Brought to you by Penguin.
From renowned author Paul Theroux comes the fascinating, atmospheric tale of George Orwell's years in Burma
'There is a short period in everyone's life when his character is fixed forever . . . ' George Orwell
Before George Orwell was Orwell - the pen name he took on becoming a writer - he was Eric Blair, an unlikely policeman in Burma. 19 years old, unusually tall, highly intelligent, a diffident loner fresh from Eton, Blair stood out amongst his fellow trainees in 1920s Mandalay.
It was here, over five years in the narrow colonial world of the Raj - a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict - that Eric Blair became the George Orwell we know: an anti-imperialist, a socialist and a writer of rare commitment.
The inner journey he made in these years is remarkable, but in the absence of letters or diaries from the period, this richly complex transformation can only be told in fiction, as it is here by Paul Theroux, in one of his most striking and accomplished novels.
Drawing on all his powers of observation and imagination, Theroux brings Orwell's Burma years to radiant life, tracing the development of the young man's consciousness as he confronts both the social, racial and class politics of his colonial colleagues, and the reality of the Burma beyond, which he yearns to grasp.
Through one writer, we come to understand another - and to see how what Orwell called 'five boring years within the sound of bugles' were in fact the years that made him.
'Always a terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales' Sunday Times
'The most gifted, most prodigal writer of his generation' Jonathan Raban
©2024 Paul Theroux (P)2024 Penguin Audio
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 22, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781405964517
- File size: 513472 KB
- Duration: 17:49:43
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from December 18, 2023
The stellar latest from Theroux (The Bad Angel Brothers) frames an insightful portrait of a young George Orwell (1903–1950) within a scathing depiction of British colonialism. The novel opens with an epigraph from Orwell’s Burmese Days: “There is a short period in everyone’s life when his character is fixed forever.” What follows is Theroux’s ambitious dramatization of that process for Eric Blair (Orwell’s real name), who, having graduated from Eton, sails to Burma to become a policeman. There, Blair quickly becomes disenchanted with the shockingly foul attitudes of the British Raj. Though he attempts to toe the line, he soon realizes he will never live up to the brutal standards of his fellow officers (“What had not occurred to him then was that orders might be given out of spite, to humiliate and break your spirit”). He seeks solace in books and in the company of his dog, chickens, and ducks, as well as his “keeps,” Burmese servants who share his bed at a couple of his posts, and the forward-thinking wife of a British timber merchant. But as often as not, Blair bungles his police work, exasperating his racist superiors. Eventually, he comes to recognize that the writer inside him wasn’t the aloof officer he presented as a facade but rather “that other man who’d... hated every moment of his colonial captivity.” With piercing prose, Theroux lays bare the fraudulent and fiercely despotic nature of the British Empire. This brims with intelligence and vigor. -
Happily, Paul Theroux's latest masterpiece is available as an audiobook, narrated authoritatively by Charlie Anson. Eric Blair, a callow policeman in colonial Burma, will eventually become known as writer George Orwell. In a clear baritone, Anson describes the lush landscapes of Burma, its trees, foliage, dusty roads, and muddy rivers, along with its natives, who are subjugated by a bureaucratic corps of arrogant, despotic British rulers. Young Blair is the opposite of the stereotypical ruthless British sahib. He moves from one outpost to another, tarred by improprieties such as showing sympathy to natives, shooting a rogue elephant, and having mixed-race friends and relatives. Anson is a master at creating the perfect accents for the colonial hierarchy, who range from Indians and native Burmese to the ruling class. D.L.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
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