Overview

From renowned author Paul Theroux comes a fascinating, atmospheric novel inspired by George Orwell's years in Burma 'There is a short period in everyone's life when his character is fixed forever . . . ' George Orwell Eric Blair stood out amongst his fellow police trainees in 1920s Burma. Nineteen years old, unusually tall, a diffident loner fresh from Eton, after five years spent in the narrow colonial world of the Raj - a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict - he would emerge as the George Orwell we know. Drawing on all his powers of observation and imagination, Paul Theroux brings Orwell's Burma years to radiant life, tracing the development of the young man's consciousness as he confronts the social, racial and class politics and the reality of Burma beyond. Through one writer, we come to understand another - and see how what Orwell called 'five boring years within the sound of bugles' were in fact the years that made him.

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9780241998946

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A remarkably vivid writer * Sunday Telegraph * There is very little that Paul Theroux cannot fit onto a page . . . His writing skills are disciplined and muscular, his ear as finely tuned as a musician’s, his eye sharper than any razor * Daily Mail * Always a terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales, [Theroux] writes lean prose that lopes along at a compelling pace * Sunday Times *

A remarkably vivid writer * Sunday Telegraph * Always a terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales, [Theroux] writes lean prose that lopes along at a compelling pace * Sunday Times *

Author Information

Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, My Secret History and The Mosquito Coast. He won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing 2020. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.

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