to be honest, not his finest moment. Stereotyped characters, chiched situations...

the prose is fine, but the plot didn't sink in and I'm not quite sure where the colonialism really starts to come into play. As in, what the hell is he saying about it other than it was bad and there weren't really enough courageous people in the outposts of progress to stand up to the bullies?

One of the climactic scenes is Hemingway material- male insecurity and incompleteness- and Hem handled it so much better.

Too bad, since I bow to the author.

My second reading of Orwells Burmese Days. I read it originally in 2007, when I picked up a copy in a second hand bookshop / barbershop (I have a feeling it was Mandalay, but I am not sure). I didn't recall much from it, and a middling 3 stars was where it sat when I was backfilling some books read upon joining Goodreads. Having read a few reviews by other readers lately I decided to embark on a rare (for me) re-read.

Set in a small town in Burma (Myanmar now), in the 1920s, while a part of the British Empire, Orwell's first book explores the relationship of the sahib and the native. The few white men in the town regularly frequent the 'club' where natives are not permitted as members, al though they have been instructed by the powers that be, that they must elect one native member.

Flory, who runs a timber extraction operation, is one of the least popular white men, is far too appreciative of the native culture, and is even friends with a native doctor, the anglophile Dr Veraswami. But his is weak willed, and will not support the doctor as a member, for fear of the scorn of his fellow members. U Po Kyin, the other man in a position of power who aches to become a member is a manipulator and plotter, and sets about to undermine Veraswami and also Flory in an attempt to become the only suitable candidate.

As well as this, the niece of another British couple has arrived, and while her uncle is desperate to take advantage of her, her aunt is equally desperate to marry her off. Circumstances send her Flory's way, and he falls hopelessly in love with her, but stumbles through each opportunity and eventually a rival appears.

The book successfully shows the British to be loathsome, full of superiority and racial prejudice. The exception being Flory, who is a weak and for the most unwilling to stand up to his peers. Orwell, born in India, and later having spent five and a half years as a policeman in various parts of Burma, displays a deep understanding of the colonial situation in this novel. With the overtly racist characters it is a jarring read, but then I rather suspect Orwell set out to achieve that. It certainly captures a cynical and negative view of colonialism.

With the re-read it gains a star - easily 4 star, but perhaps lacking a little rounding out of the characters that might have gained 5 stars.

Orwell’in ilk romanı – tam bir ilk roman gerçekten. Kötü mü, değil, ama Orwell’in Orwell olmaya daha yolu olduğunu seziyorsunuz. (İlk kitabı olan -roman değil- Paris ve Londra’da Beş Parasız bundan çok daha başarılıydı bence) Orwell ne yazsa okunur mu, bence okunur, ki bu da dediğim gibi kötü bir kitap değil zaten. Konu çok ilginç, Burma’da (bugünkü Myanmar) sömürge polisi olarak geçirdiği günlerdeki gözlemlerinden bir roman devşirmiş, ırkçılığa ve (ne acı ki bugün hala üzerine konuşulabilen) beyaz ırkın üstünlüğüne dair çok şey var içinde. Flory karakteri çok iyi çizilmişti ama diğerlerini biraz fazla karikatürize buldum, özellikle “ırkçı beyaz İngilizler”i. Yani umarım karikatürizedir de gerçekten bu kadar korkunç değillerdir diyeyim yahut. Sevdim ben, ama Orwell külliyatının en iyilerinden biri diyemeyeceğim. Ne çok ama dedim ya. İşte bu da öyle bir kitap.

Burmese Days, George Orwell

Burmese Days is a novel by British writer George Orwell. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1934. It is a tale from the waning days of British colonialism, when Burma was ruled from Delhi as a part of British India.

Burmese Days is set in 1920's imperial Burma, in the fictional district of Kyauktada, based on Kathar (formerly spelled Katha), a town where Orwell served. Like the fictional town, it is the head of a branch railway line above Mandalay on the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River.

As the story opens, U Po Kyin, a corrupt Burmese magistrate, is planning to destroy the reputation of the Indian, Dr Veraswami. The doctor hopes for help from his friend John Flory who, as a pukka sahib (European white man), has higher prestige.

Dr Veraswami also desires election to the town's European Club, of which Flory is a member, expecting that good standing among the Europeans will protect him from U Po Kyin's intrigues.

U Po Kyin begins a campaign to persuade the Europeans that the doctor holds anti-British opinions in the belief that anonymous letters with false stories about the doctor "will work wonders". He even sends a threatening letter to Flory. ...

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه می سال1985میلادی

عنوان: روزهای برمه؛ نویسنده: جورج (جرج) اورول؛ مترجم: مرتضی مدنی نژاد؛ تهران، نشر آوا، سال1363، در416ص؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده20م

عنوان: روزهای برمه؛ نویسنده: جورج (جرج) اورول؛ مترجم: پروین قائمی؛ تهران، نشر کتاب آفرین، سال1363، در367ص؛

عنوان: روزهای برمه؛ مترجم: زهره روشنفکر؛ تهران، نشر مجید، سال1389، شابک9789644531088؛ در367ص؛ چاپ سوم سال1392؛ چاپ چهارم سال1393؛

عنوان: روزهای برمه؛ مترجم: آوینا ترنم؛ تهران، نشر ماهابه، سال1389، شابک9789644531088؛ در442ص؛

عنوان: روزهای برمه؛ مترجم: فرزانه پورفرزین؛ تبریز، نشر اختر، سال1393، شابک9789645174543؛ در416ص؛

روزهای برمه، همانند نوشته‌ های دیگر «جورج اورول»، یک داستان انتقادی است؛ خوانشگرانی که با آثار ایشان آشنایی دارند، و کتابهای ایشان، همچون «قلعه(مزرعه) حیوانات»؛ و یا «1984» را خوانده‌ اند، به‌ سبک و سیاق قلم شگفتی برانگیز ایشان آ‌شنا هستند؛

اورول؛ با نام اصلی «اریک بلر»، در «هند» به ‌دنیا آمده، و پدرش نیز، یک شغل اداری در «بنگال» داشته، ایشان در این کتاب شیوه ی اداره ی امپراتوری «بریتانیا»، در کشورهای مستعمره‌ را می‌نمایاند، و از نحوه ی اداره ی آن، انتقاد می‌کند؛

در این کتاب شاید ایشان تجربیات خودشان را، در کشورهای مستعمره ی «انگلستان»، به ‌رشته ی نگارش درآورده اند؛ «اورول» اندیشه ‌های نقادانه ‌اش را، از دید قهرمان داستانش، به ‌زبان می‌آورد؛ شخصیت اصلی این داستان، که خود یک تبعه ی «انگلیس» است، از اوضاعی که بر مردمان کشور «برمه» می‌گذرد، به ‌شدت بیزار است، و در هر فرصتی از آن انتقاد می‌کند؛ در حالیکه خود مردم «برمه»، به آن زندگی عادت کرده‌ اند، شخصیت اصلی رمان نسبت به وضعیت، ابراز انزجار می‌کنند؛ اما او آدمی ترسو است، و نمی‌تواند باورهای خویش را آشکارا نشان دهد؛ زیرا می‌داند که تمام اروپاییهای ساکن «برمه»، از شیوه ی حکومت بر مردمان «برمه» راضی، و حتی خواهان وارد آوردن فشار بیشتر بر آنها هستند؛ «اورول» ترس و بزدلی قهرمان داستانش را، با یک لکه ی مادرزادی روی صورتش، می‌نمایاند، که همیشه باعث شرمساری اوست، و او سعی دارد آن را از دید همگان پنهان نگه دارد

نقل نمونه متن: («یوپوکین»، رییس دادگاه جانبی بخش «کیائوکتادا»، واقع در قسمت بالای «برمه»، در ایوان خانه اش نشسته بود؛ با آنکه هنوز ساعت هشت ونیم صبح بود؛ اما چون ماه آوریل بود، هوا آنچنان غمگین و ابری بود که نوید ساعتهای کشدار و خفقان آور ظهر را میداد؛ باد با وزشی ضعیف و به طور تصادفی که در نتیجه تضاد با وضعیت جوّی خنک به نظر میرسید، نهال نخلهای خرمایی را که تازه خیس و از کنار بام آویزان شده بود، حرکت میداد؛ پشت نهالهای خرما، تنه ی خمیده و خاک آلود یک نخل، به چشم میآمد و بعداز آن، یک آسمان تمام آبی و آتشین بود؛ چند کرکس در بالاترین نقطه ی آسمان که چشم از دیدنش حیران میماند، در حالیکه بی هیچ تکانی به بالهایشان چرخ میزدند در حال پرواز بودند

یوپوکین همچون یک بت «چینی» بزرگ بی آنکه پلک بزند، به تابش مستقیم خورشید، چشم دوخته بود؛ او مردی پنجاه ساله و آنقدر چاق بود، که سالها میشد بی کمک دیگران، از روی صندلی اش هرگزی بلند نشده بود؛ اما با این وجود، در چاقی او یک نوع تناسب، و زیبایی در اندامش نمایان بود؛ چون وقتی مردم برمه چاق میشوند، مثل سفیدپوستان پشتشان خم نمیشود، و شکم نمیآورند؛ بلکه همچون میوه ای رسیده، متورم و به طور یکنواختی چاق میشوند. صورت یوپوکین، پهن و زرد بود، و هیچ چین و چروکی نداشت، و چشمهایش هم سیاه بود؛ همیشه پابرهنه و پاهایش تُپُل و چاق بود، و کف پایش هم بسیار گود بود، و همه ی انگشتهای پایش هم به یک اندازه، و عین موهای سرش، که همیشه آنها را از ته میتراشید بود؛ اغلب، یک لباس بومی که عبارت بود از یک لُنگ اراکان به رنگ روشن، که راه راهایی به رنگهای سبز و سرخ داشت، و اهالی برمه آن را، در غیر زمان رسمی میپوشیدند، به تن میکرد؛ او از درون یک جعبه لاک و الکل زده ای که روی میز بود، ساقه سانی برداشت، و مشغول جویدنش شد؛ همانطور که مشغول جویدن آن بود، گذشته اش را به یاد میآورد

گذشته اش بسیار درخشان، و همراه با موفقیت بود؛ یوپوکین هرچه زمان کودکی اش، در دهه ی1880میلادی را مرور میکرد، خودش را از نوع بچه های پاپتی ای میدید، که با شکمی متورم، در کنجی ایستاده، و در انتظار ورود پیروزمندانه جوخه های ارتش سربازهای انگلیسی ای که به ماندالی میآمدند، نگاه میکرد؛ او به یاد میآورد که چطور در آن هنگام از عبور ستونهای منظم سربازان غول پیکری که در اثر خوردن گوشت گاو چهره های سرخی داشتند، و کتهای سرخ پوشیده، و تفنگهای بلندی بر دوش گرفته بودند، و صدای هماهنگ و سنگین پوتینهای آنها، ترسیده بود؛ چنانکه بعداز آنکه یکی دو دقیقه آنها را تماشا کرده بود، ترجیح داد تا از آنجا بگریزد؛ او با عقل کودکانه اش، نتیجه گرفته بود که هم میهنانش نمیتوانند در برابر این سربازان غول پیکر، مقاومت کنند؛ بنابراین در همان دوران طفولیت، دلش میخواست در کنار سربازهای انگلیسی بجنگد، و یا همچون انگلی، خودش را به آنها بچسباند.)؛ پایان نقل

نقل نمونه دیگر از متن: (کلاغهای سبز را موقعی که زنده هستند، کسی نمیتواند ببیند؛ آنها در مرتفعترین نقاط درخت، زندگی میکنند، و هرگز به زمین نمیآیند، مگر آنکه بخواهند آب بنوشند؛ موقعی که کسی آنها را با تیر میزند، اگر فورا کشته نشوند، خودشان را به درختی آویزان میکنند، تا بمیرند، و این کار آنقدر طول میکشد، تا شکارچی خسته شود، و برود؛ از اینکه حتی جسدشان، به دست قاتلشان بیفتد، نفرت دارند)؛ پایان نقل

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 12/09/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 01/03/1401هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Reason read: special event, reading 1001, word of the month (Day)
This is the debut novel of George Orwell published in 1934 and is part of the 1001 Books. It is historical and part of Burma/British history. It looks at the effects of colonialization on the Burmese and the British. I was mostly impressed by how some of the characters horrible mistakes and words went on without repercussions but others were greatly harmed by those words. The themes are imperialism, racism, loneliness, and the corrupting influence of power.

Women characters both British and native women. I did not like any of them. The difference in culture and appearance was depicted very well by Orwell. I did not like the young British gal as she was so bigotted and obviously wanted a husband but was also too swayed by appearances that she failed to see the best possibilities. I did not like the mistress of Flory because she was obviously using him and being used. I did not appreciate her at all. The women represent the pull of Burma on Flory and his own British Culture as represented by Elizabeth.

The main character, John Flory actually liked Burma and liked the people. He however was unable to stand up for his own ideas and is referenced as "ambivalent". The most visible symbol in the novel is Flory's birthmark—a large, ragged-edged, dark-blue crescent that runs across the entire left side of his face. The birthmark symbolizes how Flory's beliefs about art, colonialism, and native culture make him an outsider to the others. Flory was ashamed of his birthmark and toward the end he willing showed his birthmark only to end up totally rejected and unable to cope further with is isolation.

George Orwell worked in Burma as part of the Indian Imperial Police Force.

Imagine sitting in a small, dark room with George Orwell sitting ten inches away from you shouting the words, "RACISM" and "IMPERIALISM" at you for two hours. That's what it's like reading this novel. Orwell wants to get his message across so strongly that he completely forgets that coherent plots and characters are essential in fiction. However I must say that Burmese Days is written very well (as with all of Orwell's works) and it has a disgustingly pessimistic ending (which is always a major bonus in my literate tastes).

This always happens to me: I seem to forget how beautiful and almost effortless Orwell’s prose is, only to be stunned by his talent the next time I pick up one of his books. Even when he writes about mundane things, his turn of phrase has an elegance that few others have mastered – and that dry, razor-sharp British sense of humor adds a colorful layer to his narratives. Just a couple of pages into “Burmese Days”, I was both laughing bitterly and sighing in admiration at the wonderful language he used to tell this rather devastating story. I also could hardly put the book down, and growled at anyone who interrupted my reading.

In some ways, “Burmese Days” reminded me of E.M. Forster’s “A Passage to India” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), but harsher, grittier in its description of bigotry and corruption. Just like Forster, Orwell lived in South East Asia and saw how his fellow Englishmen saw the native population, and treated both them and their local resources – and the different ways the Burmese and Indians reacted to this imperialism. Obviously, he hated what he saw. This is not “1984” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) or “Animal Farm” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), but it is nevertheless a scathing social criticism of colonialism and its repercussion – both on the colonists and colonized. Orwell knew that the problems faced by everyone involved in this situation were complex and intricate, and had no easy solutions.

Dr. Veraswami’s only hope of avoiding the persecution of a corrupt magistrate is to be elected as a member of an all-white Club, as this strange power of association would give him enough prestige to stay safe. He has one hope, that his friend John Flory, who loathes the open racism his compatriots spew all day long over drinks, will help him acquire this coveted membership. But Flory doesn’t have the strength of his convictions, and U Po Kyin, the slimy magistrate, will exploit this weakness of character to his own ends.

Orwell never really seems to write likable characters, but he makes his pathetic and despicable ones very layered and well-rounded. Flory’s sense of alienation and despair is perfectly captured; I kept hoping he’d get his shit together, but I didn’t think it was very likely. He feels enormous guilt for being complicit in the exploitation and abuse he witnesses, but can’t bring himself to rebel against it entirely. I wondered how much of himself (or a young version of himself) Orwell poured into this tormented timber merchant, how much of what Flory experiences echoes how Orwell felt during the five years he spent in Burma. He did say that much of the book was simply reporting things he had seen during his stay there, to the point where his publishers were originally worried about libel suits…

Orwell didn’t think this was his most political work, and later decided that he would no longer indulge in what he felt was purple and decorative writing, because the world he lived in was not a peaceful place, which made him feel he had a responsibility to infuse his writing with political purpose. It might not have been the driving inspiration behind “Burmese Days”, but it is nevertheless a beautifully written but heartbreaking and unflinching look at a terrible time and place of our history.

A must-read for Orwell fans.

Two of the most profound books I've ever read in my life have been Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell.

Both of these books, I read just when I was entering adulthood and I am so lucky I did so then because they had an acute effect on my worldview.

Recently, I read Legacy of Violence by Caroline Elkins and the author is extremely effusive towards Orwell, regarding him as one of the intellectual bulwarks of the anticolonialism & humanism in his time.

This has prompted me, almost two decades later, to take a deeper dive towards his ideology.

And what a better way to start with his novel set in British India?

In Legacy of Violence, Elkins makes a convincing argument that the overwhelming subjugation that colonial Britain managed over its dominion was not down entirely to its military might but its ability to build a narrative of "upliftment" that was based on racial superiority of whites.

Burmese Days illustrates this indoctrination perfectly where almost every character in the novel, including even some of the educated natives, believes in the "civilizing" mission on some level or the other.

Additionally, while this novel isn't literary fiction on the same degree as Animal Farm or 1984, it is really interesting also to see a nebulous outline of the novel 1984 taking shape in this novel (especially the parallel between the MCs of the books).

Highly recommended.

I came to this through Emma Larkin's "Finding George Orwell in Burma". She cites it as part of a perpetually banned in Burma Orwell trilogy (along with "Animal Farm" and "1984") that Burmese with the courage to squirel away copies, think, and discuss, cherish. They see these three books as the history of their country.

It's a remarkable first novel. It still holds up and probably will for more generations because it has so much meaning.

Last year I read Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" about the pressure on a young British police officer to be what both the Empire and its subjects demand. In "Burmese Days" he casts a wider net on how colonialism harms and can ultimately destroy, not only those colonized, but also those enlisted to carry out the goals of the empire.

This novel is set the remotest of outposts, so undesireable that it attracts the most undesireable cast of expats. There is no fully redeeming named character here, neither British nor Burmese.

The story centers on Flory who has humane qualities (such as respect for the Burmese as a people which is highly ununual among the expats), but his lack of confidence and his alcohol problem prevent his action most times. In his loneliness he falls in love with someone with whom he will never be able to converse... and he is desperate for a friend. The story is not about his romance, which provides heavy emotional drama, but about the situation in which a culture with superior furniture, (the Burmese are awed by imported chairs), clothes, medicine, weapons, etc. imposes itself on a poor population without any means to hold itself together in the face of an outside force with seemingly unlimited resourses.

How would Ellis, the Lackersteens, Verrall and Macggregor have fared if they had stayed in England? Would they be kicking their servants/employees (if they were to have them)? or tolerating others doing it in their circle? How would they feel about confiscating property of others? Blinding teenagers? Shooting into crowds on Picadilly Square? Are these Britons different from their contemporaries in Germany avoiding witness to, indirectly/directly abetting or actively forcing Jews to camps?

Orwell describes a situation which poses but does not answer big questions. What is humanity? Is ethical, or even "normal" behavior situational? Is it easier for the negative to inspire than the positive? The provoking of these questions, and the way in which Orwell provokes them, guarantees that this novel will continue to be read 71 years from now.

Sömürge düzeninin adeta röntgenini çekip, bu düzen içindeki toplumsal ilişkileri tüm çıplaklığı ile gözler önüne seren gerçekçi bir roman. Kesinlikle tavsiye ederim.

Aradan geçen onca yıla rağmen, Myanmar'da temelde değişen pek birşey yok. Yoksulluk ve sömürünün bir başka şekli aynen devam ediyor. Ama sevindirici olan bu güzel ülkenin geleneklerini henüz bozamamışlar ve elbette halkın mutluluğunu ve dingin huzurunu. Kitapta halkı satır aralarında bulabildim. Asıl olarak karşı tarafın hikayesi ve psikolojisi tartışılıyor. Akıcı ve Myanmar gezginlerinin okuması gereken bir roman.

La început nu prea m-am putut conecta cu cartea, dar după vreo 70 de pagini am început să o privesc cu alți ochi, să înțeleg mai bine acțiunea și personajele. Este genul de carte cu care trebuie să aveți un pic de răbdare, deoarece s-ar putea să nu vă placă chiar de la început. Și aici vorbesc din proprie experiență. Dar odată ce am reușit să mă conectez cu acțiunea cărții, nu am mai putut-o lăsa din  mână.

http://stildescriitor.ro/blog/2017/10...