Gothic, horror suspense set on a “God-Forgotten” island off SCOTLAND
A novel of George Orwell in 1920s BURMA
11th December 2024
Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux, a novel of George Orwell in 1920s Burma.
The novel opens on a ship carrying 19 year old Eric Blair to his posting with the Indian Imperial Police Force (stationed in Burma). He is an unusually tall young man who came to write under the pen name of George Orwell. He arrives at Rangoon and travels up to Mandalay – “One of the great towns of the Raj… Palaces, pagodas, eating houses, the bazaar ..” From there he moves around the country, gaining experience of both the job, the people and the ways of the country. During his time in Katha, he starts working on his novel Burmese Days, describing his alter ego, John Flory, living on the Irrawaddy River, which he names Kyauktada. He eventually completed it by 1933 but it garnered mixed reviews.
He is not altogether enamoured by his posting but he has had to commit to a minimum of 3 years, otherwise he will have to pay the cost of his passage to Burma. The story incorporates many factual elements that are known of Blair’s time in the country and they are fed into this fictionalised retelling.
This is a story that is imbued with a terrific sense of time and place, and that of course is what the author does so well. The attitudes and the sometimes stiff manner of speech are perfectly rendered and transport the reader back to a period of colonial values (remember, times and views were very different back then). There is, of course, much lounging on verandas, as Blair and his contemporaries chew over the day’s activities, ponder the essence of the people and country, and digest the crimes of locals. There are “lessons in love'” to be mastered, and food and drink to be quaffed, all amidst the heat and mosquito infestations that tested their resilience.
This is such a well written novel that brings Burma to colourful life.
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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