The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly

I almost didn’t take this book out of the library. Then I read the first couple of pages and got hooked, as much by the writing style as the content. “The Lizard Cage” is about a Burmese political prisoner known as the Songbird, and the hope and horror that somehow co-exist in his world. It’s lyrical, whimsical and almost gentle, even when it describes the brutal realities of the Songbird’s life.
Several people form relationships with the Songbird, and the book tells how that relationship changes each of them. The Songbird becomes a catalyst for the stories of the other characters, rather than the main character himself. To give a bit of context, here’s what Brad Adams, director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said in 2007 about Burma:
"Burma is the textbook example of a police state. Government informants and spies are omnipresent. Average Burmese people are afraid to speak to foreigners except in most superficial of manners for fear of being hauled in later for questioning or worse. There is no freedom of speech, assembly or association." (source: wikipedia)
The Songbird’s real name is Teza. He’s in prison for writing political songs and being involved in underground anti-Government groups. You meet him seven years into a 20-year sentence in solitary confinement. Can you imagine? Seven years alone, your only human contact the twice daily meal drop and toilet bucket change. Even then, the prisoner who does this duty is not allowed to talk to him.
Little Brother is a young boy who lives in the prison. His friendship with Teza totally changes his life, and in fact probably saves it.
Chit Naing is the head prison officer. His friendship with the Songbird inspires him to be a better, more courageous, and ultimately self-sacrificing person.
The prison itself has a brutal, awful personality. The author spent time in Burma in the nineties, before they stopped giving her travel visas, and then spent almost two years on the Thai-Burma border. I don’t think there’s much in the way of exaggeration about the conditions in the prison. Corruption, violence, brutality, terror, illness, torture and even murder.
I know this all sounds grim, and if you want to portray a political prisoner living under a military dictatorship, I think you have to be.
But Teza also inspires. He chooses to forgive and love, rather than holding hatred for the people who put him where he is. This is how he inspires his friends to change, and how he rises above the awfulness of his life.
Karen Connelly has also published a book of poetry, and her writing style reflects that. There’s a deep sense of longing and sorrow throughout the book, but it’s always coloured by optimism and hope.
If you force yourself to learn about how awful the world can be, if only to remember how lucky you are, this book will touch your soul and your mind at the same time. It’s a beautiful, tragic, optimistic story. If you have any vestige of a conscience, this book is well worth the read
| Title: The Lizard Cage |
| Author: Karen Connelly |
| Format: Paperback, 424 pages |
| Publisher: Harvill Secker |
