From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey

Pascal Khoo Thwe
4.13
1,778 ratings 220 reviews
Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize 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.
Genres: NonfictionMemoirAsiaBiographyHistoryTravelBiography MemoirBook ClubWarAsian Literature
336 Pages

Community Reviews:

5 star
713 (40%)
4 star
694 (39%)
3 star
290 (16%)
2 star
60 (3%)
1 star
21 (1%)

Readers also enjoyed

Other books by Pascal Khoo Thwe

Lists with this book

The Glass Palace
Burmese Days
From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey
Myanmar/Burma
147 books74 voters
Lost in Yaba: Down and Out in Laos
The Quiet American
First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
Seven Years in Tibet
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
A Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom
Alexander's Infinity
Finding George Orwell in Burma
Saving Fish from Drowning
Burma
28 books10 voters