Reimagining George Orwell's time as a policeman in 1920s Burma, the great travel writer and author of The Lower River offers a compelling portrait of the shaping of a literary genius.
From renowned author Paul Theroux comes a fascinating, atmospheric novel inspired by George Orwell's years in Burma.
'There is a short period in everyone's life when his character is fixed forever.' - George Orwell.
Eric Blair stood out amongst his fellow police trainees in 1920s Burma. Nineteen years old, unusually tall, a diffident loner fresh from Eton, after five years spent in the narrow colonial world of the Raj – a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict – he would emerge as the George Orwell we know.
Drawing on all his powers of observation and imagination, Paul Theroux brings Orwell's Burma years to radiant life, tracing the development of the young man's consciousness as he confronts the social, racial and class politics and the reality of Burma beyond. Through one writer, we come to understand another - and see how what Orwell called 'five boring years within the sound of bugles' were in fact the years that made him.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241633342
Number of pages: 400
Weight: 610 g
Dimensions: 240 x 160 x 34 mm
[An] ambitious dramatization . . . With piercing prose, Theroux lays bare the fraudulent and fiercely despotic nature of the British Empire. This brims with intelligence and vigor - Publishers Weekly
Compelling. Theroux is always great with setting; here it’s not just Burma but the mind of Orwell that he persuasively inhabits - Kirkus
Theroux’s engrossing, suspenseful novel incisively maps the start of Blair’s metamorphosis into George Orwell, resounding critic of malevolent power - Booklist
"Burma Sahib" by Paul Theroux promises an intriguing fictionalized account of George Orwell's formative years in Burma. As a fan of Theroux's travel writing, I was excited to delve into this novel,... More
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