a Passage to India

Remaniscent of a Passage to India, but with the writer's experience of working in Burma for a number of years.

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9 people found this helpful

Enjoyable satire of colonial life

I've read quite a few Orwell books and this is the first that combined exposure of unfairness of a society with humour. It reminded me of some of Graham Green's novels. The main character, John Flory, is a jaded timber merchant living a lonely and dissolute life, yet one feels sympathy for him. He has some humanity compared with the racism and bigotry of many of the other characters. One winces at the repeated is of the word nigger to describe anybody who isn't white. Flory's love life plays a big part in the book and provides some of the humour and pathos of the story.

The author had first hand experience of working in Burma and evokes the insular world of people enforcing British Rule and their assumption of superiority over the natives. Flory does recognize the merits of the country and its people, but his attempts to convince others fall on death ears. The oppressive effect of the climate add to the atmosphere of how alien it is for Europeans to be in charge of native people who are well-adapted to living in their country. A rather shameful era of British history,

The narrator brigns characters to life with a range of different accents and voices.

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1 person found this helpful

not bad

Took a while to get into but then found myself absorbed in the characters. not an exciting listen but easy to follow

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Interesting panorama of British Imperialism

The most striking feature of Burmese Days is the insight Orwell gives into the Imperial attitudes of the British colonial overseers, excellently performed by Allan Corduner who brings to life the very personification of the harshest stereotypes of British Imperialism.
Perhaps it is no stereotype as the book serves as a memoir of Orwell's experience in the Burmese police force.
Orwell's memories do not paint a pretty picture, nor is the overall story any kind of romance nor epic, however, it nonetheless provides an insightful panorama of real life experience of imperial life in a much neglected corner of the British empire.
Orwell's narrative can seem disjointed and difficult to follow at times, however, the performance of Allan Corduner makes it easier to persist when simple immersion into the text could overwhelm.
On the whole a decent part of the Orwell canon of literature and particularly recommendable to those who enjoy memoirs or panoramas of real life.

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enjoyed it

The reader was brilliant. He made it very real and brought it to life.
Be warned the book contains old fashioned racial slurs but once you understand that bigotry was normal unfortunately in colonial times you can enjoy the interesting story.
very good!

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An elegant treat that had me second guessing.

This book was written with mystifying beauty and timeless heart-breaking social truisms. Astoundingly Orwell's first book, I was swept away by precocious insight and profound detail of a very real and far away land. The narrator was a master of subtle animation and a world of accents too. A fervent recommendation for everyone, although some experinece of travel and/or Asia will compound the delight.

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Good book shame about the end.

The story is very good and almost stereotypical of the British empire and the Raj. personally I thought the ending was rather depressing.

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Great performance by the reader

Great performance by the reader

Plus Orwell is without a doubt a master, great story

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2 people found this helpful

Great story, beautifully read

Listen to it before the sensitivity readers get hold of it and undermine the whole premise of the book. Some of the language is deeply shocking to modern ears but it’s essential context and paints a picture. Hugely evocative story-telling and narration. Have read or listened to all of Orwell now and I think this one is my favourite.

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1 person found this helpful

Content < Context

The plot is filled with clichés and twists that have a little more to be desired of.
The depiction of ambient, interactions and social structure is where the books true value lie.

Well narated however its portrail of "natives" might be off-putting at times.

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