Review of KMKaung's novella 53 Red Roses by Kauk Site Ma

Book review of KMKaung's novella 53 Red Roses by Kauk Site Ma.


“Fifty Three Red Roses” is one of the novellas of Dr. Kaung, which I loved reading.

I find many interesting things in this story, such as the way the author portrays the different points of view of the man and the woman vividly.

She has described beautifully a married woman's life (Donna is the wife of an American diplomat).   Mrs. Woods has to sacrifice her own time for her other half, and to endure her life to fit her husband's career… ”days she ended up cooking what Bob likes…”--”Bob had been incredibly insensitive to give her a fur coat…” 

So that is what Donna had to accept, the gift her husband bought for her, though it is not what she enjoys.

…but a year after formal separation Donna can enjoy her life without restraint.

Dr Kaung also touches on a “spirit” if NOT “the evil spirit”...that are known to be homeless, whirling round “the Wheel of Samsara”.

Even up to now (in Burma), many people still believe that when a person dies his/her spirit dwells for seven days in and around the house,  haunting their familiar haunts, so that monks have to chant a “Kammavacca” or a Buddhist Prayer Script at the death of a human being.

“Kammavacca” is a Buddhist Prayer Manuscript made from various types of materials (but the scripts made from palm leaves are most common) containing pages or leaves on which words in the Pali Language are inscribed.


Kauk Site Ma
February 18, 2015.