Originally titled ‘War, Love and Prison’ in Burmese, the English title seems truer to the core beliefs of the author, a man known as an advocate for the working class. ‘The Victim’, in a 1st person narration, embarks on a multi-decade journey that follows a man through war, colonialism, independence and prison. Though ‘man’ may end his life as a criminal, Ludu U Hla constantly reminds us that he is still a ‘man’ and this is nevermore forcibly, hauntingly and sensitively depicted as in ‘The Victim’. A rare and significant Burmese novel in English (and even rarer for being published in country).
Title: The Victim
Author: Ludu U Hla
Translator: Than Tun/Kathleen Forbes
Publisher: Ludu Press
Published: 1976
(Sadaik Shorts is a series of very short reviews of fiction and non-fiction from Myanmar writers in English)
