Burmese Days: A Novel Paperback – March 20, 1974

As with HOMAGE TO CATALONIA, there is something in Orwell's writing that surpasses itself somehow. It isn't overblown in any way; it doesn't make claims or raise flags to impossible causes, and neither does it go for a good wallow in the bed. That is the character of its self-effacing superiority: there's Modesty, Proportion, and Perspective. But, there is humor, or irony, and it is of the most biting kind. Take this parody/snipped from a would-be Burmese newspaper:"In these happy times, when we poor blacks are being uplifted by the mighty western civilisation, with its manifold blessings such as the cinematograph, machine-guns, syphilis, etc., what subject could be more insporing than the private lves of our European benefactors? We think therefore that it may interest our readers to hear somethig of events in the up-country district of Kyauktada. And especially of Mr. Macgruder, honored Deputy Commissioner of said district."Mr. Macgruder is of the type of the Fine Old English Gentleman, such as in these happy days, we have so many examples before our eyes. He is 'a family man' as our dear English cousins say. Very much a family man is Mr. Macgruder. So much so that he has already three thildren in the district of Kyauktada, where he has been a year, and in his last district of Shwemyo he left six young pregnancies behind him. Perhaps it is an oversight on Mr. Macgregor's part that he has left these young infants quite unprovided for, and that some of their mothers are in danger of starvation,' etc., etc."Although this is a story about aching boredom, there's nothing quite predictable in it. (Occasionally you want to scream!) Somewhat autbiographical, BURMESE DAYS is largely based on Orwell's life as a career civil officer in Burma during the days of the Raj, when Britain ruled most of that part of the world. If there was anything to be madce out of that in 1934 -- before the Japanese swept all of it away, leaving the astounded English to starve in prison camps and/or to work in slave labor construction gangs -- it might have been simply, as the Japanese are said to have said, "Asia for the Asians," or merely that the English shipped only their dregs, the unemployable off to pull the levers of their colonial apparatus, for surely as you read you will be inclined to agree that it would be difficult to imagine a more despicable group of men (and women) anywhere. (Though as we look at Burma as it is in the news these days, we might wonder if there's been an improvement in their society, since libereation? Or we might not. It's their country after all. Being free, are they not free to be themselves?) Besides, the armature of the novel is a cunning, selfish scheme set in motion by a corrupt Burmese minor officlal to advance himself into the society of the ruling whites. To drink a whiskey, occasionally, at the local Club. Nevertheless...Nevertheless, there are surprises even here in the sweltering monotony, and in plenty too. For this is a story about an unattractive Englishman, not young, who hates himself and his job and the people with whom he associates, who admires much of he native culture, and who has the bad luck to fall in love with an attractive-looking Englishwoman he thinks may, or at least can either love or understand him. But I go no further.The story is a simple one and I will not break confidence with its author. It is a short book, and trust me, you will be amply rewarded by whatever effort you exert in reading the thing: the atmosphere, the descriptions all are rendered up with unusual vividness.

A detailed and compelling story that immerses the reader in the complex, racist culture and steamy travails of colonial Burma. Strong character development and unexpected twists make this first Orwell novel one to remember.

I consider this book similar in quality to W. Somerset Maugham's writings. Orwell's descriptive style takes your imagination to the British Raj in very colorful fashion and lets you spend a few months at a remote Burma colonial station so well that you can form strong and lasting images of the Orient. The book's is set post WWI in a sweltering jungle location, where the Brits live off of and step on the people of colonial Burma. Orwell's sympathies lie with the protagonist, an ex-pat Englishman, who spent 20 years in the "colonies" hiding from his homeland due to a facial birthmark that affects him like a monkey on his back. When a beautiful young British girl comes to town, you witness his tragic self destruction. A really good look at how bad colonialism is and was in the British Empire. It gives you an insight into Orwell's disdain for oppressive government more popularly shown in Animal Farm and 1984.

With his very first novel, Orwell earned an honorable position on the crowded shelves of Raj Lit. It was a kind of self-liberation, so he could drop the subject henceforth.He had spent 5 years in Burma as a police officer. Why had he done that? His family was of the shabby genteel class, and his father's pension from the imperial service in India was barely enough to carry him through school. So he skipped university and did what the people in his novel do: sign up for the colonies in the hope of reasonable wealth and career.When he quit after 5 years, he had some explaining to do. He did it with this novel.Most first novels are autobiographic to some extent, but Orwell did something different: he figured out what he himself would have become had he stayed. His 'hero' Flory is an alter ego under the hypothical assumption of having stayed for 15 years instead of quitting after 5.Flory has a different job, but that doesn't matter much. He is a deeply lonely and frustrated man without prospects. He is disgusted with himself and with his social crowd, the sahiblog, who enforce conformism in the most primitive way. They are generally a disgusting group of people.Flory meets a young woman who seems the answer to his loneliness problem. For her, he might be the solution to her problem, which is the expectation of spinsterhood in poverty. They misunderstand each other thouroughly and make a huge mess of it.The personal tragedy of Flory is framed by stories of imperial intrigues, by local officials playing Machiavelli and by the sahibs sinking into delirium tremens.I read it first when I was working and living in other parts of the by then former Raj. I think everything would have been different if the poorpeople, the sahiblog, had had airconditioning. They might have been able to use their brains more.

George Orwell beautifully describes the setting, the climate and the characters (although I had to create my own cast of characters at first to keep the Englishmen straight in my mind), but I couldn't get past the depressing story. The English men (and the two women) were shallow, and prejudiced against the natives, and also cruel. It may have been an accurate description of the times (1920's), but it was difficult to accept that the colonists were so indifferent to the lives of the Burmese who worked for & served them. The main character, Flory, who supposedly cared for those natives he knew, wavered when it came to defending them against the cruelty of his countrymen who were stationed there. I can't fault Orwell's descriptions -- I came to feel that stifling and oppressive atmosphere, and the soul-sucking isolation. The ending is a real downer. If I hadn't been reading the book for a book club group, I don't know if I would have read to the end.

Lovely printing and good quality! Nice and small- not too small, and quite thick (335 pages). Highly recommend.

Orwell produces a brilliantly vivid tale of Empire. With a fantastic and convincing eye for detail he reveals the reality of Imperial life. Honest and inspiring he reveals the dark, seedy and violent reality of Liberal imperialism. A thoroughly enjoyable and brutal expose of colonial realities. From economic sabotage and destruction, to sickening racism and racial injustice. A grubby but gripping tale of Empire.

Einer der besten und beeindruckendsten Romane, den ich seit langer Zeit gelesen habe. Orwell war selbst für einige Zeit in Burma und schafft es, die kleine Stadt, über die er schreibt, zu mir nach Hause zu bringen. Ich konnte die Luft, die Pflanzen, die Tiere und die Menschen riechen, fühlen und schmecken, ich roch ihre Speisen, ich sah ihre Gewänder und fühlte die Möbel unter mir, auf denen sie saßen. Ich sag ganz deutlich das Bild von Burma, das Orwell mir vermitteln wollte. Ich sah die unglaublich widerlichen und angewiderten britischen Kolonialbeamten, die sich an Burma bereicherten, sich im Recht und den indischen Einwohnern unendlich überlegen fühlten. Ich litt mit dem einen mit, der gern anders sein wollte und es doch nicht sein konnte. Ich spürte die Hilflosigkeit, Unterwürfigkeit und falsche Bewunderung mancher Burmesen. Ich sah die durch Schönheit überdeckte Dummheit und durch den Geist der Zeit unterdrückte weibliche Intelligenz. Ein beeindruckendes Buch, das noch lange nachwirken wird.

This is an excellent read.Filled with racial overtones Nevertheless it is a good yarn and a good account of life in colonial Burma.

Instead of the book in the picture I have received a different, older, Penguin edition of the novel.