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More reviews by Paul McGuire
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Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
EMMA LARKIN is a journalist. She maintains that the unholy trinity of George Orwell's most popular and accessible books -- Burmese Days, Animal Farm and 1984 -- were uncannily prophetic about the fate of Burma as it moved from colonial rule to an uneasy military dictatorship in the author's after his death in 1950. Her book is a physical and metaphorical odyssey as she travels the length and breadth of Burma trying to draw evidence for her thesis from Orwellian references and memories of a range of witnesses as well as just about anyone she meets with an opinion on the author or the country.
Orwell lived in Burma for much of the 1920s and his relationship with a country that could treat expatriates harshly was shrouded in tortured and often confused introspection. He was a complex character subject to depression and even paranoia: in many ways a fish out of water. His ambivalent attitude to English rule and his inability to reconcile the attitude of locals may have provided a creative spark for many regard as his literary genius but also made for an unhappy combination.
And in many ways this is an unhappy book. It is a curious montage of reportage, travel book and potted history of both the man and the country. In the end, the pseudo-dramatic conversations with literate Burmese in teashops and secret locations barely out of earshot of the secret police lack verisimilitude. However, Larkin's writing is thoughtful and accessible and despite the fact that the book fails to punch above its weight, it remains an interesting, if often curious read.
Larkin clearly loves Burma and her subject but fails to do either justice. While some of the comments about the destruction of the education system, the difficulties of cross-cultural relationships and their offspring and the censorship and oppression of individual freedom and literature are poignant, they are hardly new.
Of course one can draw parallels between elements of Burma today from Orwell's clever allegories and Larkin's attempt to bring those to life by exploring her ideas with real Burmese people an admirable one worthy of consideration. But while she tried to find George Orwell the overriding impression is that he is still tantalisingly just out of reach, hiding in his work and elsewhere: probably with an ironic smile on his face.
Paul McGuire
22/10/2005
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Paul McGuire is a freelance author, writer and reviewer. He is also Deputy Principal of Sha Tin Junior School. |
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