Emma Larkin: Secret Histories: finding George Orwell in a Burmese teashop

Reviewed by JIM EAGLES

There is a Burmese joke - which Emma Larkin has come to see as a truth - that George Orwell wrote three books about Burma.

First, his debut novel, Burmese Days, which essentially reflects his disenchantment with his role as an instrument of colonial oppression.

Second, his satirical novel Animal Farm, in which the animals overthrow the humans and take control of the farm, only to find themselves under the far worse tyranny of the pigs.

And third, his masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-four, the classic tale of of a soulless, reality-distorting dictatorship.

Larkin's pursuit of this sad jest at the expense of the Burmese people takes her to the places Orwell was stationed during his five years as an officer in the Imperial Police Force, the cities of Rangoon and Mandalay; Moulmein, where there is still a street named after his grandfather, a prominent merchant; Myaungmya and Twante in the soggy delta of the Irrawaddy; and the hill town of Katha, the setting for Burmese Days.

More significantly, it also takes her behind the facade of present-day Myanmar - a facade created by generals who have much in common with the power-crazy pigs Napoleon and Snowball, using techniques that Big Brother would have applauded - to a world where the truth can be only whispered at great personal risk under the cover of the country's ubiquitous teashops.

The description of her physical journey provides an insightful view of Myanmar's fledgling tourist route and areas where westerners never go. But her political journey behind the facade is even more fascinating.

Teachers, university professors, students, a psychiatrist, booksellers, a teashop chess player, a historian and even passersby risk their freedom to share their experiences of the unreal Myanmar created by the generals.

And when visiting out-of-the-way places she also comes face-to-face with the regime's usually invisible minions, who follow her down country roads, try to eavesdrop on conversations, escort trips and even check on a visit to an abandoned graveyard.

Larkin concludes it is, "a real-life Nineteen Eighty-four where Orwell's nightmare visions are being played out with a gruelling certainty."

This is a wonderful book that should certainly be read by anyone thinking of going to Myanmar. But don't, on any account, take it with you.

* John Murray, $59.99