Writers of Color 50 Books Challenge

31. Nu Nu Yi, Smile As They Bow

This short novel (translated from Burmese by Alfred Birnbaum and Thi Thi Aye) takes place during the week-long Taungbyon nat religious festival, a annual festival located in a small, rural village which swells dramatically with pilgrims and other people who come to attend. The narration skips between different people at the festival, from pilgrims to the spirit mediums and musicians who make their living off such festivals, to pickpockets who take advantage of the crowds. The main character is Daisy Bond, a 50-ish gay/transgender (the Western categories don't really map onto the Burmese characters) well-known spirit medium. Daisy's relationship with Min Min, his 18-year-old servant/factotum/lover is the center of the plot, but the book seems concerned less with a typical straight-forward chain of events than with showing the chaotic feel of the festival, jumping backward and forward in time, constantly introducing new characters and perspectives, making and breaking connections.

The book is very short (about 100 pages), so it's an easy, fun read. As an American reader, I knew very little about the festival, nats, the role of spirit mediums, or gay/transgender people in Myanmar culture, and the book does not take the time to explain any of the connotations of these. Which, of course, it's under no obligation to do, but I feel sure that I was missing a lot of depth from the story. It would have been nice if the translators had included a few pages with cultural information. Despite my own problems, I still recommend this book, even if you (like me) know very little about Myanmar. It was never hard to follow the plot or sympathize with the characters, and I found it to be a very enjoyable read.