Emma Larkin methodically followed Eric Blair's footsteps in Burma. As an expatriate Burmese (having left the country in 1969), I find her description of the present socio-political situation in Burma and the parallels she draws with Orwell's vision of the human condition rather fascinating. I agree with Larkin that Blair's experiences in Burma had a definite impact on Orwell's views about the nature of human societies, but more interestingly, it is clear from the way Larkin describes many Burmese in her book (especially the kind of english books they read) that the impact of the british colonial period on Burma was substantial. What is then the more subtle message here? How much Burma changed a single colonial officer (a rather moody and pessimistic type at that!), whose later books did influence the way the world views colonialism, communism, fascism and other totalitarian regimes or how much England changed Burma (where the present regime is totalitarian)
I like the literary style of the book (easy to read) and there are many interesting and illuminating details about Blair and Burma. but perhaps the narrative is a bit too naive to really give a deeper understanding of what Blair experienced in Burma and more importantly what Burma went through in history to reach the present state of "State". Human societies (even the "isolated" burmese society!) and individual human beings (even Blair) are very complex in nature and beyond the comprehension of a single person whether it is an Orwell or a Larkin. I do admit that I read books not to find the "final explanation" to any kind of problem, but to enjoy and I really enjoyed reading this book.

Emma Larkin methodically followed Eric Blair's footsteps in Burma. As an expatriate Burmese (having left the country almost 40 years ago), I find her description of the present socio-political situation in Burma and the parallels she draws with Orwell's vision of the human condition rather fascinating. I agree with Larkin that Blair's experiences in Burma had a definite impact on Orwell's views about the nature of human societies, but more interestingly, it is clear from the way Larkin describes many Burmese in her book (especially the kind of english books they read) that the impact of the british colonial period on Burma was very substantial. What is then the more subtle message here? How much England changed Burma or how much Burma changed a single colonial officer (a rather moody and pessimistic type at that!), whose later books did influence the way the world views colonialism, communism, fascism and other totalitarian regimes.
I like the literary style of the book (easy to read) and there are many interesting and illuminating details about Blair and Burma. but perhaps the narrative is a bit too naive and prosaic to really give a deeper understanding of what Blair experienced in Burma and more importantly what Burma went through in history to reach the present state of "State". Human societies (even the "isolated" burmese society!) and individual human beings are very complex in nature and beyond the comprehension of a single person whether it is an Orwell or a Larkin. I do admit that I read books not to find the "final solution" to any kind of problem, but to enjoy and I really enjoyed reading this book.

I visited Burma recently for a tourism visit. I read this book in preparation. Since much of the narrative is in historical terms, I didn't, at first, get a sense of what to expect. Only on my return did I realize that it gave me a much richer experience than I otherwise would have had. It is an often beautiful book. I got to see a number of the places that are mentioned in the book, but I frequently recalled her descriptions, rich with historical context, when I was there.

What I gained from reading this book before my visit was to sit-in on the conversations that the author had with both seemingly ordinary and some extraordinary Burmese. Not knowing the language, and being a casual visitor, I wouldn't have dreamed of talking politics when I was there. This book is hardly a journalistic contemporary history piece, but the author asked all the questions of ordinary people that you would want to ask, but can't. Burma is an exceptionally beautiful place, but I was always conscious that I was seeing only what tourists are allowed to see. There was no obvious evidence of the horrible events of just a few months ago, but armed with the author's experiences I could better see what was around me.

The parallel narrative involving Orwell was quite effective. It made me want to reread Animal Farm, and seek out Burmese Days. For potential visitors to Burma, I would also recommend The Trouser People: A Story of Burma in the Shadow of the Empire

I lived in Burma in the late 80's because of my father's U.S. government job. I find most American's know little about Burma (as I did not before I went there.) The current regime has sealed off the country, so that its people suffer behind a veil. They are hidden from the rest of the world. Through the lense of a study of Orwell, the author provides a window into a country few know about. I loved that this book was short and accessible. I recommend this to anyone who wants to find out about Burma. You don't have to be a George Orwell scholar to understand the comparisons. (Although, I'm an English teacher and thought the author made some insightful observations.)

Finding George Orwell in Burma is one of those rare finds (no pun intended). This book has allot of depth where the reader actually feels like they are sitting in the tea houses where most of the story takes place. The contrast between Orwells "1984" and "Animal Farm" (although a theory) in relation to this book is profound and makes the overall read even more fascinating. Given the fact that Burma is such an oppressive country, this book shows true color through its people.

Slowly but surely I'm reading through this book. So far so good. Nothing spectacular, but the author did what she intended to do...try to draw parallels between George Orwell and his life and his books with Burma and her situations. Like many writers from the West, I think it's seen through the eyes of a foreigner, so even though she probably has great understanding of the country and its history and people, I get this feeling that it's more like a study to her than something really personal. But it is well written, no doubt about that.

This book has been recommended to me by numerous people and I would also have to recommend it to anyone interested in the subjects of Burma and Southeast Asia. However, I will unfortunately be returning this book to Amazon because it is damaged. This seems to be a problem with Amazon and I'm not sure if it's because items are damaged in transit or because Amazon doesn't pay very good attention to the conditions of the books they send people. I have ordered books from Amazon several other times and they have always arrived damaged. I would recommend ordering CDs and DVDs from Amazon but not books unless you don't have a problem with them being bent, torn, etc.

Emma Larkin--a pseudonym for an American journalist--makes an extraordinary journey in the book "Finding George Orwell in Burma." Fascinated by the idea that Orwell was irreversibly shaped by his youthful experiences as a policeman in the far-flung reaches of the British Empire, Larkin traces Orwell's steps in Burma--a beautiful--yet troubled country.

Orwell lived in Burma in the 1920s, and according to Larkin, he was perfect fodder for the Empire. He was the product of a "long line of colonial families" with Orwell's father "overseeing the production of government opium crops" in India. Orwell specifically requested a posting to Burma. This was considered a rather odd request as Burma was certainly not a popular choice, but Orwell had several generations of relatives who lived in Lower Burma. Larkin initially visits the police training station in Mandalay where Orwell lived as a probationary officer, and from here she strikes out into the countryside. The narrative weaves together glimpses of Orwell's early life, and quotes from his novels with Larkin's encounters with many of the locals. Apparently, the Burmese hold a special affection for Orwell--even though both Animal Farm and 1984 are banned.

This is a remarkable book, loaded with exquisite descriptions of the lush exotic landscape, and it makes fascinating reading for Orwell fans. Not only does Larkin trace a rather obscure period in Orwell's life, but she also reveals the realities of present-day Burma--now renamed Myanmar. It's a country, she argues, which a tourist could visit, enjoy a pleasant idyllic holiday, and go home without any idea that the Burmese people suffer under totalitarian oppression. This oppression, Larkin argues, is largely "hidden from view" but the country has a vast network of spies, "donated" labour, "forbidden areas" and incredible censorship. As a tourist who gets off the beaten track in the effort to retrace Orwell's steps, Larkin encounters invasive government suppression and fear repeatedly on her journey. The Burmese people she meets are remarkably stoic in the face of totalitarianism, and as the author details exactly how the present brutal regime attempts to control how its people think, chilling comparisons are drawn to 1984.

But this is not, by any means, a depressing book. The people Larkin encounters are quite aware of their country's machinations when it comes to the subject of thought control, and clearly there is a bright freedom found in the love of literature. The author provides excellent details regarding the various shifts in government--from British colonialism, Burmese independence in 1948, to the current ruling general, Than Shwe. Larkin manages to capture images of the young Orwell--a youth who had yet to evolve into the person who created his later masterpieces Animal Farm and 1984--with the latter book uncannily prophetic in its descriptions. Larkin evokes the most provocative images of Orwell--the origin of the story "Shooting an Elephant"--for example--and posits these moments as those that left indelible moral tracts in his consciousness. But in addition, Larkin successfully conveys the spirit of a people who have suffered--and continue to suffer in a country that appears to be "postcard perfect"--displacedhuman

This is such a wonderful book. Though I bought it with barely any knowledge of Burma or George Orwell, but it sparked an interest in both subjects for me. This book is a travelougue, biography, ethnography, history, and just a beautiful story all in one. Larkin has a smooth, easy to read style. I read this book for the first time over a year ago and I still think about it almost every day. This is by far the best book I've ever read.

I stumbled across this book by accident, having seen a review of it in some random magazine. I am by no means an expert on Burma, most of my knowledge of the country coming from the periodic articles I read in newspapers. I thought that this book offered a very nice introductory portrait of the country. The author (Emma Larkin is apparently a pseudonym, as the author wanted to protect the anonomity of herself and her Burmese friends) writes in a very light, accessible style, and the book is a very quick read. The book recounts the author's travels around Burma. The title of the book derives from the fact that George Orwell spent five years in the colonial administration in Burma as a young man. Part of the book consists of the author's journeys to various places somehow or another connected to Orwell. The other part of the book consists of the author's discussions with her Burmese friends about the state of Burmese society and politics. The book offers a very insightful depiction of life under an authoritarian regime. Many of the author's friends are highly intelligent individuals who clearly loathe the military regime that has ruled Burma for the past several decades. Most of her conversations with them revolve around how they cope with the day to day realities of living under this system, and how people manage to subvert the regime in their own little ways. The author covers most of the major issues associated with modern Burma, including the country's poverty, the conflict between the majority Burmese and the country's numerous ethnic minorities, the confinement of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, etc. None of the topics is covered exhaustively, of course, but like I said in the beginning, the book is useful for those seeking a more general knowledge of the country. Finally, I thought that the author did a pretty good job of relating Orwell's works (primarily his novels Burmese Days, 1984, and Animal Farm) to the present situation in Burma. Although I was skeptical of this approach at first, her interpretations of Orwell never seemed streched, indeed they were quite insightful and perceptive. Overall, I would recommend this book to anybody seeking a better understanding of contemporary Burma, or to anybody interested in life under totalitarian regimes.

I stumbled across this book by accident, having seen a review of it in some random magazine. I am by no means an expert on Burma, most of my knowledge of the country coming from the periodic articles I read in newspapers. I thought that this book offered a very nice introductory portrait of the country. The author (Emma Larkin is apparently a pseudonym, as the author wanted to protect the anonomity of herself and her Burmese friends) writes in a very light, accessible style, and the book is a very quick read. The book recounts the author's travels around Burma. The title of the book derives from the fact that George Orwell spent five years in the colonial administration in Burma as a young man. Part of the book consists of the author's journeys to various places somehow or another connected to Orwell. The other part of the book consists of the author's discussions with her Burmese friends about the state of Burmese society and politics. The book offers a very insightful depiction of life under an authoritarian regime. Many of the author's friends are highly intelligent individuals who clearly loathe the military regime that has ruled Burma for the past several decades. Most of her conversations with them revolve around how they cope with the day to day realities of living under this system, and how people manage to subvert the regime in their own little ways. The author covers most of the major issues associated with modern Burma, including the country's poverty, the conflict between the majority Burmese and the country's numerous ethnic minorities, the confinement of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, etc. None of the topics is covered exhaustively, of course, but like I said in the beginning, the book is useful for those seeking a more general knowledge of the country. Finally, I thought that the author did a pretty good job of relating Orwell's works (primarily his novels Burmese Days, 1984, and Animal Farm) to the present situation in Burma. Although I was skeptical of this approach at first, her interpretations of Orwell never seemed streched, indeed they were quite insightful and perceptive. Overall, I would recommend this book to anybody seeking a better understanding of contemporary Burma, or to anybody interested in life under totalitarian regimes.

I've been savoring this book over many weeks, reading only bits at a time, not wanting it to end.

Emma Larkin (a "nom de plume") has managed to focus on what must surely be a unique perspective when it comes to 21st century Burma. She ties the modern totalitarian regime with George Orwell's classics, particularly "1984" and "Animal Farm." Her insight into the workings of the country and knowledge of the language have resulted in a fascinating tale of her travels through Burma, tracing the career of Orwell during his five-year stint as a British colonial policeman.

Having made numerous trips to Burma, Larkin has accumulated quite a following of contacts and friends, whose names have been changed to protect them from the very real danger of torture and imprisonment for talking to a foreign journalist. This collection of locals, however, gives the author a window into what must be the second most repressive nation on the planet (after North Korea). The reader is treated to tales of what is happening in that beautiful and tragic place, eyes opened to the situation for the average citizen. The military junta that rules Burma is responsible for unspeakable human rights violations and remains, justifiably, paranoid about its tenuous hold on power. Larkin relates the tenseness of the situation in an informative and enlightening way.

I particularly enjoyed her descriptions of the remnants of British colonialism and how Orwell and his colleagues must have lived. It's a tale of a bygone era when Britain ruled a third of the world, "memsahibs" could thrash a servant for incompetence and a struggling civil servant feared for his life thanks to a high crime rate and the threat of vengenance from resentful colonial subjects. It's touching, however, to learn of long-forgotten graveyards behind English churches, the tombstones broken and discarded or used as garden ornaments by Rangoon businessmen. The epitaphs ring hollow when one realizes that the Burmese government considers the markers nothing more than impediments to a planned parking lot or housing development.

Frequent quotes from Orwell's work illustrate the similarities between his works of fiction and what has actually transpired today. It's almost as if Orwell had predicted what would happen to the country where he spent part of his youth. His semi-autobiographical work based on his time in Burma, "Burmese Days," is also put to good use, providing a feel for what it must have been like in the 1920s as a lonely cop in far-off outposts, isolated and alienated. For Orwell this not only applies to his status as a representative of the Raj but the fact that he was usually seen as an outsider and loner amongst his colleagues.

"Finding George Orwell in Burma" is simply brilliant. In fact, it's made me want to go to the country more than ever and I'm in the process of planning a trip there next month. I wouldn't dare try to take the book with me on the journey (it would probably be confiscated at the airport in Rangoon) but it'll be in my heart as I travel around what promises to be a fascinating and beautiful place.

According to Larkin, Burma (Myanmar) currently is, and has been for long, infested with "government informants." No one is safe to speak freely anywhere -- stories of innocent citizens getting arrested from teahouses or off street corners for simply bad-mouthing the government is abound.

So looking for George Orwell in Burma is only natural. Not only because the current Burma resembles the state in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, but also because Orwell, Larkin suspects, may have come up with the material for the story during his stint in Burma as an Imperial Police.

The book follows along the steps of Orwell in Burma. Larkin visits locations where Orwell was stationed and ponders over the reasons why Orwell wrote what he did, and contrasts Orwell's circumstances to the current Burma. The result is a sensitive contemplation on totalitarian power. It was exciting to read along this unusual travelogue.

However the book is not without drawbacks. The lack of explanation on the current power structure of Burma and how it came to be came to a mystery to me. While it is in no sense a requirement to include such content, to me neglecting to do so appeared as an opportunity missed. Why not go a step further and provide context of Burma's current regime? For instance the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi is described without background on Aung San Suu Kyi and her deceased father. Wouldn't the readers' understanding of totalitarianism deepen with such explanation? It was just a step away.

As such the book remains an exquisite literary essay. I wish it had been more.

Finding George Orwell in Burma is brilliantly written. It is an amazing look on the inside of a forgotten country whose people are torturously isolated and restricted on so many levels. Emma Larkin conducted outstandingly thorough research for this book, and I can't imagine that anything was missed. The parallels between George Orwell's works and the political situations in the history of Burma are jaw-dropping. I feel that Myanmar is a forgotten nation that many overlook, and this book brings to the attention that its people need help, and they need it soon. The current regime is a group of repulsive, greedy, power-hungry monsters, and it greatly saddens me that the international community has let this go on for so long, with very little being done. This book is a real eye-opener, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in anything from human rights to English Literature. My heart goes out to the people of Myanmar.

This sad account of life in Burma by a writer who knows the country well is intriguing in its examination of how Orwell's experiences in Burma influenced his writing. The book is less successful in its attempt to convey the "Orwellian" aspects of life under the present day Myanmar government, primarily because, for fear of reprisals, so few people could actually tell the author much beyond what she could see for herself: a muzzled press, an omnipresent secret police, the rewriting of history, a poor standard of living, and so on. The parallels to 1984 are convincing, however. The book is also partly a travelogue, and in this it is least successful, I think; the author does not have the same sharp eye for the telling detail that one finds in a writer like Paul Theroux. I kept thinking of his Dark Star Safari as I read this book; the style of writing in Finding George Orwell in Burma is more muted and careful-- and thus less compelling-- than Theroux's account of contemporary Africa. This is perhaps inevitable, given the political situation in Burma.

I was on a book shopping trip about a month ago and saw this on the New Voices section of the bookstore shelf. I decided to buy it because the title appealed to me and I had just seen a documentary about the lake dwelling people of Burma (see the cover photo). I was amazed by this book and would highly recommend this to most readers.

"Larkin" is a wonderful writing. Her style is strong. She presents the story of present day Burma by weaving the present, the past and the views of George Orwell. She uses her own journalism in the country (under stealth) as well as scholarly research to present a depiction that was often shocking and usually quite sad.

It is hard for Americans sometimes to really understand and believe that a world like 1984 could exist in modern society but this book certainly paints a picture of what other parts of the world must deal with everyday.

This is a thought provoking work whether you approach it as literay criticism, socialology or editoral. Again, I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to going back and reading 1984 in light of what I have read here.

I came to this book as a devotee of Orwell, surely one of the 20th century's most influential writers. How can anyone ignore the significance of "Animal Farm" and "1984"? To have not read these books is to have missed two great works. Orwell came to be the conscience of a century.

Emma Larkin, the pseudonym for an American journalist based in Bangkok and fluent in Burmese, has produced a wonderful travelogue and critique of modern day Burma. She has clearly travelled widely within the country and is familiar with its politics. She is also a friend of Burma who is heartbroken by the poverty that has been inflicted on the country by its military masters. Burma, at the end of World War II, had so much to offer but has since been stuck in a time warp while other neighbouring lands have forged ahead.

In his early life, Orwell spent five years in Burma as a policeman for the British colonial authorities. He subsequently wrote his novel, "Burmese Days". It is said by some that this was the first of a trilogy with "Animal Farm" and "1984" completing the work.

Larkin has succeeded in undertaking a modern travelogue that wraps around the earlier life of Orwell. He writing style is easy while her premise of loosely following Orwell's life is a clever literary technique. There are many devotees of Orwell. I would recommend this modern work to them all.

Well the book exceeded my expectations in every way. It does provide a good deal of really fascinating information about Orwell and his adventures in Burma as an agent of the British Empire, but it does a lot more than that. It is a brilliant travel book that describes in beautiful prose the towns and countryside of central Burma. More significantly it describes the political nightmare that has afflicted Burma since the days of Ne Win (1962). The author follows Orwell's postings as a police officer in Burma and provides fascinating descriptions of the places he was stationed and more interestingly presents wonderful stories of the people now living in those places. This book is undoubtedly banned in Burma because it presents a devastating account of the repressive and corrupt rule of the Burmese Army over the last 40 odd years. Yet I think the author is both fair and accurate in describing present day Burma.

The author of this book is a remarkable person in his or her own right. "Emma Larkin" (a pseudonym) is a unique American who has actually taken the time to learn to speak and read Burmese. Written Burmese is based on Sanskrit and looks to the uninformed, like myself, as a serious of small circle or half circles tied on lines. Anybody who can read it certainly has my admiration. Further `Larkin's' affection for Burma and the Burmese is obvious and as a result the book provides a very sympathetic picture of the people of central Burma. My one disappointment in the book is the author spends very little time discussing the non-Burmese hill tribes (Shan, Kachin, etc.), but that wasn't the intent of the book. This is a wonderful book about as little known and reclusive country by a well informed and perceptive observer.

I loved this book. I am not a big fan of historical nonfiction but I found this book to be really interesting and incredibly moving. I have never read any of George Orwell's books but I have heard a lot about them. This book takes you through present day Burma now known as Myanmar and the oppressive totalitarianism that is all pervading. Orwell was apparently stationed in Burma as a British policeman for a time and the author connects the places where he was to the books he wrote and the current state of Burma. I felt like I was truly seeing a place for the first time through someone elses eyes. The writing is beautiful and keeps the pace flowing well. The book also manages to keep itself from becoming overwhelmingly depressing - as it easily could. I recommend this book for everyone that is interested in George Orwell and/or Burma and/or oppressive regimes.

I really liked this book. It is so honest. It doesn't whitewash anything, but it isn't horribly depressing (as it easily could be.) The book walks you through modern Burma, now Myanmar through George Orwell's writing. Orwell, apparently was a British policeman stationed in Burma so you go to each place he was stationed and you get to see what is there and what it is like now compared to then and some of the similarities. I'm sure I am making this book sound dull but it wasn't. The writing is awesome and flows well, the author definitely keeps the pages turning as you meet current Burma natives and get a feel for the very oppressive world they live in. The people are really heartwarming and the fact that so many of them have so much hope! I walked away from this book profoundly touched in a way I didn't think I would be, and incredibly grateful for being born in a country that has democratic freedoms. Don't walk away from this one, it is one to treasure.

Rights? These people have none. Freedom of speech? There are spy's everywhere. Orwell's "1984"? It is not fiction. It exists in today's Burma (now called Myanmar). You will recognize two beautiful city names that have not been changed: Mandalay and Rangoon. That is the only thing in Burma that has not changed under the current regime - the names of those two cities. Otherwise, this country may as well exist on another planet or in another universe. I feel that every person in every 'free' society on the planet should read this book and ask yourself this question: How do the people in Burma survive and what can be done to help them? The people of Burma say "change must come from outside, it can't come from within." Anyone who dares to even criticize the government is thrown in jail for 7 years. Bottom line - just please read this book. You will be mesmorized and stunned.

Larkin, writing under a psuedonym as an American born in Asia, educated in London, and resident in Bangkok, brings the right balance of an insider--being able to speak the language and get into the feel of Burma--and outsider--marked obviously by her presence. I wondered how the Burmese reacted to her as she suddenly must have entered many situations and places in which the local people probably never expected that a Westerner would be able to converse, interview, and delve into their own relatively unknown (to outsiders) language. Humbling too to note how many of the people she met had mastered English and were better read than many to whom Dickens is an author in a native language and not one learned with considerable effort so far away from much contact with the West.

However, Larkin diminishes her own role to highlight the conditions endured in a police state. I never knew that on 8--8-88 3,000 people were killed while demonstrating; the fate of "The Lady" is about all many of us have heard about "Myanmar", unfortunately for that nation and for human rights. This is why her linking today's experiences to previous conditions at first perpetrated and then rebelled against by Orwell himself makes for a well-chosen structural foundation for her book. Written calmly and even detached from her surroundings somewhat, Larkin lets the people she talks to tell the stories. I do sense that much of Burma was left out--I would have liked, seeing the map, to know more about the peninsular strip adjoining Thailand, the border areas with Bangladesh, India, and China, and the Himalayan frontiers, but her travels seem to have been more limited to the center of the nation. This may be, however, due to surveillance. I was amazed she was able to get away with as much as she did given her "not blending in."

She conveys information calmly and clearly, and her own quest to retrace Orwell's steps results in a lot of sensibly established parallels that I doubt any previous reader of Orwell or traveler to Burma had been able to make--quite an accomplishment for this modest book. I hope too that it reaches a wider audience and that more of us learn about the regime strangling this nation. Larkin's lack of self-importance makes her book a quiet but effective voice against tyranny, and Orwell would be proud of her.

Finding George Orwell in Burma is a light in the darkness, a collection of images and voices that briefly illuminates a land shrouded in the shady mists of misinformation, uncertainty and fear. Its author has painstakingly constructed a portrait of present-day Burma from a year's worth of furtive notebook scribbles and nervous conversations. Her finished work, published under the psuedonym Emma Larkin, is a vivid travelogue describing a graceful country slowly choking in the grip of a brutal military dictatorship.

Orwellian is a term that immediately springs to mind in reference to the sort of government that controls Burma today, a paranoid cabal ruling through power, for power, at the expense of human freedom. However, as Larkin notes, the relationship between Orwell and Burma flows in two directions. By reading Orwell, one can begin to understand Burma, and by understanding Burma, one can begin to grasp how and why Orwell developed the feelings of social injustice, political cycnicism and libertarianism that dominate his writings. Finding George Orwell in Burma is in one sense about tracing a path through history by exploring the present and, equally, a story revealing the present by sifting through the prophecies of the past. Taking Orwell as her starting point, Larkin spins her narrative in two different but ultimately convergent directions, forming a circular lens through which the reader can peer through the dual fogs of history and repression to glimpse a lasting image of a country locked in time and a people struggling to find hope and maintain dignity as their future withers away.

Burmese Days is one of Orwell's first novels, a story based on his experiences in Burma as an agent of the British Empire. As Larkin points out, although the narrative of Burmese Days is fictional, Orwell's descriptions of characters, places and events were so accurate that his publishers, fearful of libel charges, originally declined to publish the book in England. That being the case, Burmese Days can be read as an historical snapshot, an intimate portrait of ugliness festering at the fringes of Empire. The fact that both British and Burmese readers found fault with the story points to its accuracy. Orwell's book is far from a Kipling-esque glorification of colonialism, but neither does he romanticize the situation of the Burmese, portraying them alternatively as hopelessly na�ve or calculatingly amoral. Larkin quotes Orwell defending his book on the grounds that "much of it is simply reporting what I have seen," a statement that captures the sort of dogged curiosity he would bring to the alleyways of Paris, the coal mines of Britain and the front lines of the Spanish Civil War.

Much of Larkin's book is also a report of what she saw (and heard) during her travels, but because she speaks the language and was traveling independently, Finding George Orwell in Burma gives the reader a much more nuanced impression of the country than Orwell's own Burmese Days. Larkin tries to take it all in, to learn as much as she can and communicate her insights to a broad readership. Where Orwell's emphasis on the British community ultimately leaves his novel feeling stunted, Larkin's focus on Orwell actually expands the reach of her book, leading to conversations, comparisions and insights that flesh out her portrait of Burma. Orwell is a tool Larkin uses to dig away at the walls of secrecy that the regime maintains to keep the truth about Burma invisible.

The constant sense of unease hanging over ordinary Burmese as they go about their business in the shadow of surveillance is my lasting impression of Larkin's book. The fact that she herself was tracked by Big Brother, unable to see what she wanted to see, unable to go where she wanted to go and susceptible at times to paranoia gives the reader a very personal sense of what everyday life must be like for the Burmese. In this sense, Larkin's narrative is most powerful when she is most frustrated. Her descriptions of trying to catch a glimpse of the Army Parade through barbed wire and trees are more interesting and effective than a first-person all access account of the event itself would have been. As one Burmese friend of Larkin's explained, it's only by looking at the gaps in news coverage that one can get an accurate idea of what is going on.

Orwell's tremendous talent was the ability to make people understand what it might feel like to live in a totaliltarian society. His descriptions are powerful, frightening and accesible, but not beautiful in the sense of the poetry of the words themselves.

Larkin's writing is beautiful. She describes Burma in colors, smells, sounds, tastes and sensations that bubble up into aching little bursts of recognition, a tremendous accomplishment given that few of her readers have actually been to the places she describes. Like the very best travelogues, Looking For George Orwell in Burma gives the reader a sense that they know Burma while igniting a desire to actually go there themselves. If Larkin lacked the ear of a poet her book would still be interesting and important, but the sheer richness of her words make the story overpowering. It's the kind of book you want to throw against a wall when it ends because it has penetrated your soul and squeezed something in your gut.

The most poignant moments in Larkin's book are her descriptions of the small ways her Burmese friends try to maintain their dignity and keep a little beauty in their lifes. A polite gesture, a treasured heirloom, a perfectly brewed cup of tea...Living under tyranny squeezes the space for civility and forces people to abandon the little social niceties and luxuries that bring color and to their lives, yet the Burmese people cling to their scraps of beauty with a helplessly heartbreaking tenacity. Larkin recognizes this phenomenon, but somehow overlooks the fact all of Orwell's literary efforts are devoted to the defense of human dignity.
Orwell was a bit of a snob, a characterisitic his biographers have had diffuculty reconciling with his fierce passion for social justice. Indeed, his hatred of totalitarianism was matched only by his vehement dislike of indecency and vulgarity. Orwell's aristocratic tendencies make sense in light of his conviction that personal dignity is contingent on personal freedom - the freedom to stand above the crowd and sip sugared tea in the afternoon.

Winston Smith, the main character in 1984, rebels against the Party by buying a beautiful polished paperweight, a useless little luxury, while an old woman Larkin meets, unable to voice her hatred of the government, instead shows off her prized piece of antique china.

It's a shame that Larkin fails to explicitly identify Orwell's belief that the greatest evil of totalitarianism was its destruction, through fear, of the civility that separates men from animal.

Orwell understood that holding onto the niceties in life is the last stand a person can take against tyranny, once dismissing a famous nutritionist's suggestion that the poor give up their culinary luxuries on the grounds that having a little sugar in one's tea was vital to maintaining the dignity of a man who has precious little else. In a nightmare land like Burma, it's those little things that matter more than anywhere else, a point Larkin describes flawlessly but never quite manages to explain.


At numerous points in her book Larkin recounts how Burmese men and women who earn $4 a month taking care to order their tea with just the right amount of cream and sugar, the kind of small gesture that affirms their humanity by asserting their ability to choose. Orwell, who once wrote an essay entitled "A Nice Cup of Tea," would surely understand.

This is a very nicely written book. It does a number of interesting things. First, it is interesting as a travel memoir. Second, it paints very ineresting parallels between George Orwell's descriptions of totalitarian regimes and his experiences in Burma and finally, it tells the important story of the human rights abuses of the millitary junta in Myanmar.

Larkin travels Burma looking for traces of George Orwell. She visits the city of his grandparents' residence, the police academy he attended, his posting, and scenes of his novels and essays. Everywhere she goes she finds Burma "Orwellian".

Larkin does a great job of describing how Burma has evolved to this and the prescience of Orwell. Her quotes and references to Burmese Days, Animal Farm and 1984 are perfectly placed with her modern day experiences.

Knowing the language, and apparently steeped in the culture, Larkin can do what few other outsiders can, look beyond the veneer and see what is actually there.

A friend visited Burma over a year ago returning with beautiful photos and stories about how friendly and OPEN the people were. This seemed contrary to my understanding of the situation but after a few chapters of Larkin, you're on to the whole thing. Using anecdotes from her interviews and Orwell's words, she shows you step by step how a police state entrenches itself.

When I read books like this, I worry about the interviewees. With Burma's perfect infiltration, how they escape notice? While names, including those of the author are pseudo, I hope descriptions of settings, professions and tea houses are well obfuscated.

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Burma, Orwell or the political science, sociology or psychology of totalitarian regimes.

As you can see from the Amazon photo, the cover is absolutely stunning.

The passages about Orwell's Burmese years are always interesting, and a strength of the book is that the author does not indulge in excessive speculation. The accounts of her own travels are very good, just not quite up to the high standards established by the very best travel writers.

I was trulty touched by the author's accounts of the precious secret libraries of Western literature treasured by Burmese people. The value of the individual evident in (say) Dickens is consoling - - something one can also see in Adeline Yen Mah's writing and in the fine, harrowing memoir A SINGLE TEAR by Ningkun Wu.

In "Finding George Orwell in Burma," American journalist Emma Larkin (not her real name) spent a year travelling in Burma, using the author George Orwell's books as her guide. Larkin travelled through various areas in Burma, getting a feel of how life was under the military government where free speech was virtually unheard of. She spoke to the various Burmese people such as political prisoners, historians, authors, shop owners, children and more, to develop a deeper understanding of the current political situation in Burma. It was not an easy task as there were many government informers and one had to becareful with one's conduct in the country.

This is a helpful book in terms of understanding the current situation in Burma. Larkin gives voices to many Burmese who are not able to freely express their opinion of the government or just life in Burma. This book is strictly focus on Burma and its people and the author does provide any personal information of herself which makes the book seems impersonal at times. I guess this is also due to the fact that she wants to protect her identity. This is an interesting read, a look at Burma from the perspective of a foreign journalist.

"the Bush administration blacklists any journalist who asks "difficult" questions - denying that journalist access to future press conferences, etc - so that all journalists impose strict, self-censorship while pretending that this doesn't happen"
Give me a break. I wanted a review of the book not your extremely ridiculous attempt to compare our president to Burma's tyrants.
And our media/journalists are far from self-censored. Flip on the TV and the majority of the stations show Bush bashing garbage. And no one is keeping people like Helen Thomas' and her absurd columns from being published.
Do everyone a favor and just stick w/ the content of the book in your reviews.

I was completely unaware of author George Orwell's inextricable ties with Burma until I read this fascinating history by "Emma Larkin", a pseudonym for a female and Caucasian journalist based in Bangkok, who speaks Burmese and has been visiting the country for the past decade. She decided to make it her destiny to retrace all the steps Orwell took as a young police officer in the British colonial service there and expand upon her research to claim his experience gave birth to a trilogy of classic books, the first being "Burmese Days" followed by his classics, "Animal Farm" and "1984". Orwell, then known as Eric Blair, spent five years in the country in the 1920s before trading his Billy club for a pen. It is Larkin's contention that Burma today may be the most Orwellian place on earth.

What the author manages to do extremely well is balance her obsession with Orwell with a skillful and often moving depiction of a militarized country in turmoil run by the ironically dubbed State Peace and Development Council. Her ability to interweave the past with what she sees in contemporary Burma makes both accounts resonate more especially as she wanders looking for dissidents or people who knew Orwell. In penetrating detail, she finds remnants of the Orwell legacy - his old home, a street named for his mother's family, and people with dim memories of "Uncle Eric." Within this context, the author paints evocative pictures of a vibrant culture - Rangoon, Mandalay and the Irrawaddy River, nighttime markets twinkling with fairy lights and old, somewhat dilapidated colonial mansions.

However, she also captures the dampened spirit of individuals. In one encounter, she talks to an impassive old woman who suddenly breaks down and tells Larkin she has no hope for the future. In another, the author joins in with a little group of Anglo-Burmese spinsters who meet for tea to talk about the current state of affairs. One can immediately see a place where the principles and practices of "1984" are not the unrepentant fantasies of the upper-middle-class in the UK but simply dictatorial business as usual. Almost every other person is a spy for the government -- or could be. The author is dexterous in conveying this pervasive sense of paranoia amid an unfulfilled country rich in resources that should be as wealthy as its neighbor Thailand. In a powerful, eminently readable style, Larkin draws back the bamboo curtain just far enough for show us the brutal tyranny behind it. Superb reading.

This is a powerful, well-written book that will open eyes - especially for anyone not familiar with what is happening in Myanmar today. The present regime is killing the soul of the country, bit by bit, despite much propaganda that insists otherwise. Yes, new and refurbished hotels look swell and whirlwind tours have become expert at whisking visitors past the glorious sites at mind-numbing speed, but if you are smart enough to venture off the beaten track just a little, as Ms Larkin does, you will learn much. Larkin shows how Yangon and other cities have been reduced to "memory" (ghost of their former selves) and "meaning" (if you care to ferret out the "real" state of affairs in the country). Larkin does a wonderful job of interviewing a broad range of citizens to lend a personal, emotionally-gripping view of what could easily be intellectualized and safely kept at a distance while reading this book in a room, in a house, in a country far, far away. She also does a bang up job of connecting the dots between Orwell's life, his writings and the country that became so deeply imprinted upon him. Having said all this, do I have any gripes? Yes. First, Larkin occasionally comes up with odd descriptions that seem to reveal more about herself than her subject. A group of men huddled in a tea house are described as "girlish and secretive." ?? Second, while railing against a regime which censors whatever is politically inexpedient, since commits the same sin herself. She is a journalist in Asia and soft pedals the Burmese-Chinese tensions (lest she offend those with whom she does business should her cover be blown?) Yes, those mansions in Maymyo are often owned by the military elite and drug lords (as she says), but many are also owned by Chinese who are given preferential treatment due to their business investments while local Burmese are forced out of the way to make room for these invaders. The tension cannot be missed; it is palpable. Also, likely out of fear of alienating other powerful entities which can make life nice or nasty for her, she deliberately "misses" every opportunity to draw parallels between policies and practices of Myanmar's oppressive regime with similar policies and practices which have crept into what is supposed to be the model democracy in the world, the Shangrila with a system so craved by the Burmese people (Myanmar government officials censor every written article and news broadcast while pretending this doesn't happen; the Bush administration blacklists any journalist who asks "difficult" questions - denying that journalist access to future press conferences, etc - so that all journalists impose strict, self-censorship while pretending that this doesn't happen). Drawing such parallels would force the reader not to simply see this as a tale of what can happen elsewhere under extreme circumstances, but, ironically, what can happen even under his nose, under "ideal" circumstances. And that would add an important message to this worthy project, one summed up by the exhortatory words of a citizen quoted in the book: "We Burmese are experts at looking for what is not there. It's something you should learn to do, too."

Emma Larkin has written an excellent description of conditions in Burma today. Highly recommended for anyone contemplating traveling in Burma.

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.

The setting is the tropical beauty of Burma, its colorful villages and vibrant culture, all overlaying and obscuring the political oppression busy beneath the surface. Orwell experienced all this while posted in Burma as a member of the British Imperial Police. Larkin brings all this together in a literate tour of time and place that brings the reader back to Orwell's own writings with new insights and sensitivities.

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.