[.ca] Finding George Orwell In Burma (ISBN 0143037110)

Eric Blair in Myanmar:
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.