Los días de Birmania (edición definitiva avalada por The Orwell Estate)

Escrito por George Orwell

Narrado por Alfonso Vallés

Una soberbia novela sobre los abusos del poder colonial en Birmania, escrita por una de los grandes críticos del imperialismo

El protagonista de Los días de Birmania, el señor Flory, es el representante de una empresa maderera relegado a una remota provincia. Su apertura de miras hacia los nativos lo acerca al doctor Veraswami, quien tras caer en desgracia ante U Po Kyin, el poderoso y corrupto submagistrado local, necesita su patrocinio para formar parte del club social de Kyauktada, hasta ahora un reducto de los blancos. Por otra parte, la llegada de Elizabeth Lackersteen, una joven encantadora y caprichosa, provocará casi literalmente un terremoto en la pequeña comunidad.

George Orwell nació en la India en 1903, pero con solo un año de edad se trasladó con su madre y sus hermanos a Inglaterra. No volvió al continente asiático hasta cumplir los diecinueve años, para formar parte de la policía colonial de Birmania. Esta novela -la primera del genial escritor- es el fruto de aquellos años.

La presente edición, avalada por The Orwell Foundation, sigue fielmente el texto definitivo de las obras completas del autor, fijado por el profesor Peter Davison.

La crítica dijo:
«Una novela redonda, apasionante y de una madurez asombrosa.»
Soledad Puértolas

«Los días de Birmania sigue siendo el único texto importante que representa la conexión fascinante y de largo alcance entre George Orwell y Birmania. [Pero] en la Birmania de hoy hay un chiste en cuanto a que Orwell no escribió una sola novela sobre el país, sino tres: Los días de Birmania, Rebelión en la granja y 1984.»
Emma Larkin

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Penguin Random House Audio
• Traductor: Manuel Piñón García
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 23 sept 2021
• ISBN: 9788466361606

George Orwell

George Orwell (1903–1950), the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, was an English novelist, essayist, and critic. He was born in India and educated at Eton. After service with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, he returned to Europe to earn his living by writing. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of 1984 (1949), which brought him worldwide fame. 

Comentarios para Los días de Birmania (edición definitiva avalada por The Orwell Estate)

[howermj-223487 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Some books feel less like a story and more like a slow suffocation. Burmese Days is one of them. George Orwell’s first novel is a bleak, airless account of life in colonial Burma (now Myanmar) in the 1920s, where the British elite cling desperately to power in a world they barely understand, let alone deserve to control. It is not a novel of heroes, nor of redemption. It is a novel about cowardice—the kind that lets corrupt systems persist because those within them are too afraid, too comfortable, or too exhausted to fight.

If that feels uncomfortably relevant to modern America, it should.

A Colonial House of Cards

The British Raj, under which Burma was governed as part of India, was an empire sustained by illusion. The colonizers were not, as they claimed, bringing civilization—they were holding onto it by their fingernails, lording over a population that despised them while maintaining the fiction that they were in control. Orwell captures this in the novel’s central setting: the European Club, where a handful of British officials, merchants, and military men isolate themselves in drunken self-congratulation, ignoring the reality crumbling outside their walls.

It’s not hard to draw a modern parallel. The Republican Party—particularly its elected officials—have built a similar house of cards. Trump’s second presidency rests on a foundation of denial: denial of electoral realities, of policy consequences, of international fallout. To acknowledge the truth would be to admit that the system they have propped up is unsustainable. So they don’t. They circle the wagons, flatter themselves, and pretend things will hold together a little longer.

The Man Who Knows Better

The novel’s protagonist, John Flory, is an outsider among his own kind. He recognizes the corruption of colonial rule and the pettiness of his fellow Brits. He understands, in a way they do not, that the empire is rotting from within. But understanding is not the same as action. Flory does not resist the system; he tolerates it. He despises the men at the Club but still drinks with them. He pities the Burmese people but does nothing to help them. He sees what’s wrong but lacks the courage to stand apart.

Sound familiar?

Flory could be a moderate Republican today, too afraid of the far-right to say out loud what they admit in private. He could be a Democrat who talks about the Constitution while failing to defend it when it counts. He could be any ordinary American who knows things are headed in the wrong direction but assumes someone else will step in to "fix it" before it gets too bad.

In short, Flory is a person who knows better but looks away. And Orwell makes clear what happens to such people: the system they enable consumes them.

The Slow Collapse of a Corrupt System

Burmese Days is not a fun book. It is a slow, grim march toward an ending that feels both inevitable and avoidable. Orwell doesn’t offer much hope, either. His later works (1984, Animal Farm) suggest he believed corrupt systems rarely fall because of moral awakening. They fall when they finally become too dysfunctional to sustain themselves. By then, the damage is usually irreversible.

The United States is not British Burma. But the lesson holds. There is no guarantee that someone will step in at the last moment to prevent further decline. Waiting and hoping are not strategies. If Orwell were alive today, he would likely see America’s predicament with the same cold clarity he brought to this book: a system upheld by those too afraid to challenge it and too cynical to fix it, moving steadily toward collapse.

Recommendation

Burmese Days is not a pleasant read, but if you've made it this far in my review, I recommend you attempt it. The book drags. It suffocates. But that is also the source of its power. Orwell understood something fundamental about corruption and abuse of power: it does not require grand conspiracies or brilliant villains to persist. It only requires enough people to look away.

That is as true now as it was then.

Postscript

I realize this review isn’t in the same vein as my others—no key takeaways, no lessons for the future. Burmese Days is so bleak that it’s hard to focus on anything constructive. The novel offers no redemption, no change, no grand moment of realization. And yet, that might be the most important lesson of all: when corruption and cowardice go unchallenged, nothing changes.

That said, a few days after I drafted the review, I pulled together a few key points that we would do well to remember:

[kristelh_15 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Reason read: special event, reading 1001, word of the month (Day)
This is the debut novel of George Orwell published in 1934 and is part of the 1001 Books. It is historical and part of Burma/British history. It looks at the effects of colonialization on the Burmese and the British. I was mostly impressed by how some of the characters horrible mistakes and words went on without repercussions but others were greatly harmed by those words. The themes are imperialism, racism, loneliness, and the corrupting influence of power.

Women characters both British and native women. I did not like any of them. The difference in culture and appearance was depicted very well by Orwell. I did not like the young British gal as she was so bigotted and obviously wanted a husband but was also too swayed by appearances that she failed to see the best possibilities. I did not like the mistress of Flory because she was obviously using him and being used. I did not appreciate her at all. The women represent the pull of Burma on Flory and his own British Culture as represented by Elizabeth.

The main character, John Flory actually liked Burma and liked the people. He however was unable to stand up for his own ideas and is referenced as "ambivalent". The most visible symbol in the novel is Flory's birthmark—a large, ragged-edged, dark-blue crescent that runs across the entire left side of his face. The birthmark symbolizes how Flory's beliefs about art, colonialism, and native culture make him an outsider to the others. Flory was ashamed of his birthmark and toward the end he willing showed his birthmark only to end up totally rejected and unable to cope further with is isolation.

George Orwell worked in Burma as part of the Indian Imperial Police Force.

[daniel_m_oz · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

A way of viewing how the Raj worked on peoples lives and relationships - whilst fiction it is based on the first hand experiences of the author which gives the narrative the feel of authenticity. The overall feeling is one of melancholy - perhaps the intended emotion to be felt regarding life in that outpost of the Raj at that time?

[burritapal · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Horrifying and fascinating at the same time.

[jeffome · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Somewhat dark piece that covers the British administration of Burma in the early 1900's, and explores the clash of cultures and perils of living in a completely different foreign land, and the political corruption, bigotry, racism and loneliness that creeps in and begins to dominate the lives of all. This very small enclave of English officials and businessmen, in particular, John Flory, struggle to survive and thrive in a very small town in the north of this very tropical nation. Their Club is their refuge from the reality of this extreme environment they find themselves in, and they handle their challenges differently. Flory begins to assimilate and accept and appreciate the charm of this different world and in doing so, stirs up the ire of those less willing. Enter the young English blonde niece forced to move in with her aunt and uncle, and the unraveling accelerates. Initially, i was lost as to where we even were due to the constant barrage of terms such as 'Indians,' coolies, Orientals, Burmese, etc. I thought this was taking place in India.....but i finally looked up some history of the area and realized that the English were administering Burma as they were India. The clarity helped immensely. Thus, I learned a bit of history i was unaware of, but the characters were hard to like, the climate seemed completely oppressive...and i was just reading about it. Interesting, a wee bit slow here and there, but a surprising ending. 3 stars is the best i can do.

[gypsysmom_1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

This is another of those discoveries thanks to the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. I have read Orwell's better known works (1984 and Animal Farm) but I didn't even know about this book until the 1001 list came out. I also didn't know that Orwell spent a number of years in Burma (before the name was changed to Myanmar) as a military policeman. That sojourn had a life-changing effect on Eric Blair (George Orwell is a pseudonym for Blair).

The central figure of this book is John Flory, a middle-aged Englishman who has spent most of his adult years as a timber merchant in Burma. Flory has a prominent birthmark on his face about which he is very self-conscious. He has never returned to England and now he is more Burman than English, a fact that does not endear him to the other members of the British Raj stationed in the small town of Kyauktada. The few English inhabitants gather daily and nightly in the English club where there is copious alcohol if not ice to cool the drinks. The weather is hot and dry at the opening of the book and everyone's nerves are frayed. The situation is exacerbated by a dictum from on high that there should be at least one native allowed into the club membership. Flory is good friends with the Indian doctor, Veraswami, and would not mind if he was allowed in the club but most of the other members are strident racists. Trouble is brewing. Into this boiling mixture comes the beautiful Elizabeth Lackersteen, the orphaned niece of the alcoholic manager of a timber firm. Flory is instantly smitten and, as the only bachelor on hand, has a good chance of wooing Elizabeth. In reality, Flory is much too good for Elizabeth who is shallow and rather stupid. After a day when Flory takes Elizabeth out on a shooting expedition and they bag a leopard it looks like Flory will propose and Elizabeth will accept. An earthquake and the imminent arrival of an Honourable with the military police interrupt. From then on it is downhill for Flory.

Many years ago I stumbled across the novels and short stories of W. Somerset Maugham which were set amongst the British stations in the East. This book reminded me a lot of Maugham and, according to the introduction by David Eimer, it is highly likely that Orwell was influenced by Maugham's writing which would have been readily available in Burma when Orwell was stationed there. The British Empire, like most colonial regimes, pillaged the land and resources of Burma and treated the native inhabitants with bigotry and oppression. It seems that the current deplorable state of the Rohingya people in Myanmar even has roots in the British rule of the country.

[mbmackay · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Orwell's first novel - good in parts. The plot is well constructed, the characters sharply drawn, but lacking depth, and set against the backdrop of Burma during the colonial era. I struggled with the appalling bigotry of most of the lead characters, and with the inevitable doom of the lead character, who alone shows respect or sympathy to the land and its people, but who is destined for a bad ending.
Glad I read it, but I can't see myself going back to it any time time soon.

[jmcdbooks · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Rated: B+
What an amazing time when England ruled the world and the sun never set on the British Empire. Colonialism at it's worst as "civilized" British businesses demeaned and dismiss natives residents. Elements of racism 100 years ago in far away places are still with us here today.

[starbox_2 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Although I read most of Orwell's novels in my teens, this got missed, as I'd always assumed it to be some sort of autobiography, It is, in fact, the most brilliantly written novel (and I'm not hugely one for hardfaced colonials, oppressed natives and shooting big game...but the characterization here is superb.)
In a remote Burmese settlement, the colonials meet at the club. And they're a pretty unpleasant, hard drinking, racist lot. And then there's Florey...a rather more likeable type, even if he doesn't always have the courage of his convictions. Lonely, considering himself unlovable with a serious birthmark...and good friends (to the disgust of his compatriots) with a local Indian doctor. Meanwhile local official, U Po Kyin, an entirely corrupt (though very canny) chap, is quietly planning the downfall of the Indian doctor... And a pretty niece of one of the colonials has come out in search of a husband...
Utterly unputdownable, wraps you ina sense of the country.

[brenzi_3 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

”Time passed, and each year Flory found himself less at home in the world of the sahibs, more liable to get into trouble when he talked seriously on any subject whatever. So he had learned to live inwardly, secretly, in books and secret thoughts that could not be uttered. Even his talks with the doctor were kind of talking to himself; for the doctor, a good man, understood little of what was said to him. But it is a corrupting thing to live one’s real life in secret. One should live with the stream of life, not against it.” (Page 78)

This was Orwell’s first novel although that wasn’t apparent to me. While it didn’t have any of the otherworldly elements of his most well-known works, it was very well written and very enjoyable and at the same time maddening, as it contained all the elements usually found in works that attempt to describe life under British imperialism in India and, in this case, 1920s Burma where Orwell was stationed. He drew from his experiences to write this novel.

The bleakness that is evident in his dystopian novels is evident here as well. The blatant racism is shocking but apparently very common among those English stationed in the colonies at the time. There are no holds barred so be prepared for deplorable language in describing how the English spoke of and treated the natives.

John Flory is the exception. He’s never gone home in the fifteen or so years that he’s been stationed here, working for a lumber company. He enjoys the land and its people and his outspokenness, especially at the English club gets him in constant frays with the rest of the English. His closest friend is a native doctor. Flory is a vehicle for Orwell to express his disdain for the English Imperialism in its dying days. Flory’s loneliness and hopelessness seems about to be assuaged when a niece of one of the other Englishmen comes to live with him and Flory hopes for someone to talk to and share some of his life with. He makes feeble attempts to convince her of the wonderful qualities of Burmese life but she is a stalwart racist who can’t tolerate the native population. You know this relationship isn’t going to work and poor Flory is going to lose out in the end. And of course, he does.

I’ve read quite a few books about the British colonialism in the East but this book I have to say, is the most brutal depiction of life in the east. I still need to read [A Passage to India] which may offer a different perspective but I doubt it. This was quite brilliant. I’ll read more of Orwell’s early works.

[eglinton_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The Empire, the generations of British rule over vast territories and peoples, then as now perceived by those peoples as fundamentally iniquitous, remains largely unexamined in the consciousness, and indeed the conscience, of the British themselves. So this easily overlooked first novel from George Orwell, based on his experiences as an imperial official in small outposts in 1920s Burma, and taking a critical, at times cynical line on any redeeming mission, is welcome, and ought still to feel controversial. Although a first novel, it holds together well, with credible characters and plot. Orwell’s characteristic style and content are already evident - the sententiousness, the plain speaking, the novel similes, the disdain for the hypocrisies of his fellow Britons and their own obliviousness to them. Less familiar from his later works is the numerous, rather heady description of sights, smells, colours of the East. The flowers and plants, the various peoples and the heat are all carefully referenced.

[jbreedlove_6 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Orwell is a great writer and he made the story bearable. EVen if you could see that Flory was going to lose out in the end it would have been nice to see him win one.
Wonder what happened to these people when the Japs showed up a few years later.

A good look at the sahib life in Burma. Always enjoy Orwell.

[jigarpatel-6 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

This is exactly the type of book I devour. It was published ten years after E. M. Forster's classic A Passage to India. Burmese Days, though, is more direct and pessimistic. First published in the US due to controversial non-fictional elements, it is utterly scathing of British colonialism. The characters are unlikeable and do little to redeem themselves. Religion, especially superstition, is mocked. Distrust between the white and Orientals reveals itself with equal depravity on both sides. The physical poverty of the Burmese is contrasted only with the psychological poverty of the British. Stereotypes abound. The ending is tragic. So, why would anyone enjoy a book like this? It would be too easy to slip in a dashing knight to rescue Elizabeth from her flawed suitors, save Flory from the evil designs of U Po Kyin, and promote the well-meaning Dr Veraswami. While Forster raises questions, Orwell sends a message, and not necessarily a wholesome one at that. While I cannot share Orwell's single-minded viewpoint, I appreciate his efforts to condemn the meaner aspects of British colonialism. If I had one criticism, it is that Burma / India and Burmese / Indians are often described interchangeably. Perhaps this is a reference to the one-dimensional view the British had of their colonies and subjects. Nevertheless, given Orwell's deep interest in other cultures, I expected a little more detail and differentiation. Favourite Quotes
His practice, a much safer one, was to take bribes from both sides and then decide the case on strictly legal grounds. This won him a useful reputation for impartiality.
Free speech is unthinkable. All other kinds of freedom are permitted. You are free to be a drunkard, an idler, a coward, a backbiter, a fornicator; but you are not free to think for yourself. Your opinion on every subject of any conceivable importance is dictated for you by the pukka sahibs’ code.
‘I am certain of it. When a white man begins going to the English pagoda, it is, as you might say, the beginning of the end.’
He so wanted her to love Burma as he loved it, not to look at it with the dull, incurious eyes of a memsahib! He had forgotten that most people can be at ease in a foreign country only when they are disparaging the inhabitants.
In India you are not judged for what you do, but for what you are. The merest breath of suspicion against his loyalty can ruin an Oriental official.
He had forgone the building of a pagoda, and appreciably lessened his chances of Nirvana, to pay for it.
Sometimes for minutes together invisible cicadas would keep up a shrill, metallic pinging like the twanging of a steel guitar, and then, by stopping, make a silence that startled one.
Blessed are the poor, the sick, the crossed in love, for at least other people know what is the matter with them and will listen to their belly-achings with sympathy. But who that has not suffered it understands the pain of exile?
Eight hundred people, possibly, are murdered every year in Burma; they matter nothing; but the murder of a white man is a monstrosity, a sacrilege. Poor Maxwell would be avenged, that was certain. But only a servant or two, and the Forest Ranger who had brought in his body, and who had been fond of him, shed any tears for his death.

[jonfaith · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

There is a great gnashing of teeth at Kipling and other apologists of a A Great Lie (that would be the benevolence of imperialism) in these pages: Niall Ferguson, consider yourself warned. The adroit juggling of characters/perspectives proved impressive. Truth be told, I hadn't read this before due to the opening sequence detailing a Burmese character. That felt uncomfortable at the time.

[danielstj · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

This was an interesting novel. While I enjoyed the political plots and satires that were offered in the beginning, and the middle of the book, it seemed to go off-course when the romance was first introduced. Additionally, the climax and ending were less satisfactory than I would have imagined. Nevertheless, it is a first novel and still quite impressive. I recommend it for all those interested in Orwell.

[ffortsa · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

It was interesting to read this after the Marguerite Duras book The Vice Consul, which takes place at approximately the same time and place but in the French colonial circumstance rather than the English. Where the Duras was a sort of mesmerizing dream, this is more of an account of misery, with its attendant racism and despair.

[untraveller · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Very nice....easily read w/ the typical Orwellian approach: a disdain for power centralized in the hands of a few, whether colonial or otherwise. Am really surprised this book garnered only a 4.0. My sole improvement would have been to include a glossary on Asian vocabulary used throughout the book. Purchased in Yangon about 3 weeks ago for 2,000 kyat, about $1.50 USD, new.

[madepercy-1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Brilliant. Explores the stupidity of racism that still exists today. Ends in a sad story that Hollywood could never accept. Makes politicking look like an absurd past-time for idiots. Proves one of Aesop's most prolific fables. Is Orwell really Hemingway's older brother who became a preacher? If only Animal Farm and 1984 had not received so much attention, we might have known the difference. Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair) was three years older than I am now when he died. He lived such a full life but I think I will need longer to even contemplate his experiences, let along learn from them or create my own. Orwell was so far ahead of his time I doubt the current vanilla generation even come close to understanding what he understood, let alone do anything to right current wrongs. He is the master and I must read more of his work.

[phoenixcomet · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

When you start reading a book, decide that you don't really want to get into the story, but go back to reading it anyway because the prose is "that" good, you know you have an excellent novel in your hands. And of course, it is written by George Orwell, whom every grade school student has had to read.

Burmese Days is the story of Mr. Flory, an Englishman living in Burma during the days of colonialism. Flory is clearly a highly conflicted character, friends with the local doctor Verswami and at odds with his fellow Englishman, yet without the courage to directly conflict with them. And then comes Elizabeth, a beautiful young girl whom he falls madly in love with. All of the story is set within the context of local politico U Po Kyin's duplicitous scheme to discredit Verswami and to be elected to the local "club" which - up until this point - has been exclusive to only the British.

The story is fairly straightforward and the ending a bit anti-climatic, but the sense of the times in Burma is clearly conveyed. For a greater understanding of British colonialism and the prevalent attitudes of the time, this is an excellent read.

[kaitanya64 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Not my favorite of Orwell's, but a tragic story of how the colonial structure destroys the potential good in people.

[idiotgirl · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Listened to this book while travelling in India over the past couple of weeks. A very interesting book written in 1930s about the British empire in larger India. Interesting to know that Orwell was a policeman in Burma himself. Like to think of this as along the spectrum to Animal Farm and 1984. A pretty devastating picture of the late empire.

[emscape · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

What a depressing book. Being an Englishman enforcing British rule in Burma is a dreary, painful, soul-crushing existence. Our 'hero', Mr. Flory is quite dismayed with his lot in life, finding his only pleasure in his chats with an educated Burman named Dr. Veraswami. Unfortunately, a local conniving pulchritudinous evil power-grubbing type, U Po Kyin has it out for Veraswami, and Flory along with him. Flory's lot in life seems to be looking up when young Elizabeth comes to stay with her aunt and uncle, and Flory attempts to woo her, but the machinations of U Po Kyin along with Elizabeth's vapid nature and cruel fate seek to deny him this pleasure. The other secondary characters, other Europeans, are a nasty, racist, horrid lot who revel in the mistreatment of the 'natives' while simultaneously basking in their praise and idolatry of the white men.
It's obvious that Orwell, who spent time in British India, knows his subject and disdains his fellow Europeans. His alter ego, Flory, enjoys the local customs and the richness of the Burmese culture, but is vilified for this by his fellow men as well as Elizabeth. There is little hope for the future of these people or the state of British rule, and the result of reading this book is distaste and revulsion, not for the native men, but for their slavers. Which is probably Orwell's point. One takes little comfort in the fact that these days have past, knowing that this kind of thing is still going on in various countries around the world, but not at the hands of the British. Small favor, that.

[schmicker · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I spent some time in Asia, and Orwell captured the feeling so well.

[dinadansfriend · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

George Orwell had quite an interesting life, and this was his first novel relating to his experience in the police force set up by the British when they held Burma. It outlines the interactions in a community when the actual power of life and death is held outside that group. He shows how the process of colonialism infantilized the community and leads to quite serious levels of cruelty as the colonizer is there to blame, reducing local responsibility. even well intentioned limbs of the Imperial government can be quite helpless in the face of someone who knows how to work the system. Chilling.

[leslie398 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Interesting but somewhat depressing look at British colonial life in the 1920s. Very few of the characters are sympathetic and even Flory, whom I found the most congenial, had his flaws. I was a bit taken by surprise by the way the Brits lumped Burma in with India and called the native Burmese blacks... Orwell clearly despised the prevailing racism and arrogance of these white colonials but the ending of the book seems to indicate a feeling of helplessness about the possibility of change.

[crazymamie · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I read this book after reading [Finding George Orwell in Burma]. I was curious about it, and if you want the ending to be a surprise, you should really read [Burmese Days] before reading Emma Larkin's memoir about retracing Orwell's life in Burma while he was stationed there. [Burmese Days] was Orwell's first novel, and you can tell that he wrote it after being witness to the effects of colonialism first hand. If it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, its because it's supposed to. Imperialism and colonialism aren't pretty and neither are the characters in this book, many of whom it is impossible to like. That it was Orwell's first novel shows, I think, but still, it is compelling and in the writing we see brief moments of what Orwell will achieve in later works.

"The real work of administration is done mainly by native subordinates; and the real backbone of the despotism is not the officials but the Army....It is a stifling, stultifying world in which to live. It is a world in which every word and every thought is censored. In England it is hard even to imagine such an atmosphere. Everyone is free in England; we sell our souls in public and buy them back in private, among our friends. But even friendship can hardly exist when every white man is a cog in the wheels of despotism. Free speech is unthinkable. All other kinds of freedom are permitted. You are free to be a drunkard, an idler, a coward, a backbiter, a fornicator; but you are not free to think for yourself."

[belgrade18 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Brilliantly written story about British colonial Burma. It was Orwell's first novel, and nearly as much a dystopia as 1984. A bit slow at times, with very few likable characters. Great insight into the British colonial culture and mindset. Highly recommended for those interested in 20th-century Asia as well.

[drfp_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Well this was a thoroughly depressing read. Regardless, Orwell's first novel is a decent offering that takes a while to get going, even if the book is not excessively overwritten. The pacing of the novel is merely uneven. Events unfold very slowly during the first third and gradually come faster until the almost sudden conclusion.

Everything is quite standard here. A plot and cast that are interesting enough to keep you reading but neither of which forcefully grips. Perhaps if both hadn't been quite so nasty this wouldn't have been a problem. It goes without saying that Orwell's social and imperial criticism is particularly admirable, although that isn't enough to make this novel as good as the likes of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

[carltonc_5 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I was disappointed by this, as although I found the book very informative about Burma between the wars - the tedium, hypocrisy and petty mindedness of the English ruling class - it has little narrative charm and is utterly predictable.
I only struggled to finish it as I have read and admired Orwell's non-fiction, which can be brilliant.

[whiteriot · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

A fantastic first novel. A critique of imperialism, a romantic tragedy and all based on real experience not academic research.