As I've already explained, Orwell wasn't exactly a champion of colonial Burma, but the novel is absolutely everywhere. I mean, there aren't that many books set in Burma / Myanmar, let alone include the country's name in the title. Every time you walk into a market or the grounds of a temple, there's always a woman with a basket selling you jewellery, thanaka for your face, and copies of Burmese Days.
The thing is that, regardless of the message, Burmese Days is an incredibly important book, and brilliantly written of course. And when a place becomes immortalised in writing, we become even further reluctant to destroy memory of it - whether that's taking the book out of print or, in the case of Burmese Days, knocking down the house that provided the inspiration for the novel.
Set amongst trees in the small Sagaing town of Katha, 150 miles north of Mandalay, the rust-red wooden house looks like it's almost falling down itself to be honest, but having read the book, you can as good as see the sweat-soaked colonial soldiers reclining out front.
Now that the country is open, tourists finally feel its okay to visit once again, and the Myanmar people know that after years of the country being out of the news, the images Westerners in particular have of their country is through the likes of George Orwell and so destroying these modern tourist sites is not going to help their influx of travelers, and the consequent rejuvenation of the Myanmar economy. Of course it's not all about money, there's culture and history at stake here too. Popular culture, literary and colonial history, be it positive or negative.
I recently read an article in the Independent newspaper that quoted artist and campaigner Nyo Ko Naing, who told the AFP (Agence France-Presse), "I am trying to do what I can to restore all the buildings in the book and to attract attention to the country and the town." As a fan of literature in all its forms, I can only support that.
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