Essay on Burmese Days Review

Words: 884
Pages: 4

I. Orwell, George. Burmese Days, Harcourt Inc, 1934.
287 pp.

Patrick Morgan

The World Since 1850

Greenstein

Burmese Days Book Review

September 27, 2010

II. George Orwell, born Eric Blair was born in Motihari, Bengal, a then British territory of India in 1903. He was very scholarly from a young age and earned scholarships to preparatory schools and both Wellington and Eton colleges. After furthering his education at Eton he joined the Indian Imperial Police Force in Burma. After 5 years he grew to hate the thought of British imperialism and resigned in 1928 to return to England. It is suggested by many that Burmese Days is loosely based on his service. Orwell was from a “lower-upper middle class” family, but chose to

However, I am inclined to believe it is relatively factual due to Orwell’s first hand experience in this topic. That said, it is also a fiction book so I believe some of the story is made up for entertainment purposes. I believe that George Orwell showed little prejudice because he criticized U Po Kyin’s actions as well as the British ranking members of authority. At first glance, I doubted I would be interested in this book and found it rather hard to get into the story, but once I put it all together I found it to be a riveting novel. I would hope that I learned something and am certainly now interested in other Orwell novels.
VI. George Orwell didn’t use footnotes because it was a work of fiction based on his own experiences in India at this time. I believe that his sources come from his time spent in this area at this time. I also believe it was well written, but tough to follow during the beginning of the story. The cover of this novel displays the pompous ideas of how the British saw the native people as inferior.
VII. I would absolutely recommend this novel to another student because I found it rather challenging to read, but once understood the plot was enthralling. Though it is a fiction book, it has historical value as well because it was based on real events that took place during this