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Burmese Days
''Burmese Days'' is the first novel by English writer George Orwell, published in 1934. Set in British Burma during the waning days of empire, when Burma was ruled from Delhi as part of British India, the novel serves as "a portrait of the dark side of the British Raj." At the centre of the novel is John Flory, "the lone and lacking individual trapped within a bigger system that is undermining the better side of human nature." The novel describes "both indigenous corruption and imperial bigotry" in a society where, "after all, natives were natives—interesting, no doubt, but finally...an inferior people". ''Burmese Days'' was first published "further afield," in the United States, because of concerns that it might be potentially libelous; that the real provincial town of Katha had been described too realistically; and that some of its fictional characters were based too closely on identifiable people. A British edition, with altered names, appeared a year later. Nonetheless, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and support of democratic socialism. Orwell produced literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. He is known for the allegorical novella ''Animal Farm'' (1945) and the dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (1949). His non-fiction works, including ''The Road to Wigan Pier'' (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and ''Homage to Catalonia'' (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture. Blair was born in India, and raised and educated in England. After school he became an Imperial policeman in Burma, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irrawaddy Delta
The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Myanmar that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, to the south at the mouth of the Ayeyarwady River. The River delta, delta region is densely populated, and plays a dominant role in the cultivation of rice in rich alluvial soil as low as just above sea level, although it also includes fishing communities in a vast area full of rivers and streams. On 2 May 2008, the delta suffered a major disaster, devastated by Cyclone Nargis, which reportedly killed at least 77,000 people with over 55,900 missing, and left about 2.5 million homeless. Geography Arms and terrain The Irrawaddy Delta comprises the main arms of Pathein River, Pyapon River, Bogale River, and Toe River. Mawtin Point, formerly Cape Negrais, is a famous landmark in the Irrawaddy Division, and it also marks the south west end of Myanmar. The highest point o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pukka Sahib
Pukka sahib ( ) is a slang term taken from Hindi words for "absolute" ("first class," "absolutely genuine" for English users) and "master," but meaning "true gentleman" or "excellent fellow." The expression was used in the British Empire to describe Europeans or to describe an attitude which British administrators were said to affect, that of an "aloof, impartial, incorruptible arbiter of the political fate of a large part of the earth's surface." The word "pukka" is still used informally in 21st-century Britain to describe something as excellent. Occurrence in literature The term is frequently referenced in E. M. Forster's ''A Passage to India'', and in Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series as well as in ''Why Didn't They Ask Evans?''. In his anti-Empire novel ''Burmese Days'', George Orwell refers to it as a "pose," and one of his characters talks of the difficulty that goes into maintaining it. Alexandra Fuller also uses the term in her book ''Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation for high quality design and production and a fine list of English-language authors, fostered by the firm's editor and reader Edward Garnett. Cape's list of writers ranged from poets including Robert Frost and C. Day Lewis, to children's authors such as Hugh Lofting and Arthur Ransome, to James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, to heavyweight fiction by James Joyce and T. E. Lawrence. After Cape's death, the firm later merged successively with three other London publishing houses. In 1987 it was taken over by Random House. Its name continues as one of Random House's British imprints. Cape – biography Early years Herbert Jonathan Cape was born in London on 15 November 1879, the youngest of the seven children of Jonathan Cape, a clerk from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinemann (book Publisher)
William Heinemann Ltd., with the imprint Heinemann, was a London publisher founded in 1890 by William Heinemann. Their first published book, 1890's ''The Bondman'', was a huge success in the United Kingdom and launched the company. He was joined in 1893 by Sydney Pawling. Heinemann died in 1920 and Pawling sold the company to Doubleday, having worked with them in the past to publish their works in the United States. Pawling died in 1922 and new management took over. Doubleday sold his interest in 1933. Through the 1920s, the company was well known for publishing works by famous authors that had previously been published as serials. Among these were works by H. G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, W. Somerset Maugham, George Moore, Max Beerbohm, and Henry James, among others. This attracted new authors to publish their first editions with the company, including Graham Greene, Edward Upward, J.B. Priestley and Vita Sackville-West. Throughout, the company was also known for its classics an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal definition of defamation and related acts as well as the ways they are dealt with can vary greatly between countries and jurisdictions (what exactly they must consist of, whether they constitute crimes or not, to what extent proving the alleged facts is a valid defence). Defamation laws can encompass a variety of acts: * Insult against a legal person in general * Defamation against a legal person in general * Acts against public officials * Acts against state institutions (e.g., government, ministries, government agencies, armed forces) * Acts against state symbols * Acts against the state itself * Acts against religions (e.g., blasphemy, discrimination) * Acts against the judiciary or legislature (e.g., contempt of court, censure) Histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insein Prison
Insein Prison ( my, အင်းစိန်ထောင်) is located in Yangon Division, near Yangon (Rangoon), the old capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma). From 1988 to 2011 it was run by the military junta of Myanmar, named the State Law and Order Restoration Council from 1988 to 2003 and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) from 2003 to 2011, and was used largely to repress political dissidents. The prison is notorious worldwide for its inhumane conditions, corruption, abuse of inmates, and use of mental and physical torture. Conditions Sanitation and healthcare At Insein, diseases and injuries usually go untreated. A former prisoner at Insein recalls that "When we had fever they never gave us any medicine. If it gets very bad then they send you to the prison hospital, where many people die. The sick prisoners want to go to the hospital, but the guards never send them there until it's already too late, so many die once they get to the hospital. I got fever but I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the administrative functions to the purpose-built capital city of Naypyidaw in north central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar's most populous city and its most important commercial centre. Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in Southeast Asia, and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact. The colonial-era commercial core is centered around the Sule Pagoda, which is reputed to be over 2,000 years old. The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda – Myanmar's most sacred and famous Buddhist pagoda. Yangon suffers from deeply inadequate infrastructure, especially compared to other major cities in Southeast Asia, such as Jakarta, Bangkok or Hanoi. Though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insein Township
Insein Township ( my, အင်းစိန်မြို့နယ်, ) is located in northern Yangon. The township comprises 21 wards, and shares borders with Shwepyitha township in the north, Hlaingthaya township in the west, Mingaladon township in the east and Mayangon township in the south. Insein is home to the Insein Prison, the most notorious prison in the country that houses hundreds of political prisoners. Until the 1990s, Insein, about from central Yangon, was beyond Yangon's city limits although by the 1980s, Insein was already integrated with the rest of the city. With the expansion of Yangon's city limits in the 1990s which also included founding new satellite towns, Insein was formally incorporated into Yangon. Etymology The word "Insein" means "precious lake" in the Burmese language, and is also a former name of Inya lake. However, the etymology of "Insein" is derived from the Mon language term mnw, အၚ်စိၚ် (), meaning "elephant lake." History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katha, Myanmar
Katha (, , sometimes also spelled Kathar,) (Shan: ၵၢတ်ႇသႃႇ) is a town in Sagaing Region, Myanmar, on the west side of the Irrawaddy River on a bluff with an average elevation of . Most of the town is more than above the river. Katha is known for having inspired Kyauktada, the fictional setting of George Orwell's ''Burmese Days''. Location Katha is 12 hours by rail north of Mandalay through the railroad junction town of Naba which is to the west of Katha. A small branch of railway runs east from Naba to Katha. Katha can also be reached by ferries that run on the Irrawaddy River between the upstream town of Bhamo down to Mandalay. There is also direct bus service from Mandalay to Katha, but it is a bumpy ride. Climate Katha has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification ''Aw'') bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cwa''). Temperatures are very warm to hot throughout the year, with milder winter months (December–February). There ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mawlamyaing
Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. The first capital of British Burma, the city is currently the capital and largest city of Mon State and the main trading centre and seaport in south eastern Myanmar. Etymology and legend The Mon name which was previously used for Mawlamyine, ''Moulmein'' (; ) means "damaged eye" or "one-eyed man." According to legend, a Mon king had a powerful third eye in the centre of his forehead, able to see what was happening in neighbouring kingdoms. The daughter of one of the neighbouring kings was given in marriage to the three-eyed king and managed to destroy the third eye. The Burmese name "Mawlamyine" is believed to be a corruption of the Mon name. Moulmein was also spelled as ''Maulmain or Moulmain or Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thanlyin
Thanlyin (; or ; mnw, သေၚ်, ; formerly Syriam) is a major port city of Myanmar, located across Bago River from the city of Yangon. Thanlyin Township comprises 17 quarters and 28 village tracts. It is home to the largest port in the country, Thilawa port. History Thanlyin first came to prominence in the 15th century as the main port city of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, replacing a silted up Bago port. In 1539, the city became part of the Kingdom of Taungoo. In 1599, the city fell to the Rakhine forces led by the Portuguese mercenary Filipe de Brito e Nicote, who was made governor of the city. De Brito declared independence from his nominal Rakhine masters in 1603, defeated the invading Rakhine navy in 1604 and 1605, and successfully established Portuguese rule over Syriam or Sirião -as it was called back then- under the Portuguese viceroy of Goa. In 1613, Burmese king Anaukpetlun recaptured the city, and executed Brito by impalement, a punishment reserved for defilers o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
