orwell

tonight i ended up thinking of orwell. it happens a lot. i wish everyone would read 'burmese days'. when i finished reading it i was already on the boat to katha where the book takes place. i spent hours sitting at the hospital where orwell recovered from dengue fever and somehow gained more awareness of the dimension of fascism and the disguised role of the british empire, all that is behind the great image of the railway system, the hospitals and the schools. for hours i stared at the tennis courts in the old 'english club' from the book. i felt i could hear the tennis balls running from one side to the other while i could see things more and more clear as the yellow balls went by. 'burmese days' is a really beautiful book that changes the lives of people who read it. because once you get it there's no way back out of it. it was hard traveling burma with a penguin copy on my backpack knowing the book was banned in the country. it feels odd to have the freedom to read it while the people sitting next to you on the bus don't have it. at times i felt like an orwellian character, knowing the importance of being aware of things that don't really make me happy but make me informed.
it's great to read the book in a printed copy but if you don't have the chance here's an online version:
http://www.george-orwell.org/Burmese_Days/index.html