Book Review: Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle

Unlike your average travelogue author, Guy Delisle is a cartoonist.  His drawings are fairly spare and stylized, but I think it's an approach that works rather well.  He'd spent a year in Burma with his wife, who works with MSF (Doctors without Borders).  He touches on many parts of the ex-pat lifestyle: raising his young son who is adored by locals, his wife's work and the barriers in her way, stand tourist trips plus visits to more remote locals, and a cartooning class he runs for locals plus his own work of course.  The timing was fairly recent, but before the latest series of uprisings.

I found it quite enjoyable and I think I hve a better feel for the country.  I was on occassion reminded of reading Burmese Days, by George Orwell, which depicted a fictional colonial officer but was based on Orwell's own experience.  Both were primarily stories of outsiders that give insight into the local culture but shouldn't be mistaken for the lives lived by those with the ill-fortune to be born under British imperial rule or the iron-fist of the present generals.  Of the two, Burmese Chronicles was the much more interesting read, I think Orwell's essays are the better source for learning about his experiences colonial service.

I wouldn't recommend it to someone that was primarily interested in the history of Burma or just depictions of its tourist sites.  That said, he makes excellent use of dialogue free drawings giving the rundown of some of his visits.  I definitely want to check out Lake Inlay if I ever go to the country myself.  Similarly he gives enough background on the current situation that even if you haven't followed the news you can catch up rather quickly.  Really, the book tells what it's like to spend a year in Burma and as a result teaches a reasonable amount about what life's like for the locals.  If that interests you, as it certainly does me, this is a good purchase.

As a side note, the book was written in French and is translated by Helge Dascher.  The translation was excellent as far as I could tell.  I didn't even realize the book was translated until I glanced at the cover page.

Origin: Christmas 2008 gift from Fiancee