1. Italy
Although it is not Achebe's main concern in the novel because Obi is only away in England for a bit under four years, it is still important and worth mentioning because Achebe does choose to spend time on the subject. ... When he returns to Lagos he sees the slums he has not been to and the nostalgic poem he wrote about nature and how "sweet" it is to lie under trees under the "tender glow of the fading sun," is juxtaposed against the dead carcass of a dog "the dogs that taxi drivers hit for good luck. ... They meet on watery ground, both literally and figuratively. ... It is interes...
As it happened, Blair's first posting was to Moulmein, but he found Burma girls to be scarce on the ground. ... This short novel was rejected twice, mainly on the grounds that it was only 35,000 words and used only a moderate part of all of the notes, journals and other things that he had collected and intended to use. ... And this was the point of it: he wanted to bring the English middle class, of which he was a member, to an understanding of what life they lead and enjoyed, was founded upon, the life under their very noses. ... His political views began to take true shape as he saw ...