ပြုံး၍လည်း ကန်တော့ခံတော်မူပါ၊ ရယ်၍လည်း ကန်တော့ခံတော်မူပါ, နုနုရည်
After a spree of buying world books, I'd had this one on my shelf for quite a while. I finally got the perfect opportunity to read it when my Mum mentioned that she would like to revisit Burma forty years after her first visit, just after the military junta took power. I was quite intrigued to experience the country with her in this way, as much of the country has been in a vacuum, unchanged since her visit there in 1970, but in others it has begun changing quickly. It was a fantastic mother–son trip through the temples of Bagan and the decaying colonial splendour of Rangoon.
Smile As They Bow offers a glimpse into the little-known world of the Burmese nat tradition. Nats are the spirits of semi-historical, semi-mythical people that continue to play an important part of everyday life in the country. Smile As They Bow is set during the weeklong Taungbyon Festival when people from all across the country come to pay their respects to these spirits via natkadaws, transgender spirit mediums.
While the focus is on Daisy Bond, one of the Festival's most famous and flamboyant natkadaws, the narration switches among festival-goers, natkadaws and assistants alike, in a text that teems with detail, delightful vulgarities, colloquialisms, the sacred and the profane. It's and assault on your senses.
Deftly translated by Alfred Birnbaum (English translator of Haruki Murakami's books) and Thi Thi Aye.
