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A Collection of Essays
by George Orwell
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Product Description
In this bestselling compilation of essays, written in the clear-eyed, uncompromising language for which he is famous, Orwell discusses with vigor such diverse subjects as his boyhood schooling, the Spanish Civil War, Henry Miller, British imperialism, and the profession of writing.
Amazon.com Review
Imagine any of today's writers of "creative nonfiction" dispatching a rogue elephant before an audience of several thousand. Now, imagine the essay that would result. Can we say "narcissism"? As part of the Imperial Police in Burma, George Orwell actually found himself aiming the gun, and his record--first published in 1936--comprises eight of the highest voltage pages of English prose you'll ever read. In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell illumines the shoddy recesses of his own character, illustrates the morally corrupting nature of imperialism, and indicts you, the reader, in the creature's death, a process so vividly reported it's likely to show up in your nightmares ever after. "The owner was furious, but he was only an Indian and could do nothing.... Among the Europeans opinion was divided. The older men said I was right, the younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth much more than any damn Coringhee coolie."
This essay alone would be worth the cover price, and the dozen other pieces collected here prove that, given the right thinker/writer, today's journalism actually can become tomorrow's literature. "The Art of Donald McGill," ostensibly an appreciation of the jokey, vaguely obscene illustrated postcards beloved of the working classes, uses the lens of popular culture to examine the battle lines and rules of engagement in the war of the sexes, circa 1941. "Politics and the English Language" is a prose working-out of Orwell's perceptions about the slippery relationship of word and thought that becomes a key premise of 1984. "Looking Back on the Spanish War" is as clear-eyed a veteran's memoir of the nature of war as you're likely to find, and Orwell's long ruminations on the wildly popular "good bad" writers Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling showcase his singular virtues--searing honesty and independent thinking. From English boarding schools to Gandhi's character to an early appreciation of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, these pieces give an idiosyncratic tour of the first half of the passing century in the company of an articulate and engaged guide. Don't let the idea that Orwell is an "important" writer put you off reading him. He's really too good, and too human, to miss. --Joyce Thompson
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Remarkable range and insight, 2010-02-04
Hemingway is the quintessential action-oriented writer, the writer who jumps into the fray, but after reading these essays, I'd put Orwell in a virtual tie. Orwell's first job as an adult was serving the British Empire as an overseer in Burma, where he learned to hate the racism and represssion that was at the heart of the Empire. Later, Orwell fought with the communists in Spain, and then he was in London during the bombings of WWII.
Many of the essays in this collection deal with his experiences in those dangerous, radical, intense times. He writes about being cowed into shooting an escaped elephant in Burma because he had to look decisive in front of several thousand Burmese subjects. He writes about accusing a dark-skinned country boy of theft in the Spanish-Franco war, only to see that his accusation was incorrect, and then finding ways to make amends (and noting that he would not have had the nerve to make amends, nor would his efforts have been accepted, except in the unreality of wartime). He writes about opposing Fascism as WWII loomed, and his contempt for the pro-communist and pro-socialist intellectuals who shifted from one position to another as the political winds blew. These are searing, angry essays, full of tight observations about the duplicity of people with power and the powerlessness of the working class.
Many other other essays in the book also deal with power, but through very different lenses. For example, the collection opens with his long, multi-part memoir of life as a scholarship student at a public school. His tales are not especially different than those told by others about the harsh, class-conscious atmosphere and the sadistic headmasters, inadequate food rations, and uncomfortable living conditions. Yet Orwell teases out some fascinating intellectual observations, too. For example, he talks about wetting his bed, and then being told that it was a sin and being caned for it: his comment is that he learned he had sinned without even wanting to sin. Same thing with masturbation, which he wasn't doing, but which he was accused of doing because he was a poor boy. Here he was marked as a sinner for something he wasn't actually even doing and didn't even understand at the time.
Then, Orwell turns his attention in several essays to literary criticism and language. He looks at Dickens from a socialist point of view and finds that socialists are seeking a perspective that just isn't there. Orwell sees Dickens as a master at pointing out social ills, especially as they are visited on children, but utterly lacking in any solutions for the problems. Dickens basically asks the question, "Can't we all just get along?" and he sees individual morality as the only way to improve appalling social conditions. Orwell points out that it's hard to decide which comes first -- better social conditions or better morality -- though certainly some level of safety and creature comforts are needed before humanity has the luxury of thinking about "higher" matters.
About language, he finds parallels between sloppy, cliched language and sloppy thinking and dishonest political discourse. It's a point that is fairly common today, but which he probably striking in its time. In fact, the essays are full of observations that seem remarkably fresh for having been made in the 1930s.
One other essay was compelling for me: Gandhi. Orwell doesn't revere Gandhi as a saint, but he has more complimentary things to say about him than about any other person in the essays. He points out the remarkable achievement of India's independence, even if Gandhi's fullest dreams for a peaceful independence were not realized. He points out Gandhi's openness to all people and his raw physical courage (which cost him his life because he refused to have bodyguards). And he points out the limits of pacifism in a world in which totalitarian regimes would take advantage of pacifists to simply wipe them out.
These essays are so remarkable that I will read more Orwell essays in the future. Just as importantly, the essays have made me determined to read more about some of the events and people who are discussed in them. I have read a lot of Dickens, but I haven't read Kipling, and I know little about Gandhi or the Spanish Civil War. So Orwell has not only opened my mind with his essays, but he has propelled me to learn about new things.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Orwell at the top of his game - a joy to read., 2008-11-18
Orwell writes so well you want to give him a standing ovation. This collection contains several classic essays -- "Shooting an Elephant", "Politics and the English Language", "Such, Such were the Joys" (memories of his schooldays) -- as well as amazing pieces on Dickens, Kipling, and the state of literature in the 1930s ("Inside the Whale"). Whether writing about the English national character, analyzing the content and effect of popular comics for boys, or explaining his own compulsion to write, Orwell is always engaging and writes in clear, crisp prose that most essayists can only aspire to.
These extraordinary essays will sweep away any niggling resentment of Orwell you might feel because you were forced to read "Animal Farm" and/or "1984" in high school, and inspire you to seek out more of his work.
This is a great collection.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Journey forth, 2008-03-23
A good writer can take you places; George Orwell, better than good, can take you places you never imagined.
Originally, I started to read Orwell's essays to learn his thoughts on language and writing. Then, because those essays were excellent, I visited--via Orwell--the boarding school where he received--somewhat unhappily-- his primary school education ("Such, Such Were the Joys. . ."), the Indian village where he acted--against his instincts--just to not appear foolish ("Shooting an Elephant"), and the slums of ("Marrakech"). . .
Additionally, I learned Orwell's opinion of risque post cards, the character of his countrymen, and Gandhi. . .
Excellent!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
outstanding read, 2007-03-19
i have finished less than 30% of this collection of essays and i already enjoy this book.
if you are interested in becoming more acquainted with the mind behind 1984, then this is an excellent companion
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A first rate essayist, a third rate collection, 2007-01-23
Giving less than five stars to a work by George Orwell, perhaps the greatest essayist and social critic of the 20th century makes me physically ill. Truly, were I making a determination on the works contained alone, I would want to give it six. Yet, readers should give serious consideration before purchasing this particular volume. While the works contained include some of Orwell's most memorable, the publisher offers zero context, either to the author, the period, or even where the works first appeared.
Some may say argue that it is up to the modern reader to have a sufficient background to understand these works; after all, isn't that what wikipedia is for? Yet the publisher here does not even do the minimum to aid the reader. One need look no further than the fact that the date these works first appeared is given at the end of each essay. Now this follows a literary convention common in Orwell's time, if less so in our own, but it seems feckless indeed to make the reader flip to the last page to determine when a particular work first appeared. Moreover, readers ignorant of the particulars of Orwell's biography and the period might take certain of his assumptions and statements way out of context. Examples abound of this, but lets look at one; in the brilliant and continually relevant "Looking Back on the Spanish Civil War," Orwell contrasts the atrocities of German fascists with Soviet Communists and determines that while both are evil, the former is clearly the worse. Now modern readers may balk at this, or at least be made uneasy thinking it a case not so clear cut. However, were the year Orwell wrote, 1943, at the beginning of the work, or better yet even a sentence or two of context offered to what Orwell knew, the reader would benefit from a far smoother experience.
None of these shortcomings, however, should be taken as Orwell being anything less than brilliant. Indeed, his keen mind and sharp pen eviscerated much of the social and political conventions of his time. For example, his in essay on Rudyard Kipling, the much beloved writer of the jungle book and reviled pro-Imperialist, Orwell balks at the conventional wisdom poking clever holes in the conventional wisdom of his day. Likewise, one wishes in the current milieu their lived an essayist able to write the following "Political language - and with variations this is true of all political parties, Conservative to Anarchist - is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." (Politics and the English Language, 1946). Or consider how much better American political discourse might be if every citizen considered the following "...atrocities are believed in or disbelieved solely on the grounds of political predilections. Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence....the very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world (Looking Back on the Spanish Civil war, 1943).
All of this to say, is that Orwell remains as relevant as ever. One only wishes that this publisher gave him all the attention he is due so that readers can gain from his work the proper and full effect.
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