fine journalist, and everyone I have spoken to in Myanmar about this book hold it in high esteem. And unlike some other reviewers here, I thoroughly enjoy her writing style. Really, I’m kicking myself for not having read it sooner.
December 2, 2025
napisana pod pseudonimem reporterska opowieść o tragicznym w skutkach cyklonie nargis to jednocześnie klarowny portret birmy jako państwa pogrążonego w kryzysie. autorka rusza w teren, gdzie wśród zniszczonych wiosek odnajduje swoich rozmówców - często niedożywionych i żyjących w skleconych naprędce szałasach, choć od katastrofy mogło minąć nawet pół roku.
ten reportaż to solidne podsumowanie rządów wojskowej propagandy, wszechobecnej i surowej reżimowej cenzury, ale przede wszystkim moralnego upadku władz, które sukcesywnie wstrzymując pomoc humanitarną i milcząc na temat kataklizmu przyczyniły się do śmierci setek tysięcy ludzi i zwierząt. to wyjątkowo poruszające świadectwo tego, jak plotka stopniowo zaczęła stanowić podstawowe źródło wiedzy i zastąpiła fakty skrupulatnie kontrolowane przez reżim. tym samym przyglądamy się też społecznej tragedii, gdy o katastrofie nie można mówić jawnie, a więc odpowiednio jej przeżyć i godnie upamiętnić.
narracja larkin jest klarowna, a zarazem pełna detali i trzeźwej obserwacji. nie brak tu przedstawienia historycznego zaplecza omawianego regionu, kulisów zawłaszczania rządów przez generałów, a także społecznych strajków towarzyszących przemocowej władzy. to reportaż o wymiarze nie tylko klimatycznym, ale również politycznym i humanitarnym. setki tysięcy dotkniętych tragedią ludzi to bolesny krzyk nie tylko wobec lokalnych władz paraliżujących nadchodzącą z zewnątrz pomoc, ale i do ogarniętych bezwzględną biurokratyzacją organizacji.
ten reportaż to solidne podsumowanie rządów wojskowej propagandy, wszechobecnej i surowej reżimowej cenzury, ale przede wszystkim moralnego upadku władz, które sukcesywnie wstrzymując pomoc humanitarną i milcząc na temat kataklizmu przyczyniły się do śmierci setek tysięcy ludzi i zwierząt. to wyjątkowo poruszające świadectwo tego, jak plotka stopniowo zaczęła stanowić podstawowe źródło wiedzy i zastąpiła fakty skrupulatnie kontrolowane przez reżim. tym samym przyglądamy się też społecznej tragedii, gdy o katastrofie nie można mówić jawnie, a więc odpowiednio jej przeżyć i godnie upamiętnić.
narracja larkin jest klarowna, a zarazem pełna detali i trzeźwej obserwacji. nie brak tu przedstawienia historycznego zaplecza omawianego regionu, kulisów zawłaszczania rządów przez generałów, a także społecznych strajków towarzyszących przemocowej władzy. to reportaż o wymiarze nie tylko klimatycznym, ale również politycznym i humanitarnym. setki tysięcy dotkniętych tragedią ludzi to bolesny krzyk nie tylko wobec lokalnych władz paraliżujących nadchodzącą z zewnątrz pomoc, ale i do ogarniętych bezwzględną biurokratyzacją organizacji.
July 8, 2023
Solidna praca, dobrze napisana i dobrze przetłumaczona. Autorka (a może autor?) pisze pod pseudonimem ze względu na własne bezpieczeństwo.
Dziś ta książka leży w księgarniach w przecenie, głównie z tego powodu że wkrótce po jej publikacji Brima przeszła przez moment demokracji a obecnie jest z powrotem pod rządami dyktatury, Ta cała epoka pierwszej dekady 21go wieku oddaliła się bardzo. A jednak mimo to, książka nabiera dla nas innego, głębszego znaczenia znaczenia, szczególnie po pandemii. Na dodatek, to właśnie dziś myślenie separatystyczne ma coraz więcej zwolenników w wielu bogatych krajach, podczas gdy problemy są coraz bardziej natury globalnej, wymagające skoordynowanego działania. Umowy międzynarodowe stają się po prostu jakimś śmiesznym papierkiem bez większego znaczenia. Książka wprowadza nas w świat tradycyjnego religijnego kraju z bardzo powierzchowną infrastrukturą. Jedyne co w tym kraju działa jak zegarek jest armia. Obywatele nie mają nawet pojęcia o tym jak bardzo ich kraj jest zacofany. Nie wiedzą też specjalnie co się w ich własnym w kraju dzieje i dlaczego. Nie znają do swych konstytucyjnych praw. Zastanawiamy się jak tradycyjna kultura stwarza nastrój i piękno danego kraju, a jednocześnie stworzona przez nią mentalność trzyma mieszkańców w totalnym ubóstwie i pod niemiłosiernymi rządami wojska. Jaki jest nasz obowiązek moralny w takiej sytuacji?
Dziś ta książka leży w księgarniach w przecenie, głównie z tego powodu że wkrótce po jej publikacji Brima przeszła przez moment demokracji a obecnie jest z powrotem pod rządami dyktatury, Ta cała epoka pierwszej dekady 21go wieku oddaliła się bardzo. A jednak mimo to, książka nabiera dla nas innego, głębszego znaczenia znaczenia, szczególnie po pandemii. Na dodatek, to właśnie dziś myślenie separatystyczne ma coraz więcej zwolenników w wielu bogatych krajach, podczas gdy problemy są coraz bardziej natury globalnej, wymagające skoordynowanego działania. Umowy międzynarodowe stają się po prostu jakimś śmiesznym papierkiem bez większego znaczenia. Książka wprowadza nas w świat tradycyjnego religijnego kraju z bardzo powierzchowną infrastrukturą. Jedyne co w tym kraju działa jak zegarek jest armia. Obywatele nie mają nawet pojęcia o tym jak bardzo ich kraj jest zacofany. Nie wiedzą też specjalnie co się w ich własnym w kraju dzieje i dlaczego. Nie znają do swych konstytucyjnych praw. Zastanawiamy się jak tradycyjna kultura stwarza nastrój i piękno danego kraju, a jednocześnie stworzona przez nią mentalność trzyma mieszkańców w totalnym ubóstwie i pod niemiłosiernymi rządami wojska. Jaki jest nasz obowiązek moralny w takiej sytuacji?
October 13, 2020
Neither a piece of oral history nor political journalism. Instead, in a sign of the successfulness of psychological warfare and propaganda deployed by the regime, the author fell for rumors and hearsay. Lots of sentences that began with "It is said that..", "It was thought that...", "I could imagine...". No military official was interviewed, nor key figures of the opposition. She also took her sources at their words without comparative analyses against other military dictatorships. We know that population under military dictatorship tends to overestimate the surveillance capability of the military, especially in a low- or middle-income dictatorship. Actually as I know myself in Indonesia, the military, esp. in the days before computerization, had no capacity to go through paper based records of individuals. What they were good at was wholesale propaganda that created the perception that they were capable of monitoring individuals. I think part of the problem is that the author lacks credential. She is neither a journalist, a researcher, or a full time aid worker (except during the period after Nargis). I think an experienced journalist would have the credential to at least interview an official or an opposition figure. Don't waste your time on this book.
September 1, 2020
a great follow up to "finding george orwell in burma"
More insanity about the burmese government and a lot of information that I was not aware regarding the cyclone Nargis that destroyed the Irrawaddy delta. You are a leader of a country. A poor country. Two and a half million people are affected by a terrible natural disaster. What do you do?
How about 'nothing'? Do you really thing that's a choice. Apparently, the leaders of Burma did. Why? This book discusses the how and the why in the context of a long time burma watcher.
More insanity about the burmese government and a lot of information that I was not aware regarding the cyclone Nargis that destroyed the Irrawaddy delta. You are a leader of a country. A poor country. Two and a half million people are affected by a terrible natural disaster. What do you do?
How about 'nothing'? Do you really thing that's a choice. Apparently, the leaders of Burma did. Why? This book discusses the how and the why in the context of a long time burma watcher.
November 15, 2017
Excellent on-the-ground storytelling related not only to Cyclone Nargis but to the chilling political context of the disaster, the recent history of Myanmar/Burma, and dark predictions for the future. From the current perspective several years after publication, this book captures a sharp final glance at the government and military of Myanmar in its last displays of power preceeding the current democratic experiment.
March 17, 2018
Birma w jednym zdaniu celnie podsumowana: "Tu może zginąć dziesięciotysięczne miasteczko i nikt się nawet o tym nie dowie". Solidne podsumowanie rządów junty z nakreślonym tłem historycznym i rzetelna analiza katastrofy, którą żył cały świat. Paradoksalnie cyklon Nargis zapoczątkował szereg transformacji i otwarcie Birmy na świat. Ale to jeszcze długa droga do normalności. Zdecydowanie polecanko!
January 28, 2018
3,5/5 - Larkin writing is good and the topic brought up is important to talk about. I only missed some detailed and deeper analysis and more into the story from author side, rather than info based on history books and United Nations reports.
September 27, 2024
So well written. Totalitarian countries are all familiar. These people regard power as their only goal and do not hesitate to sacrifice the country and the future of the nation. This is true for Myanmar, and so is China
June 26, 2017
Like the Orwell book, excellent -- together, these are the best books on Burma
February 11, 2019
3.5 stars
May 26, 2020
Harrowing and frustrating account of Burma and the aftermath of a cyclone. I didn’t enjoy as much as Larkins previous book though.
February 21, 2021
Such a tragic disaster case study. The author's style and detail leaves you feeling as if you've been there...
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September 8, 2021DNF 66
January 19, 2022
W 2008 roku tajfun Nargis zrównał z ziemią olbrzymią cześć kraju. Cały świat pospieszył z pomocą humanitarną. Jednak rządząca wojskowa junta nie wpuściła nikogo do kraju...
Trudna lektura.
Trudna lektura.
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