Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi admits to reading all the Harry Potter books while under house arrest

The 67-year-old told country's first literary festival that she loved the books

Went on to say her courage in face of state repression paled in comparison to that of the books' heroes

Courageous: Aung San Suu Kyi revealed that Harry Potter kept up her spirits while under house arrest

Burma’s courageous democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi revealed today that the adventures of Harry Potter kept up her spirits and resolve while she was being held under house arrest.

The 67-year-old champion of freedom, who has struggled against the military junta for nearly two decades before winning a seat in the Burmese Parliament last year, told the country’s first literary festival that she loved JK Rowling’s books.

The Nobel laureate who was held under house arrest in Rangoon for 15 years told a gathering of the country’s writers that her courage in the face of state repression paled in comparison to the heroes of Miss Rowling’s best-selling fantasy books.

‘I have to admit to you I read all the Harry Potter books,’ she said in a reference to the long years she spent locked away in her villa beside Lake Inya.

Hardly had her audience finished chuckling at her revelation when she went on to compare her courage with the Harry Potter characters.

‘I really don’t know how I could ever have been brave enough to do all the things those children did,’ she said.

‘So when people talk about my courage, I think to myself “They don’t know anything about Harry Potter.”’

She revealed that she adores detective novels because they help her work out ‘who is going to profit from a particular crime…and what people are up to.’

Those aspects of detective books, she said, were ‘two very good messages for politicians.’

One of her favourite authors, she said, was George Eliot, the pseudonym of 19th century English novelist and religious writer Mary Ann Evans whose 1872 work Middlemarch has been described as the greatest novel in the English language.

Revelation: The Nobel laureate compared her courage with the Harry Potter characters

She also gave praise to French poet and novelist Victor Hugo, whose writings include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Miserables (1862).

Authors, including writers from overseas, hailed the three-day festival as a breakthrough for the country’s creativity after years lost to censorship under the generals.