false 9650 26 Imagine crossing E.M. Forster with Jane Austen. Stir in a bit of socialist doctrine, a sprig of satire, strong Indian curry, and a couple quarts of good English gin and you get something close to the flavor of George Orwell's intensely readable and deftly plotted <I>Burmese Days</I>. In 1930, Kyauktada, Upper Burma, is one of the least auspicious postings in the ailing British Empire--and then the order comes that the European Club, previously for whites only, must elect one token native member. This edict brings out the worst in this woefully enclosed society, not to mention among the natives who would become the One. Orwell mines his own Anglo-Indian background to evoke both the suffocating heat and the stifling pettiness that are the central facts of colonial life: "Mr. MacGregor told his anecdote about Prome, which could be produced in almost any context. And then the conversation veered back to the old, never-palling subject--the insolence of the natives, the supineness of the Government, the dear dead days when the British Raj <I>was</I> the Raj and please give the bearer fifteen lashes. The topic was never let alone for long, partly because of Ellis's obsession. Besides, you could forgive the Europeans a great deal of their bitterness. Living and working among Orientals would try the temper of a saint."<p> Protagonist James Flory is a timber merchant, whose facial birthmark serves as an outward expression of the ironic and left-leaning habits of mind that make him inwardly different from his coevals. Flory appreciates the local culture, has native allegiances, and detests the racist machinations of his fellow Club members. Alas, he doesn't always possess the moral courage, or the energy, to stand against them. His almost embarrassingly Anglophile friend, Dr. Veraswami, the highest-ranking native official, seems a shoo-in for Club membership, until Machiavellian magistrate U Po Kyin launches a campaign to discredit him that results, ultimately, in the loss not just of reputations but of lives. Whether to endorse Veraswami or to betray him becomes a kind of litmus test of Flory's character.<p> Against this backdrop of politics and ethics, Orwell throws the shadow of romance. The arrival of the bobbed blonde, marriageable, and resolutely anti-intellectual Elizabeth Lackersteen not only casts Flory as hapless suitor but gives Orwell the chance to show that he's as astute a reporter of nuanced social interactions as he is of political intrigues. In fact, his combination of an astringently populist sensibility, dead-on observations of human behavior, formidable conjuring skills, and no-frills prose make for historical fiction that stands triumphantly outside of time. <I>--Joyce Thompson</I> 1171545 1934 Burmese Days total:1370|5:292|4:551|3:433|2:80|1:14| 1370 5137 2015 140 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 4 2 false Tue Jul 24 14:49:11 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 17:28:08 -0700 2007
By the way, Orwell's essay, "Politics and the English Langua...more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 5 1 false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Dec 09 02:17:37 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 02:17:57 -0800 2008 more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 3 1 false Tue Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 20:58:08 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 21:01:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 3 1 false Sun Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 10 09:12:15 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 18 12:20:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 509199 0156148501 9780156148504 197 26 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175373059m/509199.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/509199.Burmese_Days_A_Novel 4 1 false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 18 07:57:10 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 01 08:54:37 -0700 2007 more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 5 0 false Sat Nov 07 04:01:36 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 04:23:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> 509199 0156148501 9780156148504 197 26 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175373059m/509199.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/509199.Burmese_Days_A_Novel 3 0 false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 11:56:46 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 12:31:07 -0700 2009
One of the best (an...more...]]> 1183609 0436350017 9780436350016 2 1 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1240611397m/1183609.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1183609.Burmese_Days 4 0 false Sun May 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 15:16:53 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 18:10:24 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 5 0 false Tue Mar 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 06 15:48:08 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 10 11:35:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 4 0 false Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jan 24 15:24:31 -0800 2009 Sat Jul 18 07:04:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 1 0 true Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 05 21:04:39 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 05 21:05:34 -0700 2008

Quotes:

"In the dark evening, after a quite idle day, one's ennui reaches a pitch that is frantic, suicidal. Work, prayer, books, drinking, talking - they are all powerless against it; it can only ...more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 4 0 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Sep 02 16:04:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 16:26:59 -0700 2008
It's for this reason that this is called a semi-autobiographical account and you ...more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 3 0 false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 18 21:42:31 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 19:45:07 -0700 2008
'Of course I don't deny,' Flory said, 'that we modernise this country in certain ways. We can't help doing so. In fact, before we've finished we'll have wrecked the whole Burmese national culture. But we're not civilising them, we're only rubbing our dirt onto them. Wh...more...]]> 1183608 0140182276 9780140182279 16 2 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181713457m/1183608.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1183608.Burmese_Days 3 0 false Sun Sep 16 02:21:38 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 16 02:21:38 -0700 2007
Kali ini Orwell benar-benar tidak memberikan kasihan bagi pe...more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 5 0 false Sat Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 18:36:44 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 04 05:00:55 -0700 2008
The setting of 'Burmese D...more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 3 0 false Wed Oct 22 00:42:46 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 00:47:14 -0700 2008 more...]]> 9650 1421808307 9781421808307 1085 101 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031282m/9650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9650.Burmese_Days 5 0 false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 09 17:51:42 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 09 18:02:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 360308 1595404309 9781595404305 8 1 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174085402m/360308.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/360308.Burmese_Days 4 0 false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Thu Jun 21 06:00:19 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 22 08:27:17 -0700 2007 more...]]> 509199 0156148501 9780156148504 197 26 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175373059m/509199.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/509199.Burmese_Days_A_Novel 5 0 false Wed May 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 15:00:42 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 15:00:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 509199 0156148501 9780156148504 197 26 3.75 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175373059m/509199.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/509199.Burmese_Days_A_Novel 4 0 false Sat Mar 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 18:55:57 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 19:01:06 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1109262