Present Books Conducive To Burmese Days
| Original Title: | Burmese Days |
| ISBN: | 1421808307 (ISBN13: 9781421808307) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | John Flory, Elizabeth Lackersteen, Dr. Veraswami, U Po Kyin, Ma Hla May, Lieutenant Verrall, Ellis (Burmese Days), Mr. MacGregor, Mrs. Lackersteen, Mr. Lackersteen |
| Setting: | Burma,1926 Myanmar |
George Orwell
Hardcover | Pages: 276 pages Rating: 3.85 | 20259 Users | 1278 Reviews
Representaion In Pursuance Of Books Burmese Days
Totally rewritten 19th May 2013.Set in the days of the Empire, with the British ruling in Burma, this book describes corruption and imperial bigotry. Although this was Orwell's first book and no doubt based in part on his experiences in his first job as a policeman in Burma, his talent is already fully developed, the writing is superb, the characterisations rounded and lively. Another of his stories from this time and location is also a favourite of mine, Shooting an Elephant
Burmese Days is essentially all about a load of unlikeable, vapid people who belong to an extremely boring club where nothing happens except occasional arguments and a lot of drinking. Now why would anyone want to be a member of a club like that? Because it is a colonial society where the whites run everything and the native people, no matter what their status in the local community, have no overt power and can't even get into a club full of stupid men whose only attribute is that they are white, the ruling class. But if they could get in, then they would have power by association.
The club is told they have to elect one local member. Two men try to get in. One, the honest and straightforward Dr. Veraswami, tries to get his good friend, John Flory, an English timber merchant and the main character, to use his influence on the club members. But Flory, a rather unattractive character who isn't prejudiced but is weak and so won't support the good doctor against the club members he so thoroughly dislikes but, because of race and class, identifies with. The other man, the slimy, sociopathic U Po Kyin,is prepared to wreck Veraswami's character and livelihood and see many lives be ruined and people die just in order to put himself in such a position that he becomes the only possible candidate. Then there is the love interest, another shallow, dislikeable character who can't attract anyone back home so she's been sent husband-shopping into a place where any single white woman is a rare orchid. Even her.
I read the book very tongue in cheek because I also live in a colonial society (but I am either beyond the pale or have the right credentials depending on what side you are on, as I married into a local, black family. A top political family at that). The thing for locals to get into is the yacht club and the local rescue association, neither of which admit locals unless they are top politicians or lawyers and therefore useful or at least, best not offended. But as political power on the island is all in black hands, the snobbery of the yacht club is ignored but the racism noted.
A while back, one of the islands, a private island resort, the sort you can helicopter into, wouldn't let blacks in as guests. The only ones there were the workers, none in managerial or even supervisory positions. A government minister sailed his very impressive 60' yacht there, anchored and dinghied to the beach. The beach staff (black, of course, but from poorer islands, so they didn't recognise him) wouldn't let him stay, told him it was against management policy, didn't believe he owned the yacht and threw him off.
The following week, the island was quite suddenly sold to a company with quite different policies. Result! Now we can all sail up for free on their guest ferry for Sunday lunch (reasonable price, but the price of the drinks...) or a very pleasant, if expensive dinner, hanging out with the millionaires and pretending to be one for the day. Everyone is welcome.
But what happened to the club in India, to the service organisations in the Caribbean? They are all run by posh locals now who apply their own rules for membership. Sometimes they are generous and everyone is welcome, but sometimes they continue the inherited snobbery and racism of the club founders, just from the other side not being any more liberal than their predecessors.
We have the girls who come husband-shopping too. Admin staff and secretaries they are looking for white guys far from home who might go out with but would never marry a local girl and so they are the rare orchids with a two year
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose*.
Read 2012. Review rewritten 2013 and 2015. Maybe next year too.
*(view spoiler)[The more things change, the more they stay the same (hide spoiler)]
Be Specific About Out Of Books Burmese Days
| Title | : | Burmese Days |
| Author | : | George Orwell |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 276 pages |
| Published | : | July 1st 2005 by 1st World Library (first published October 1st 1934) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Historical. Historical Fiction. Literature. Cultural. Asia |
Rating Out Of Books Burmese Days
Ratings: 3.85 From 20259 Users | 1278 ReviewsCriticize Out Of Books Burmese Days
George Orwells first novel, Burmese Days, is a damning look at British Imperialism and the effects of colonialism on both the British and the native populace. John Flory is an expatriate timber merchant who has lived in Burma for 15 years and become thoroughly jaded, spending his days drinking and whoring in a miserable haze. Then Dr Veraswami, his Indian friend, desperately implores Flory for membership to the European Club which he knows is the only thing that would save him from corrupt andI tend to hold back a bit when it comes to reviewing books chalked up as classics since behind every classic book is a classic author with an inevitable legion of fans convinced every word they penned was solid gold. When it comes to George Orwell, my brother is one of these people and was therefore delighted to lend me his copy of Burmese Days, assuring me how good it is. Ive read a touch of Orwell before - his most famous works, 1984 and Animal Farm - and been impressed with the ideas but
A sad, fierce and ambitious novel about the emptiness and loneliness of the waning days of the British Empire. It shows the ugliness and corruption of British class-based social structure, cultural bigotry and the harsh individual fantasies that are needed to keep the whole system afloat. It shows the future potential of Orwell, but lacks the restrained grace of his later novels. There are, however, definite glitters and shadows of both E.M. Forster and Joseph Conrad throughout. It is worth the
Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pseudonym George Orwell, was a novelist, essayist, journalist and book critic. He was born in British-ruled India in 1903 and served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927. This experience inspired his first novel, Burmese Days, which was first published in the USA in 1934.Orwell later commented: "...the landscapes of Burma, which, when I was among them, so appalled me as to assume the quality of nightmare, afterward stayed so hauntingly
In George Orwell's essay "Why I Write," he says that his first published work of fiction, Burmese Days (1934), is the kind of book that he aspired to write at the age of sixteen when a passage from Milton's Paradise Lost sent "shivers down [his] backbone." Specifically, Orwell says that he wanted to write "enormous naturalistic novels with unhappy endings, full of detailed descriptions and arresting similes, and also full of purple passages in which words were used partly for the sake of their
George Orwell spent five years in Burma (now Myanmar) as an imperial policeman. He eventually became disillusioned enough by his experiences to resign from his job. The decision cost him dearly,he would fall on hard times after that.This book has parallels with E.M.Forster's A Passage to India and seems to be influenced by it. Both books take a look at racial attitudes,an Englisman's friendship with an Indian doctor and feature an English girl who goes off to the colonies to get married and
I like Orwell's politics and vision. It is amazing to see how far he has gone in exposing 'untruths' and fighting 'injustices. 'Throughout his life, he remained steadfast in his politics. This makes him an admirable figure. We need writers like him even more today, but I wonder if there is any scope for such a man especially in First World countries where one does not know who Big Brothers and Winstons are; maybe they have merged into one entity, making the world even more intriguing than it
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