Burmese Days by George Orwell
George Orwell was born in India, educated in England, and served for five years with the Imperial Police in Burma. Burmese Days describes a small group of English officers and businessmen in a small outpost in Burma. Deeply contemptuous of the Burmese culture and people, they attempt, in their small whites-only club, to live as genteel English people. Only one of them, the central character Flory, takes an interest in the native culture or forms friendships among the people, for which he is ridiculed and despised by his fellow whites. The story is set against the backdrop of the Burmese land and climate, beautifully described, and the the story develops within a web of intrigue and corruption among native officials.
Flory is lonely and depressed in these surroundings, takes to drinking a lot and acquires a native concubine. An escape to a happier life seems to be offered by the arrival of Elizabeth, the niece of one of the Englishmen. Flory and Elizabeth are initially attracted to one another, but their relationship, though promising for a while, is doomed, resting in the end on complete mutual misunderstanding.
Orwell is a fine writer, and Burmese Days, his first novel, is worth reading for many reasons: its description of British Imperial rule in the Far East, its exposure of the extreme racism and white supremacism of Englishmen in Burma, its touching account of a lonely man seeking affection and understanding, and its evocation of the climate and the landscape.
Flory is lonely and depressed in these surroundings, takes to drinking a lot and acquires a native concubine. An escape to a happier life seems to be offered by the arrival of Elizabeth, the niece of one of the Englishmen. Flory and Elizabeth are initially attracted to one another, but their relationship, though promising for a while, is doomed, resting in the end on complete mutual misunderstanding.
Orwell is a fine writer, and Burmese Days, his first novel, is worth reading for many reasons: its description of British Imperial rule in the Far East, its exposure of the extreme racism and white supremacism of Englishmen in Burma, its touching account of a lonely man seeking affection and understanding, and its evocation of the climate and the landscape.