Finding George Orwell in Burma (Paperback)

by Emma Larkin (Author) "GEORGE ORWELL, I said slowly..." (more)
Key Phrases: Burmese Days, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Aung San Suu Kyi (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The author, an American journalist fluent in Burmese, writing under a pseudonym, notes that there's a joke in Burma (now Myanmar) that Orwell wrote not one novel about the country, but three: Burmese Days, Animal Farm and 1984. The first takes place during the British colonial days, while the latter two, Larkin argues, more closely reflect the situation there today. " 'Truth is true only within a certain period of time,' " she quotes a regime spokesman saying after a 1988 uprising. " 'What was truth once may no longer be truth after many months or years.' " Indeed, providing an accurate representation of Burmese life proves daunting, as Larkin encounters a nation bristling with informants and paranoia. Her language skills, however, allow her to glean information and mingle with the country's reserved and cautious intelligentsia. In addition to Larkin's depiction of the political landscape, the book also features wonderfully vibrant descriptions of the land and people. Larkin's prose is striking and understated, and she allows the people she meets to speak their parts without editorializing. In this way, she comes across not as an idealist but rather as an inquisitive and trustworthy guide to the underlying reality of a country whose leaders would rather have outsiders focus only on their carefully constructed veneer. "All you had to do, it seemed," Larkin writes, "was scratch the surface of one of the town's smiling residents and you would find bitterness or tears." Her efforts have resulted in a lucid and insightful illustration of truly Orwellian circumstances.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Larkin (a pseudonym), an American journalist based in Bangkok, believes that it was George Orwell's stint as an imperial policeman in British-ruled Burma during the 1920s that turned him into a writer of conscience. To prove her theory and assess what imprint if any he left on the culture, she bravely journeyed throughout the now brutally totalitarian state to visit the places Orwell lived and worked. A meticulous observer, she captures the masked spirit of a people monitored by military spies and constantly threatened with incarceration and torture. As her risky conversations with Burmese intellectuals, writers, teashop waiters, and students reveal, censorship is severe, yet Burma remains a profoundly literary country as people harbor secret libraries and talk passionately about books. Writing with admirable suppleness and understatement, Larkin reports that Orwell is known as a prophet in Burma, so closely do Animal Farm and 1984 reflect what has happened in this beautiful yet tragically oppressed land. Her quest for the past illuminates the grim present in this true-life Orwellian world. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143037110
• ISBN-13: 978-0143037118
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #221,270 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding Pleasure in Orwell, June 20, 2005

By	Paul Bunyan "Blue" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding George Orwell in Burma (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book. The author, who obviously has extensive knowledge about (and affection for) both Orwell and Burma, traces Orwell's life and experiences in the various outposts in Burma to which he was assigned as an imperial British policeman in the 1920s. It gracefully intermingles commentary on modern-day Burma, historical information about Orwell's time and life there, and prophetic connections between Orwell's themes in "1984" and "Animal Farm" and the 40-year dictatorship in Burma (renamed by its tyrants "Myanmar"). Reading this book has caused me to go back and re-read, with much greater insight, "Burmese Days." Among the very pleasing features of this book is that the author does not try to overstate her case or engage in excessive conjecture about Orwell's experiences in Burma. Instead, she offers very thoughtful, subtle opinions on matters for which historical evidence is not there (apart from Orwell's writings). Another joy is that the author's politics (except for her revulsion at the brutal Burmese dictatorship) are not apparent, so Orwell is not used as a tool to promote some left or right ideology. Highly recommended, especially to Orwell fans and readers.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant , July 10, 2005

By	Nick Dowling (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding George Orwell in Burma (Hardcover)

While it's hard to categorise this book, it could be filed under `must read' for fans of Orwell and everyone interested in modern international politics. This book falls into to genres of literary biography, travel and modern politics, and `Emma Larkin' succeeds brilliantly in all three.

As a literary biography she sheds new light onto Orwell as a person and the background to his books. In particular, I was fascinated by her informed speculation into how Orwell's experiences in Burma contributed to his transformation from a privileged child of Empire into the champion of the lower classes who came to write `1984'.

As a travel book Larkin brings Burma to life. Her descriptions of the Burmese landscape and Burmese people are wonderful and suggest that she dearly loves the country despite its hideous government.

As a book on modern politics, Larkin is extremely successful in describing how a totalitarian dictatorship operates and the devastation such forms of government inflict upon their people. In particular, Larkin's descriptions of how the Burmese regime has corrupted almost every aspect of civil society offers very valuable insights into how such regimes survive in the face of their brutality and incompetence. More subtly, the fact that Larkin had to write this book under a pseudonym and was unable to reveal any details about herself for fear of being identified and expelled from Burma brings to life the grim realities of living under a repressive regime.

All up, this is an impressive book which deserves a wide readership.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Orwell the Prophet: biographical footnotes , August 6, 2008

By	H. Schneider "Hermit" (window seat) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Finding George Orwell in Burma (Hardcover)

I learned some new things about Orwell. Most importantly: did you know that O. wrote 3 books about Burma, not just 1 as I had thought, naively?
After 'Burmese Days', there was also 'Animal Farm' (how the pigs with the dogs overthrew the farmers to take power) and then '1984' (how the powers control the minds and the records). These are predictions on Burma! Who would doubt it?
Second: when O was on his death bed, dying from TB at a much too young age, he was working on another novel or story about Burma. That was really new to me.
This book by an American journalist written under a pseudonym works on 3 levels, like a layer cake.
There is the Orwell biography; and frankly speaking, that is a disappointing part, because when the author followed O's traces in Burma, she didn't really find much. That is mainly because she was travelling as a tourist and couldn't do open research. Not her fault. What she injects is from other sources, like visits to London libraries and the Orwell archive. The visits to O's Burma places serve more for background colour than for new insights.
Second layer: this is a travel book about the places where O lived in Burma. We get to look at Mandalay, the Delta, Rangoon, Moulmein, and Katha.The book delivers the travel account without much passion. Let's put it this way: Larkin as a travel writer isn't exactly sparkling. She may never make it to the top ten of the genre.
Third layer: maybe the most important part or level of the book is the description of the totalitarian routine of life in Burma. While even this lacks spark, it is certainly an important contribution to the international knowledge of a tough subject to be informed about. The descriptions of daily life are continuously set against a background of 1984 scenes.
In short: a book worth reading that somehow remains short of expectations.