Theroux is a keen observer of human behaviour but I find his fictional biography of George Orwell somewhat thinly drawn, repetitious and rather dull. We read about the Orwell’s height and school (Eton) endlessly though neither have a direct bearing on his growing disaffection with the apparatus of colonial power. This ‘novel’ only really comes to life when Theroux injects Orwell’s alter ego, John Flory, the central character of Burmese Days into the narrative.
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 112 Spring 2024 ) |
