Laytin - Writer's Writer

Golden Peacock of Golden Peacock

In 1961, the Master published a book called “Lifetime Records and Thoughts.” This book was published in its fourth volume. This book was the longest and most elaborated book in the Master’s lifetime. When I asked the Master’s readers which of the four volumes they liked the most, almost everyone said that they liked the first and second volumes the most. The first volume deals with childhood and young adulthood. They like childhood and young adulthood. Among all the people I asked, there was one person who was different from everyone else. She was an old woman from Mogok. She said, “I like the fourth volume the most, Master.” She was the only person who gave this answer.

The teacher himself likes the fourth volume. Since the title of this book was written, he has called it “Life History and Thoughts.” The fourth volume contains many thoughts. So if I had to choose, I would choose the fourth volume. Of all the books written in the teacher’s life, this one is the most inspiring. The reason is that I get to write thoughts. In the first volume, writing about childhood is not that much. Childhood love affairs are like writing a novel. It’s not strange. There are many different kinds of reading. Is it only when an intelligent person thinks that it tastes good? Writing is also when you have intelligence and write thoughts. So, as a writer, the fourth volume is my favorite.

Some people write a lot of autobiographies. Some people even promise that when the teacher's book comes out, they will write it too. But it doesn't come out. Some people want to write to show off their own glory, to elevate themselves. The teacher is not like that. He writes to himself.

The teacher never thought of writing this book. I will tell you how it came about. In 1953, he published a small paperback book called “U Pe Thein’s Golden Peacock”. It was a rough draft for students, as it was a school edition of the teacher’s masterpiece, and the author’s biography was also needed. It was not perfect.

The day after the book was published, the public, U Hla and Ma A Ma, especially Ma A Ma, urged him to “try writing a complete biography of U Lay Thein.” So, the teacher said that only those who have become famous and famous in the country write their own autobiography. U Lay Thein

I replied that since nothing had happened yet, if other people thought it was worth writing about U Lay Thein, let them write, but if U Lay Thein wrote it himself, others would accuse him of being a self-important person.

So Ma Ama said, “It is not worth writing about yourself until you become a great person. If you write about yourself and say, ‘Is there anyone else like me?’ then it will not be as beneficial to the reader as it should be. Even if you are a great person, you can still write as a writer.

"If it's a book, it might be interesting to read, and it might be a book that can teach people a lesson," he said. Then I said, "Yes, I did. It's not bad, so I decided to write it."

This thought reminds me of the world-famous biographer, Boswell.

When Boswell wrote his biography of Johnson, a world-famous writer, his biography was not only the best book in the world, but the next book to come was miles behind Boswell's, as the writer Lord Macquarie once praised. In Boswell's book, whenever he met Dr. Johnson and tried to talk, Dr. Johnson always won, and Boswell was always beaten and beaten. In this book, Dr. Johnson

Boswell was bad, to say the least. So Dr. Johnson's The Book of Boswell was bad, and it became the best book ever written. Boswell died while the world was still praising the book. At this time

Do you think Boswell's son is proud of the popularity of his father's book? No. If he could, he would buy every book in the world by his father and burn it. Because in this great book, his father was a great writer but a bad person.

Now, my book, my relatives may want to burn it. But they will burn it anyway, so I decided to write it. My teacher also

I wrote Boswell's book in a somewhat tolerant manner. I wrote it with submission. I didn't cover anything up. The teacher explained that some people want to cover up their weaknesses to the point of death. In the first volume, you can't get it with Sandavi. You can get it with other people. I also wrote about these weaknesses. Edit

This book is the longest book that the teacher has ever written. I never thought of writing this much. When I did, I gave him a page, and he gave me a page. It turned out to be a four-volume set. People who understand what I wrote in this book accepted it. Boswell's book is good in one way. The teacher's book has many ideas. But I don't want to say that the teacher's book is good in ideas. The writing of the teacher's book is better than the teacher's own writing. When I read what they wrote, I wondered if I could write as well. There is one thing I like about these books. That is the fact that I can relive the events of my childhood. That is delicious. So the reader will also enjoy it. The teacher reminisces about his childhood and writes. That is delicious for the person who writes. The person who writes has a taste, the person who reads has a taste. When I was young, I was happy. I was happy to write. Now, being a teacher is no longer enjoyable. If the teacher wrote about these events, people wouldn't want to read them. The teacher himself said that writing is not good. What should we do with these things? It's become like this, and when people get bored, the things I write about are also boring. It's not like when I was young.

As I said earlier, if the writer has taste, the reader will also have taste.

I don't read much anymore. To be honest, it's best to live with my own imagination.

Young people can write.

May everyone be healthy and prosperous.

(Maung Thit Lwin (public) and Maung Saw Lwin recorded the speech of Master Shwe U Daung on 5-12-72.)