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Burmese Moons
The human rights abuses of the Myanmar republic are brought to horrifying life in this tale of hardship and perseverance in the face of impossible conditions.
The peaceful jungles of Burma are ripped apart as the People Power Uprising of 1988 incites the brutal military rulers of Myanmar to crush a burgeoning revolution. Among millions of displaced natives are Thazama, Moonpi and Kim, members of the Zomi tribe, forced to flee slavery and torture, who soon learn that everywhere they turn, they are trapped between worlds and hostages in their own country.
With captivating imagery and heart-wrenching clarity, Burmese Moons tells a tragic story of oppressive human rights violations in what was formerly the longest-running military dictatorship in the world -- and illustrates the brutal toll exacted upon the men, women and children of the region.
The peaceful jungles of Burma are ripped apart as the People Power Uprising of 1988 incites the brutal military rulers of Myanmar to crush a burgeoning revolution. Among millions of displaced natives are Thazama, Moonpi and Kim, members of the Zomi tribe, forced to flee slavery and torture, who soon learn that everywhere they turn, they are trapped between worlds and hostages in their own country.
With captivating imagery and heart-wrenching clarity, Burmese Moons tells a tragic story of oppressive human rights violations in what was formerly the longest-running military dictatorship in the world -- and illustrates the brutal toll exacted upon the men, women and children of the region.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
7 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
October 8, 2020
Another of those sort of books with extremely important subject matter that is ruined by the execution. The European creative team turns the human suffering originating in Myanmar/Burma from the 1980s to the present into a melodramatic fiction drowning in purple prose and soap opera plot developments. It seems presumptuous of the French author, no matter how much time she has spent doing research in the region, to write in a narrative voice that uses "we" throughout the book as she speaks for the Zo people; it blurs the line between the work being educational and exploitative.
Also, I had trouble understanding the passage of time throughout the book, with horrible and bloody events seeming to constantly follow immediately one upon the next while somehow decades keep passing until we find the whole book has covered over 25 years.
Fishing industry slavery comes up in the story at one point. For an in-depth look at this problem, I recommend the firsthand account graphic novel, The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea: A Graphic Memoir of Modern Slavery.
Also, I had trouble understanding the passage of time throughout the book, with horrible and bloody events seeming to constantly follow immediately one upon the next while somehow decades keep passing until we find the whole book has covered over 25 years.
Fishing industry slavery comes up in the story at one point. For an in-depth look at this problem, I recommend the firsthand account graphic novel, The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea: A Graphic Memoir of Modern Slavery.
September 16, 2019
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
To escape the harsh reality we live in, we often find refuge in countless works of fiction. These stories that allow us to escape and entertain us aren’t, however, an excuse to turn a blind eye on the cruelty that proliferates around the world and sometimes right under us. It’s often quite easy for many of us to feel less concerned by events that occur outside of our immediate environment and even more when a whole ocean separates us from it. The perfect example is the myriad of wars that see no end around the world that are barely a little gnawing thought at the back of our heads while others remain completely oblivious to their existence. Following her journey in Burma, Malaysia, Thailand and other surrounding countries from 2007 to 2012, Sophie Ansel shares an eye-opening and tragic story based on the People Power Uprising of 1988.
What is Burmese Moons about? Right in the jungle of Burma lies a tribe of the Zomi ethnic group where the young Thazama and his buddy Moonpi thrive towards adulthood and embrace the customs and beliefs of their community. While secretly in love with Kim, Thazama isn’t, however, ready for what life has in store for him. The Burmese revolution of 1988 thus begins and the Zomi tribe is dumbstruck as the brutal military rulers of Myanmar wreak havoc and force everyone into slavery and torture. Following each of their tragic life trajectories, the story unveils a tale of hardship with almost no hope at the end of the tunnel. All they have left is to fight for freedom through resistance until their stories are heard by the right people.
In all honesty, I only knew about Aung San Suu Kyi back in high school and how she became a prominent icon but never got around to further document myself on the context and her role during the 1988 uprisings. This graphic novel served as an excellent and accessible entry point to understanding the worse of the war that developed and what it has done to many of the inhabitants and the generations to come. It is to be noted that this story felt like a descent into tragedies that only seemed to get worse as you flipped through the story, with not a single moment of respite. While it might have been a perfect portrayal of the lives of some people, this massacre of a burgeoning revolution won’t allow any sunshine throughout your reading experience as it portrays the cruelest facets of humankind.
Inevitably, the message behind this story is clear and invites those who indulge freedom on a daily basis within a democracy, to take action and fight for those who have lost theirs in the midst of these futile wars. To do so, the story felt like it was hammering countless inhuman acts, one after the other, to make it clear to the reader that there’s absolutely nothing pretty about this military dictatorship. The artwork wasn’t also my cup of tea, with a very rough and unrefined style that still, however, did a decent job in portraying the horrors that unfold throughout this tragic story. The dialogues are also sometimes too clean and dramatically change in tone, as it swaps around from foul language to poetic messages. While the ideas were all there, it was in the flow that it never ebbed to my liking.
Burmese Moons is an astonishing and shocking tale of the perseverance of a community stripped of its freedom in their own country.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
May 14, 2021
Ignore the pretentious twats in the reviews section. You have to read this book. If it doesn’t tear you to shreds and incite you to action, you need to take a good long while to reconsider your life and privilege.
It doesn’t matter how the story got to you. Whether it loses its impression by being a graphic novel. Whether it steals you from enjoying “fiction.” Whether it’s too gruesome or packs too much history into a small space. It doesn’t even matter who the author is.
The important thing is that you look up from your too-easy life for even a fraction of a second and ask yourself what you can really do to help. Besides whine about who wrote the book or cringe away from discomfort. If you read this book and cry for a minute and then carry on with your life like nothing happened... well.
Let it hurt.
Now what are you going to do about it?
It doesn’t matter how the story got to you. Whether it loses its impression by being a graphic novel. Whether it steals you from enjoying “fiction.” Whether it’s too gruesome or packs too much history into a small space. It doesn’t even matter who the author is.
The important thing is that you look up from your too-easy life for even a fraction of a second and ask yourself what you can really do to help. Besides whine about who wrote the book or cringe away from discomfort. If you read this book and cry for a minute and then carry on with your life like nothing happened... well.
Let it hurt.
Now what are you going to do about it?
July 16, 2021
this is a brutal tale, penned by filmmaker sophie ansel with empathy and due diligence, and illustrated by sam garcia as if he's on the task of procreating not just the experiences of people portrayed by the books, but also of trying to take them to the next level that tangibly makes anger and despair and produces a bizarre chain reaction of desperate lives for preservation and survival.
the burmese moons in 1988, which saw mass demonstrations against by the government, were both called the 8-8-88 uprisings and the people's power uprising. in the aftermath of the rebellion after thousands of protesters' deaths, burma as it was known, which is regarded as the formal name of the country, as the colloquial name. but more notably, the burmese moons is covering all such protests, which follow events, pushed by a military regime, taking control of it, brutalizing its own civilians and killing millions more.
however, this is not a yet another event—it is only part of life, and thazama's friends are directly effected by it. thazama and his friend, moonpi, have shocked the village, headed to the city for funding to cover their town and once there are radicals against the regime who hope to groom their compadres for rebellion against the murderous regime. working as a tour guide, thazama is making a trip to burma, faced with the uninformed west who have visited the country and waved away the subjugation forced against the public. he takes on an anti-government effort.
burmese moon is as gruesome as i ever saw in comic books, mainly because it is based in fact, but also because garcia's incredible eagerness to empathize
give it visual cognitive resonance in the physical world. it is a tag team effort of sheer terror pinpoints all the suspense, providing circumstances and stats which wipe one's hopes away, and garcia identifies it to a level which often makes me remember old nightmare stories, sometimes religious apocalyptic works, and jack chick's caricatures. regarding that burmese moons demonstrate a kind of hell on earth, i can't really imagine a suitable way of describing it, and garcia ended up giving us a very intensified, creative tour that i believe coincides with every work i saw this year so far.
January 1, 2025
Incredibly important work, but disappointed with the shoddy storytelling.
December 26, 2019
I understand this book is important. It is dense, packed with information about the tyranny that the military has wrought upon Burma. But it is more than that; it is the tipping scale of morality, when forced to survive, amidst a ruler who cares not about his people. It's individual versus collective good, and because of self preservation, many choose the former. Those with enough dignity are few and far between, and therefore left to die a pitiful death. This is what the story focuses on. Those whose plights that have been hardly recorded (if at all), and the struggles of Burma, glossed over by its "quaint and charming old ways that have been preserved well," even through its wonders, such as the gleaming temples and huge pagodas that dot the country, also masking the years of tyranny under a ruler, a king, who wanted something glorious to leave behind, only to have his people die in creating this "dream."
That said, I find the story a bit rambling, the artwork a bit scattered. The gore and violence is heavily laid on, colors of blue (the darkness, hiding in it) and red (blood and gore) dominate. Curse words, protest slogans, threats, covers and lines from books of freedom fighters, and then jargon from the smugglers and human traffickers are thrown back and forth in the story. Instead of being heavily invested in the lives of the persecuted, I got bogged down by the literal struggle I had to go through in being tossed from one side to the other. The point is that instead of showing the danger and persecution, I was constantly told what it is, and the sufferers seemed to just 'react' to what was happening, instead of fully forming their own protests towards the regime. They became reactors instead of actors themselves in the story.
"You don't write about the horrors of war. You write about a kid's burnt socks lying in the road." This quote by Price can sum up my feelings about this book. And while I appreciate the explanation of Burma's diversity in ethnic groups (which are also in constant fights because there was no leader to unite them, among many other important issues), the story made it only feel like they were all lumped together in the end (partly because it would naturally be impossible to discuss them individually), thus defeating the purpose of expressing their diversity.
A thing that also rubbed me wrong was that the author felt unsure whether to weigh in on the Rohingya crisis or not. There was mention of Aung San Suu Kyi as one of the leaders of the country, but with a tiny footnote that there is international pressure to revoke her Nobel because of her supposed silence on the refugee crisis. This may have been a wise, objective stance, but in the last page, there was emphasis on the plight of this "most persecuted group," that one would wonder what her take was on that. Again, it all drowned in the generic.
Is this a primer for the Burmese plight? I'm inclined to say no, but only because it might end up confusing the reader even more, and give them the wrong ideas. Is this an important book? Yes, because you see the research that went on behind it. I would recommend this to a reader who's already a bit familiar with what is happening in Burma, to perhaps nudge them into action, or even as a reminder that there is still a long way to freedom, despite the beauty, charm, and progress that this country shows on the outside.
That said, I find the story a bit rambling, the artwork a bit scattered. The gore and violence is heavily laid on, colors of blue (the darkness, hiding in it) and red (blood and gore) dominate. Curse words, protest slogans, threats, covers and lines from books of freedom fighters, and then jargon from the smugglers and human traffickers are thrown back and forth in the story. Instead of being heavily invested in the lives of the persecuted, I got bogged down by the literal struggle I had to go through in being tossed from one side to the other. The point is that instead of showing the danger and persecution, I was constantly told what it is, and the sufferers seemed to just 'react' to what was happening, instead of fully forming their own protests towards the regime. They became reactors instead of actors themselves in the story.
"You don't write about the horrors of war. You write about a kid's burnt socks lying in the road." This quote by Price can sum up my feelings about this book. And while I appreciate the explanation of Burma's diversity in ethnic groups (which are also in constant fights because there was no leader to unite them, among many other important issues), the story made it only feel like they were all lumped together in the end (partly because it would naturally be impossible to discuss them individually), thus defeating the purpose of expressing their diversity.
A thing that also rubbed me wrong was that the author felt unsure whether to weigh in on the Rohingya crisis or not. There was mention of Aung San Suu Kyi as one of the leaders of the country, but with a tiny footnote that there is international pressure to revoke her Nobel because of her supposed silence on the refugee crisis. This may have been a wise, objective stance, but in the last page, there was emphasis on the plight of this "most persecuted group," that one would wonder what her take was on that. Again, it all drowned in the generic.
Is this a primer for the Burmese plight? I'm inclined to say no, but only because it might end up confusing the reader even more, and give them the wrong ideas. Is this an important book? Yes, because you see the research that went on behind it. I would recommend this to a reader who's already a bit familiar with what is happening in Burma, to perhaps nudge them into action, or even as a reminder that there is still a long way to freedom, despite the beauty, charm, and progress that this country shows on the outside.
April 5, 2020
Over the past couple of years I have grown increasingly fond of graphic novels and the really strong and impressive way visuals can influence readers. I have read books like March, Persepolis, Maus which have changed me forever. In those lines I have picked up a few more books to read this year. Burmese Moons is the first of them, and it is a deeply emotional and realistic story about the persecution and torture that Burmese minorities and immigrants and refugees all over the world face today. The deeply saddened tales of how they escape one hell only to realize they have entered another, stuck between two worlds none of which will accept them with open arms, are reverberating across Europe and other parts of the world today in refugee camps. God only knows when their life will get back to normal and they will be recognized as somebody with basic human rights like all of us who are lucky enough to have a family and a home and love in a nation that provides us with all the opportunities. To suffer uncontrollably, to leave their homeland behind, to take up hazardous journeys over dangerous and perilous terrains and seas, just in hope of a bright future for themselves and their children is what drives them to live. They are the real heroes of the world. To survive under the worst of circumstances takes a mountain of courage and hearts of steel. Respect for everyone who has been through this and hope the world takes notice of the persecution still happening today and force these tyrannical regimes to stop demolishing their own homeland. This book is a must read for anyone who cares even an iota for this suffering population.
June 29, 2020
Hard to read because of its violent truths, but important nonetheless.
June 28, 2021
"Another story that never changes. History gets bogged down in the silence and routine of dictatorship. There was blood, a lot of blood, and even with thousands of dead last year, nobody's done anything."
This book was difficult to read - which was evident with the fact that it took me a month to read a book who's length would usially take me a day or two. This book was, in a word - horrifying. Terribly horrifying. I almost couldn't rate this book at all, because I did not enjoy reading it at all. However, it was an essential read. I based my rating on the fact that I learned of major happenings in history that i previously had no idea of its occurence (WHY AREN'T WE TAUGHT OF THESE THINGS?!?!?) and the impact this book left on me. The most horrifying this was that I won't even count that as history, because it was so RECENT, I was left reeling when I read the dates, because this is still happening TODAY. What a privileged and sheltered world I live in.
A word of warning, the illustrations in the book are graphic.
This book was difficult to read - which was evident with the fact that it took me a month to read a book who's length would usially take me a day or two. This book was, in a word - horrifying. Terribly horrifying. I almost couldn't rate this book at all, because I did not enjoy reading it at all. However, it was an essential read. I based my rating on the fact that I learned of major happenings in history that i previously had no idea of its occurence (WHY AREN'T WE TAUGHT OF THESE THINGS?!?!?) and the impact this book left on me. The most horrifying this was that I won't even count that as history, because it was so RECENT, I was left reeling when I read the dates, because this is still happening TODAY. What a privileged and sheltered world I live in.
A word of warning, the illustrations in the book are graphic.
November 20, 2022
An excellent graphic novel about the plight of certain people in Burma. I believe there may be much missing from the history and outside influence of other players that make the story from a singular point of view but that is its prerogative. We should and we do empathise with the characters but I also felt that I still didn't understand the overall situation and how I might be able to influence any change. I finished it feeling depressed all round.
September 5, 2020
Heartbreaking and gut-wrenching, this look at humans treating other humans inhumanely is a terrifying look at recent horrors that our corrupt western media has kept from us.
(But we hear ALL about celebrities!)
Corrupt, militant, right-wing gangsters violate human rights and seek greater unchecked power. This is happening all over the world.
When will we stop it?
Recommended.
(But we hear ALL about celebrities!)
Corrupt, militant, right-wing gangsters violate human rights and seek greater unchecked power. This is happening all over the world.
When will we stop it?
Recommended.
September 22, 2022
Adoré la amistad de Thazama & Moonpi. Las tradiciones nativas y su folklore, ver cómo la segunda guerra mundial afecto y detonó un genocidio que aún persigue en la antigua Indochina. Ver la crisis de refugiados, la trata de personas, la inoperante burocracia, crímenes contra humanidad. Al menos es un mensaje que marca luchar aún cuando todo está en contra.
February 23, 2020
Extraordinaria y desgarradora novela gráfica sobre Birmania. Ayuda a entender la realidad de mucha gente birmana que ha sufrido brutalidad en su propio país y también en Tailandia y Malasia. Me ha parecido una historia y libro espectacular.
December 24, 2020
Vitally important reading for anyone wanting an accessible understanding of the situation in Burma (Myanmar) over the past few decades as well as the hell that refugees go through when they try to seek asylum. The fictionalised story can be a little clunky at times, but the horror is well conveyed.
December 10, 2019
I knew little to nothing about the situation in Burma, and now knowing, my heart is broken. I’m grateful for this story, so vulnerably shared.
December 13, 2019
Definitely very sad. Eye opening
December 25, 2019
This hit me hard like Maus. I'm frustrated that this was never brought up in school as I was coming of age.
March 7, 2020
Heavy and disturbing, but an important story to read to try and understand just a small fraction of the struggles in Burma.
October 12, 2020
A must read.
December 16, 2024
Si plus rien ne m'étonne concernant l'horreur dont l'être humain est capable, je peux encore en être littéralement malade et cette œuvre me l'a rappelé. Ça faisait longtemps qu'une lecture n'avait pas provoqué chez moi une réaction si viscérale. C'est compliqué de trouver les bons mots pour décrire l'horreur et les nombreuses formes qu'elle prend, mais ce qui est sûr, c'est que c'est puissant et marquant.
Les graphismes sont très expressifs, pour certains peut-être trop, mais pour ma part, c'est notamment cet aspect, avec les couleurs choisies, qui m'a tant séduite (ou plutôt traumatisée vu les scènes). Je finis à l'instant, triste, nauséeuse et perturbée, mais je n'ai aucun regret.
Les graphismes sont très expressifs, pour certains peut-être trop, mais pour ma part, c'est notamment cet aspect, avec les couleurs choisies, qui m'a tant séduite (ou plutôt traumatisée vu les scènes). Je finis à l'instant, triste, nauséeuse et perturbée, mais je n'ai aucun regret.
April 26, 2024
Criticisms about the European perspective in this subject matter are all fair. However, this book stands as the very few books in Western literature that introduces the western readers of the struggle of the people of Burma. It serves as an open invitation for them to donate to the UNHCR and other charities helping the Burma people, and call on their governments to sanction oil trade with Burma's government. With beautiful art and the depiction of Burmese refugees as heroic, human and loving, it deserves a 5 star rating.
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August 4, 2022The story of Burma's refugees and their unbearable struggles are chronicled here, as the rapacious Burmese military drives members of the Zomi ethnic group to flee their ancestral lands for Thailand and Malaysia. Crossing borders does not bring salvation however, as unkind border police, corrupt officials and human traffickers lay siege to the refugees in sickening ways. It's an important story of injustice too common in the contemporary world.
February 8, 2020
Not my preferred medium so I felt confused at times reading this work. But, wow, I am completely sick about what is going on still today in Myanmar. It looks like the International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into the genocide against the Rohingya Muslims in 2018 but that isn’t exactly helping the 600,000+ people facing persecution right now. Ugh.
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November 30, 2024A beautifully drawn but tragic story of suffering under the hands of a despotic regime - all too common not just in Myanmar, but elsewhere in the world. Horrifically graphic scenes of people being tortured and opting for paths of least resistance, such as by strangling one another to death. One can only look forward to the justice that will one day come, and pray it comes soon.
October 1, 2024
Definitely a hard to stomach read, you can also see it isnt written by the ones who actually endured the persecution but alas it brings to light stories of the unheard and the trials they faced in the pursuit of freedom.overall its a decent retelling of oral history.
November 9, 2020
I liked the historical aspect of this graphic novel and the colorful artwork but wasn’t all that interested.
May 2, 2021
This is brutal. Definitely not one for your middle grade kiddos 😂
January 21, 2022
Unrelentingly grim, and so unfortunately impact is reduced due to the numbness that causes. Your taste may differ.
July 12, 2024
A difficult but important read…
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews