Amablemente se puso de rodillas y se dispuso a recibir su castigo. En seguida vinieron otros hombres, a ver qué pasaba, el elefante entendió su falta. El elefante se asustó al verlo inconsciente en el suelo. El elefante aguantó pacientemente, pero una vez, harto de los golpes, le quiso quitar la fusta y tumbó al hombre contra el suelo. Pero ese último capataz era un tirano y lo azotaba sin cesar. Siempre había convivido con humanos y los quería mucho. Le gustaba su trabajo y se sentía feliz siendo útil. Había una vez un elefante, que trabajaba transportando troncos desde el interior de la selva a la orilla del río. La primera parte del libro consiste en historias sucedidas en el sudeste asiático aunque en algún caso se les ha adjudicado un final fantástico, está basado en hechos reales, algunos ocurridos hace algunas décadas, algunos hace no tantas. In radiant prose layered with passion, regret, sensuality and wry humor, Burmese Lessons tells the captivating story of how one woman came to love a wounded, beautiful country and a gifted man who has given his life to the struggle for political change.Įste libro ha sido escrito simplemente porque había, realmente algo que contar. Struggling to weigh the idealism of her convictions against the harsh realities of life on the border, Connelly transports the reader into a world as dangerous as it is enchanting. After visiting Maung’s military camp in the jungle, she faces an agonizing decision: Maung wants to marry Connelly and have a family with her, but if she marries this man she also weds his world and his lifelong cause. When it gets too risky for her to stay, Connelly flies back to Thailand, but she cannot leave Burma behind.Ĭonnelly’s interest in the political turns more personal on the Thai-Burmese border, where she falls in love with Maung, the handsome and charismatic leader of one of Burma’s many resistance groups. Carefully seeking out the regime’s critics, she witnesses mass demonstrations, attends protests, interviews detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and flees from police.
She also encounters a country ruled by a brutal military dictatorship that imposes a code of censorship and terror.
When Karen Connelly goes to Burma in 1996 to gather information for a series of articles, she discovers a place of unexpected beauty and generosity. Orange Prize–winner Karen Connelly’s compelling memoir about her journey to Burma, where she fell in love with a leader of the Burmese rebel army.