You may have read 1984 and Animal Farm, but have you even heard about Burmese Days? It’s an extraordinary novel and the book I recommend you to read this month. Hello, and be welcome to my new post.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
In 2015 I went on a binge of English literature. I read seven books from British authors.
And that’s when I discovered and read this lost jewel by the great Orwell.
It is the best novel ever written about the country of Burma, now called Myanmar.
Find out about it here:
The Queen's Own Madras Sappers and Miners (via: Wikipedia)
It’s the 1920s. John Flory, a melancholic man of 35 years old has been living in Burma, part of the British Empire, for the last 15 years. He has an administrative position in a forestry company that extracts wood from trees in the Asian jungles. He divides his time between his office work in a little town named Kyauktada and the jungle. He has learned to love life in Burma despite the suffocating heat, the mosquitos, the lack of options, diseases and the poor infrastructure. He has a house with servants, a sort of butler who has two wives, and a young native mistress which he bought from her parents for 300 rupees. He likes to go hunting and also spends a lot of time in the English Club where only white British people can be members. There, Flory picks his mail, buys books, reads the papers and magazines and plays bridge with other members of the Club. But Flory is alone, despises the other English men, drinks lots of alcohol and feels his life is empty.
Sergeant, 2nd Bn The East Surrey Regiment. Review Dress Guard of Honour for the Prince of Wales c 1904 (India) (via: queensroyalsurreys.org.uk)
Meanwhile things are about to change for the British. A despicable, fat and corrupt magistrate, named U Po Kyin, wants to be part of the English Club and won’t stop at anything to make his wish come true. John Flory wants his friend, the quiet and cultured Dr. Veraswami, to be a member of the Club and U Po Kyin considers this doctor an enemy to be destroyed. As time passes by U Po Kyin will put his sinister plans to work, bribes, defamation and a dangerous mutiny. To make matters worse, one day, a lovely but capricious young English woman named Elizabeth will arrive to Kyauktada. And the quiet life of the British in town will be altered in ways they never imagined.
A sunset in Burma (via: pixabay)
Corruption, murders, hunting in the jungle, a British Empire that looks quite solid after WWI and wants to remain so. Men with many wives, British men with brown native mistresses, prostitution, alcoholism, Chinese coolies, Indian sepoys that serve the British army; religious native festivals, pagodas, colorful but overcrowded street markets, British women who mistreat their servants and don’t even mind learning the native language. A brief description of life in Paris, where the British with no money are forced to live. Strange and exotic animals; malaria and tropical diseases; jails in horrible conditions; half breed men who prefer to starve so they can say they are Europeans; corrupted and whiner natives who have no shame and humiliate themselves for coins are all elements and themes you will find in this great underrated novel.
A pagoda in Myanmar (via: pixabay)
Some of the great characters you will meet here are:
John Flory: The main character of this story. A quiet melancholic and idealistic man, employee of a timber company, who loves to read and to go hunting in the jungle and loves the Burmese culture. He’s also an alcoholic and has socialist views. Although he has a decent level of life in Burma, he feels lonely and desperate.
U Po Kyin: The Subdivisional Magistrate of Kyauktada. A despicable man of around 50 years old; corrupt and cunning, he likes to pan evil schemes to harm the reputation of the people he considers his enemies. He is a sworn enemy of Dr. Veraswami, wants to be a member of the English Club and will put in motion a Machiavellian plan to get what he wants.
Doctor Veraswami: A small brown man who lives in a bungalow and works at the local hospital. He’s a cultured man who likes to read the likes of Emerson, Carlyle and R.L. Stevenson. He’s also and admirer of the British Raj and a good friend of John Flory. He wants to be admitted to the English Club and is very aware of the machinations of U Po Kyin, whom he calls “the Crocodile.”
Mr. McGregor: A tall burly man of 40 something years old who is the head of the English Club. He likes to dress to well for the Burmese climate, likes to exercise and tries to be as much polite as he can; he also owns the only car in town. He has been given the order to admit a Burmese native into the English Club, and he doesn’t like that idea but must follow orders.
Ellis: A very competent manager of a timber company, a member of the English Club and a staunch defender of the British Empire. He despises the natives and hates Orientals. He likes to gossip and spread rumors. He will be the most adamant opponent to the idea of admitting a native as a member of the Club.
A passport photo of Orwell in Burma (via: Wikipedia)
Mr. Lackersteen: A manager of a timber company. Tall and strong, he’s an alcoholic with a penchant for young native prostitutes. He’s married but has no children. When his niece, the daughter of his dead brother, arrives in town he will start harassing her.
Mrs. Lackersteen: The wife of Mr. Lackersteen. A somewhat attractive English woman of 35 years old who doesn’t particularly like living in Burma and doesn’t even bother learning the language. She is the one who sends for her husband’s niece and is determined to set her in marriage as soon as possible.
Elizabeth: A young beautiful but commonplace English girl who is Mr. Lackersteen’s niece. After the death of both her parents and a miserable life in Paris, she arrives on day in Kyauktada to disturb the quiet life of the English there. She will be John Flory’s main love interest.
Front cover art for the book Burmese Days (via: Wikipedia)
Published in 1935, Burmese Days was George Orwell’s second novel and the best of his first three angry youthful novels. A book I discovered by chance in 2015 when I was reading a George Orwell biography; turns out the character of the despicable fat man U Po Kyin was inspired by a real-life man who was very good friends with Orwell; the man got a major deception upon finding out he was the bad guy in the novel. Orwell drew from his own experiences as a police officer in Burma to compose a story where the grossness of the natives and the hypocrisy of the British mix perfectly. It’s a story of suffocating heat, lies, corruption and deception with fascinating characters written with a magnificent prose that is also very easy to read. A translation of 2013 won the highest literary award in Burma. A magnificent round novel that would never be written today, you must read it as soon as you can.
George Orwell in the 1940s (via: https://onedio.co)
George Orwell’s real name was Eric Arthur Blair. He was born in 1903 in India but studied at Eton College, in England, thanks to a scholarship. In 1922 he went back to live in the East and served as a police officer for five years in Burma. In 1927 he went back to Europe and lived a difficult life as a struggling writer in London and Paris. He published his first three novels in 1934, 1935 and 1936 respectively. In 1936 he fought in the Spanish Civil War and wrote a book against the Communist Party. He finally got recognition as a writer when he published Animal Farm in 1945. He married twice and, for a while, was under the surveillance of the British government. He died in 1950, at the age of 46, just seven months after publishing his masterpiece: 1984.
George Orwell is one of my favorite writers and Burmese Days is my favorite book from him. Since 2015, I have read it like seven times and always amazes me. I hope you can read it as soon as you can.
Total rating for Burmese Days: 8.5/10
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(Image at the beginning: via pixabay)
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Until next time
Take care
Orlando Caine