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Burmese Days
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Publisher's Summary
An unabridged recording of Orwell's brilliant first novel read by Allan Corduner. The story is largely based on Orwell's own experiences as a police officer in Burma. Set in the dying days of the Raj, it depicts the harshness and darker side of colonial rule. And at its centre is John Flory, a lone individual hopelessly trapped in a vast political system; themes which set the agenda for much of his writing. Burmese Days was Orwell's first novel, and was issued in 1934 in America, then a year later in the UK where there had been fears and controversy initially that the material could be libellous.
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel
- 09-02-2015
Real life
I was surprised that this was such a good book. Orwell is able to surprise at each step by letting the most likely developments happen as in real life, instead of as in reader-pleasing fiction. A very fair account of the relationship between social casts. No good versus evil here, just people playing their roles in a corrupt but also benign society.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kristoffer
- 09-07-2015
Excellent audio-book
A brilliant, informative and critical narrative of the everyday brutality of British imperialism. I couldn't stop listening.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 15-05-2019
a classic description of British burma
A masterful description of British Burma based on the writer's own experiences as a police officer in the British Burma. Surprisingly fresh, dealing with themes such as colonialism, racism, social norms, class and gender, the book has a lot to offer for contemporary readers. The performance was good though it would be nice to have a separate voice for the female charathers.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Chelin
- 05-12-2012
A wonderful listen
Beautifully read by Allan Corduner, who gives a great performance with the different voices and accents, it adds a new level to the audiobook and allows the reader/listener to fully appreciate this wonderful book.
13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- a
- 25-10-2012
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.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Lucy Rose Williams
- 28-04-2015
Great narrator.
Great narration throughout. Makes such a difference. All the characters came alive vividly.
Would like to listen to more by this narrator
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 24-05-2015
Days gone by
I love books about the past times in India and Burma , learning about the way of life, the way the British colonials lived in those times. It all fascinates me.
The way George Orwell writes is very easy to listen to and creates wonderful images - he brings his stories to life.
The narrator is excellent.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ron
- 01-08-2015
Brilliant slice of colonial life
While some of the language may be a bit non PC for today, it does give a flavour of how harsh colonial life was, especial for the natives. Narrator struggles a bit with female voices, other than that an absolute absorbing listen.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Nancy Bowring
- 02-05-2015
Compulsive story to listen to. Highly recommended
Set in Burma towards the end of the British Raj, where bigotry and racism thrive in the closed society of the Englishmen’s club. The story centres around John Flory, whose life has been governed by an ugly birthmark on his face. It is about his two relationships in an otherwise friendless life and the effects of a vicious, scheming and corrupt magistrate. George Orwell tells his tale with empathy, an intimate knowledge of his main character and some scorn towards a society he got to know personally. Allan Corduner’s narration is first rate.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paul Snook
- 01-06-2018
Class warfare, jungle style
This book is classic Orwell; a study of the English class system but uprooted and plonked in the humid jungles of Burma. Each man looks down upon the other, the women know their place, and they all look down upon the natives. It demonstrates the raw ugliness of English imperialism through the eyes of a few pivotal characters. It's all there: open racism, a detached sense of duty, alcoholism, exploitation, manifest sexism, and all underlined with dollops of self-loathing.
Needless to say, because it is classic Orwell, don't expect a happy ending. Just a shame about the dog.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- anne
- 09-08-2015
Wonderful
A glimpse of the last days of the Raj. With all the strife and prejudices of those closing days.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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- Anthony
- 16-05-2015
Nicely written anti-colonial but dated novel
Very interesting novel by Orwell who spent five years in Burma in the 1920s.
Lucid and very descriptive of the culture, community and governance of the time. It exposes the discrimination and racism of British colonial society, and the concomitant corruption of Burmese bureaucrats and officials engaged by, and participating in, the colonial system.
The book brings multiple relationships to the fore - each exploitative in different ways - the British colonials in relation to their domestic servants, other employees, Burmese young women and British colonial 'ladies'; family dynamics within the Burmese community; the networks of support and corruption within the civil service established by the British; the efforts to entrench separation from the locals through Clubs which forbade any Burmese from membership.
An enjoyable, evocative, entertaining but somewhat dated portrait of colonial times in Burma.
Underlying it all... the distant sound of rising Burmese nationalism...
4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rachel Winters
- 01-03-2018
Scathing and powerful as ever
Alan Corduna delivers an excellent rendition of this classic, yet under-read debut novel from George Orwell, scathing in its exposition of imperialism. Putting the empire in its place, Orwell caused panic in the ranks when this raw and damning tale of the underbelly of Colonial life was first published. What surprised this reader was the cracking pace and liveliness of the yarn. Its characters may come across initially as cartoonish in contemporary terms, but the underlying message of the work transcends as Orwell builds a nightmarish world that damages most of its inhabitants and where greed and corruption are the overriding motivation. Powerful stuff.
1 person found this helpful