From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey - Softcover

Thwe, Pascal Khoo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060505230 ISBN 13: 9780060505233

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2003

Synopsis

An emotionally charged and lyrically written memoir about a remarkable odyssey from a Burmese hill tribe and a land torn by civil war to Cambridge University

It was during a tour on a trip through Burma that John Casey, a Cambridge don, first met Pascal Khoo Thwe, who was moonlighting in a Chinese restaurant to support himself as a student at Mandalay University. Thwe was born a member of the Padaung tribe in Burma where political turmoil and poverty are ever-present realities.

Thwe left school to join the student rebels during the great insurrection of 1988, but remained in touch with Casey. He was forced to flee the country. It was his connection to Casey that enabled him to emigrate to England where he was admitted to Cambridge University. Despite his humble beginnings and the oppression he faced, Pascal Khoo Thwe brings us into a world forgotten by the West, but one that readers will not soon forget.

About this title

Review:

"The best memoir you will read this year."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Rich, vivid and never..cloying...a marvelous book, full of pity, yearning and wisdom."--Sunday Telegraph

"Unique as much for the riveting story it tells as for the sublime way it is told."--Seattle Times

"A distinguished accomplishment that radiates both intelligence and spiritual awareness."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"[A] writer of uncommon elegance and sensitivity."--New York Times Book Review

"A magical story, full of richness and subtlety, told with the instinctive touch of a true writer."--Mail on Sunday

"A page-turner...deeply moving, beautifully written, and most inspiring. My heart was filled with joy and gratitude."--Nien Chang, author of Life and Death in Shanghai

"A political statement as well as a poetic lament, the book is a true work of art."--Financial Times

"A heartbreaking tale, told with lyricism, affection and insight."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Back Cover:

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 changes both their lives.

Pascal, a member of the Kayan Padaung tribe, was the first member of his community to study English at a university. Within months of his meeting with Dr. Casey, Pascal's world lay in ruins. Burma's military dictatorship forces him to sacrifice his studies, and the regime's brutal armed forces murder his lover. Fleeing to the jungle, he becomes a guerrilla fighter in the life-or-death struggle against the government. In desperation, he writes a letter to the Englishman he met in Mandalay.

Miraculously reaching its destination, the letter leads to Pascal's rescue and his enrollment in Cambridge University, where he is the first Burmese tribesman ever to attend.

From the Land of Green Ghosts unforgettably evokes the realities of life in modern-day Burma and one man's long journey to freedom despite almost unimaginable odds.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060505230
• ISBN 13: 9780060505233
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304