false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170971563m/79793.jpg 79793 7 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.- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY starred review In one of the most intrepid travelogues in recent memory, Emma Larkin tells of the year she spent traveling through Burma, using as a compass the life and work of George Orwell, whom many of Burma's underground teahouse intellectuals call simply "the Prophet." In stirring prose, she provides a powerful reckoning with one of the world's least free countries. <I>Finding George Orwell in Burma</I> is a brave and revelatory reconnaissance of modern Burma, one of the world's grimmest and most shuttered police states, where the term "Orwellian" aptly describes the life endured by the country's people. BACKCOVER: 2280 2004 Finding George Orwell in Burma total:399|5:101|4:173|3:108|2:15|1:2| 399 1553 616 104 3 1 false false Wed May 13 15:09:26 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 15:09:26 -0700 2009 Finding George Orwell in Burma takes a unique approach to both travel and foreign reporting. First, the travels through the country follow George Orwell's stations when he was an imperial police officer in the country (experiences that led to his first novel, Burmese Days). But Orwell serves as ...more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Jun 28 09:30:43 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 18 08:01:32 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 20:04:04 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 20:14:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Mar 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 11:08:05 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 19 19:18:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 19:40:43 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 09:50:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Nov 18 15:42:22 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 15:47:01 -0800 2009
The edition I read was from 2004, so the pol...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Apr 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 15:13:05 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 07:14:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 03 11:19:51 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 11:24:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 03 09:10:37 -0800 2009 Thu Sep 03 10:32:43 -0700 2009 Finding George Orwell in Burma is the author's travelogue through present-day Burma, tracing the path George Orwell followed in his career as British military police in 1920's Burma. Under the pretense of studying British architecture the author travels throu...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 27 03:55:49 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 12 16:36:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 true false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Apr 04 13:41:54 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 04 13:53:26 -0700 2008
A lot of t...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jan 07 21:37:27 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 22:00:32 -0800 2008
...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 01 00:33:53 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 01 00:33:53 -0700 2007
On my way out of town, I had grabbed a copy of 1984 to read, but I had no idea that George Or...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Oct 04 11:49:11 -0700 2007 Sat Feb 28 06:53:03 -0800 2009 Finding George Orwell in Burma. Although I haven't been to Burma, and don't know if I ever will with the current state of affairs, Larkin captured a familiar tropical atmosphere.

I have only read 1984 of all of Orwell's writing, so I was gra...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 10 17:40:31 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 20:22:29 -0700 2007
I picked the book up totally on a whim one day in Borders and I am very glad I did. This is a...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 13:58:26 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 17:52:31 -0700 2007 1984 and Animal Farm - is much more than a good excuse to write a travelogue, this book is ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Mar 17 20:37:54 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 20:46:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 23 00:56:47 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 12 17:46:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jul 06 21:01:48 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 21:04:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 13:51:07 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 17:09:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=79793