Burma Sahib

A Novel

By: Paul Theroux

Narrated by: Charlie Anson

Chosen by John Irving in the New York Times as One of the Best Books of the 21st Century

“Paul Theroux has exploited this biographical lacuna with great shrewdness and gusto… his fictional account of Blair’s life there [Burma] is a valid and entirely credible attempt to add flesh to the skeletal facts we have of this time. […]this novel is one of his finest, in a long and redoubtable oeuvre.” —New York Times Book Review

From the acclaimed author of The Mosquito Coast and The Bad Angel Brothers comes a riveting new novel exploring one of English literature’s most beloved and controversial figures—George Orwell—and the early years as an officer in colonial Burma that transformed him from Eric Blair, the British Raj policeman, into Orwell the anticolonial writer.

At age nineteen, young Eton graduate Eric Blair set sail for India, dreading the assignment ahead. Along with several other young conscripts, he would be trained for three years as a servant of the British Empire, overseeing the local policemen in Burma. Navigating the social, racial, and class politics of his fellow British at the same time as he learned the local languages and struggled to control his men would prove difficult enough. But doing all of this while grappling with his own self-worth, his sense that he was not cut out for this, is soon overwhelming for the young Blair. Eventually, his clashes with his superiors, and the drama that unfolds in this hot, beautiful land, will change him forever.

©2024 Paul Theroux (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

A Stellar Performance

A sad but important story richly written and artfully portrayed. A must listen. Theroux at his finest.

History that is transparent

I appreciated the frankness with which this novel dealt with a rather dark period of human exploitation, paying due attention to all sides.

Excellent narration.

For a novel with a lot of potentially exciting events it was a bit tedious.

Loved this book!

Learned a lot about Burma, about the castes system, history. Enjoyed the characters and the story.

Misery

I made it to chapter 23. It was well written, just too depressing. Not for me.

Compelling story, clearly written, puts you into that time and era of British imperialism.

I’ve always been a fan of George Orwell, and this novel dramatically and magically describes these tortured days he spent in Burma as part of the imperial regime. The self-loathing he develops in his role as a colonial police officer drives the narrative wonderfully.

EXCELLENT

This is a book I highly recommend if you want to learn about colonialism in Burma.
From the start I had an inkling that this was a novel about George Orwell, another excellent author.
Some people just have such interesting lives!
In books like these the “English” never come out “ smelling like a rose” in my opinion, but such is history.
The narrator, Charlie Anson is a pleasure to listen to.
My thanks to all involved, JK.

Excellent read

Excellent story! I have read most of Theroux’s book and this is one of my favorites. The narrator on Audible was superb!

Complexities of British colonial oppression in Burma

Fascinating both for the author’s description of Burma in the 1920’s and the story of Eric Blair (George Orwell)’s time in the country.

The connection that I had lived in some similar way

A superb story extremely well presented . Very close emotional connection to Blair and his way forward in life!