Product Description
As a result of his experiences living with industrial workers in the North of England in the 1930s, Orwell created this searing study both for and against Socialism.Amazon.com Review
Although George Orwell grew up in the relative comfort of the Englishmiddle class, his socialist convictions and general sense of fairnessled him to hate his country's deeply ingrained class structure. Thatperspective permeates this book, but the most striking elements arethe quotidian details of life that Orwell observes in his first-personaccount of the lives of coal miners and others in the poor north ofEngland. Wigan Pier is almost too realistic at times, as Orwellbrings his unparalleled powers of observation to portray the wretchedconditions of the working class. That Orwell may have slanted hisreporting to make things look worse than they were is a question thatdoes not lessen the book's interest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

The Road to Wigan Pier is an examination of the life of miners in 1930s Northern England
George Orwell (Eric Blair) was born in India in 1903. He died in 1950. Orwell in "The Road to Wigan Pier" goes into the lives of miners eking out a living in the northern part of England. Orwell examines the council housing and miner's homes which were dens of misery. Miners received poor wages and worked long and dangerous hours deep down in the earth. The health of the miners was poor and their lives full of misery. Orwell describes in detail the ugliness of the industrial cities of Sheffield and Wigan. Wigan had a population of 85,000 in the 1930s most of whose population were unemployed, on the dole or making a susbistent wage. Orwell was accepted by the poor, hardworking men and women he met on his travels. He wrote the book which was published by the Left Book Club; Orwell was a socialist who had fought in Spain on the side of the leftist government.
In the second half of the book Orwell turns his attention to a discussion of the class system in Britain, the dangers of Fascism and the need to oppose Fascism in Europe.The Road to Wigan Pier is a good book which will interest students of English society in the 1930s. Orwell was a wonderful essayist who has influenced such present day literary luminaries as the acerbic Christopher Hitchen.

Excellent book, Terrible edition.
I had to take one star off of the review specifically for this edition, put out by Benediction Classics, Oxford.Besides being a bit over-priced, the typesetting and text itself is terrible.There are many errors and the alignment and justification that makes the book almost unreadable.There are line breaks after a single quotation, spaces where there shouldn't be and many other very distracting issues.

After investigating, I noticed that a few of the same exact errors are in the HTML version from [...]. It seems that this publisher cut-and-pasted the text from the web and published it without editing. For shame!

So, this is an excellent book and a classic from Orwell, but do yourself a favor and buy another edition.

Serene Socialist?
I vividly remember travelling through what was communist East Germany (DDR) in 1996. I was always on the look out for the old socialist realism art common to the former communist countries. Do you remember the large wall murals of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution or Marx seen in western magazines? This book is far more complex than the simple world view of political art. It is one of three great documentary works that define Orwell as great journalist. "Homage to Catalona" and "Down and Out in Paris and London" are the other two noteable journalism books. The preface for this book is long and critical, written by a communist editor who had definite issues with Orwell- very unusual!The diary for this book as well a related essay on boarding houses is found in "An Age Like This."

Orwell was encouraged by his publisher, a member of the Left Book Club, to document living conditions in the north of England during the Depression. What resulted from Orwell living with the families of miners and in the seedy boarding houses of the industrial north was a detailed account of home life, personal budgets, mining technology and a decrepit social welfare system, the "Means Test," which created much havoc in the lives of the poor. Orwell's ability to describe and experience the gritty facts of poverty is compassionate realism.

The second half of the book shows the conflict with left-culture that was to characterize the rest of Orwell's life. The forward to this edition shows the conflict that book created with Orwell's publisher who insisted on the trip to the coal mining districts. Orwell was at heart always the colonial policeman and the Etonian...a cultural reactionary and yet a Socialist. It is not clear, however, how bad bath facilities for miners is a call for a planned economy.There is no analytical discussion here. We never get the details from Orwell.

Orwell's genius for description reminds me of reading "1984", so long ago,and feeling watched even though I never really did identify with Winston's struggle against Big Brother. In "Wigan", Orwell honored the struggles of England's most critical workers with this masterpiece.

Working Class England
If for the sake of argument one suspends their ideological beliefs, the working conditions discussed in the coal mines of Northern England were appalling.In making the reader understand these conditions, George Orwell establishes his position on the corrosive working conditions of this period and the path to change.In effect, the coal mines are Orwell's tool for presenting socialism as a more fair system.

Some reviewers have made the argument that this is Orwell's manifesto for socialism.The first half of the book is an eye opening experience in viewing conditions in a coal mine.This was a time before strong labor unions or any type of organized labor.Though Orwell observes that the workers seem to be content in their squalor, their contentment does not make it acceptable.The conditions and lifestyle are sickening.As Orwell states "I remember the shock of astonishment it gave me, when I first mingled with tramps and beggars, to find that a fair proportion, ... were decent young miners and cotton workers gazing at their destiny with a sort of dumb amazement as an animal in a trap....They had been brought up to work, and behold! and it seemed as if they were never going to get a chance of working again" (p 81).

The remainder of the book is Orwell's explanation of socialism and why so many are repulsed by it.In nature, the class system is far from just.Orwell never seems to completely follow through on his argument.While some readers will be negative toward the book because of a socialist theme, my negative view is based on the fact that Orwell's argument for socialism is far from complete.I am not sure many can be sold on the ideology from this book.Aside from explaining the process of Orwell's coming to terms with socialism and prejudices that exist in others, the argument lacks a sense of focus and perhaps even clear purpose.

The Road to Wigan Pier
I have just finished reading The Road to Wigan Pier and I have to admit that I did not enjoy it as much as I thought that I would. While Down and Out in Paris and London is darkly ironic and insightful (and, to a lesser extent, I have had similar experiences in my own life and share a similar feeling about them), the first part of TRWP -- the account of working and living conditions in Yorkshire and Lancashire towns in the 1930s -- is frankly bleak and historically interesting, but it is impossible to enjoy reading this part, and I find the second part -- the rant against socialists of his time -- to be too bitter and, to be quite honest, so unfair that it is more revealling of Orwell's snobbery and disillusionment than anything else. The second part is really all about Orwell's angst about his middle-class upbringing and I did not think that it did the first part any justice. I would have liked to have read more about what Orwell thought socialism should be, rather than his vague appeals to justice and decency, and his tirade against middle class prigs, parlour house Bolsheviks, and socialist intellectuals.

Even though his complaints had some truth to them, I found myself agreeing with the rebuttal by Victor Gollancz -- the Left Book Club's editor --, which was printed as a preface, even though, with the benefit of hindsight, Orwell's comments about the Soviet Union were more insightful than the editor realized (though, given the preface was written in 1937, the editor should have had a little more hindsight than he did!).

Having said that, it is important to remember that Orwell was going through something of a crisis of conscience at this point in his life and he was so deeply concerned with the failure of socialism and the rise of fascism that, by the time the book was published in 1937, he had already left to join up with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. I think that this book shows the frustration and personal conflicts that had risen to a head in Orwell's life, and his experiences of northern industrial towns was the last straw. I think that his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, even though they deepened his disillusionment and confirmed all his suspicions about the Soviet Union and the Commintern, as well as confirming his fears about the rise of fascism, helped him very much in dealing with his personal conflicts and his crisis of conscience. This is why is next book, Homage to Catalonia is, like Down and Out in Paris & London, darkly ironic, insightful, and, while clearly accounting tragedy and betrayal, is full of the 'warts and all' modesty and decency that I very much admire in Orwell's writings. ... Read more

Product Description
Considering that much of his life was spent in poverty and ill health, it is something of a miracle that in only forty-six years George Orwell managed to publish ten books and two collections of essays. Here, in four fat volumes, is the best selection of his non-fiction available, a trove of letters, essays, reviews, and journalism that is breathtaking in its scope and eclectic passions. Orwell had something to say about just about everyone and everything. His letters to such luminaries as Julian Symons, Anthony Powell, Arthur Koestler, and Cyril Connolly are poignant and personal. His essays, covering everything from "English Cooking" to "Literature and Totalitarianism," are memorable, and his books reviews (Hitler's Mein Kampf, Mumford's Herman Melville, Miller's Black Spring, Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield to name just a few) are among the most lucid and intelligent ever written. From 1943 to l945, he wrote a regular column for the Tribune, a left wing weekly, entitled "As I Please." His observations about life in Britain during the war embraced everything from anti-American sentiment to the history of domestic appliances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Outstanding Owell Part 4. The Shadowy Future 1945-1950.
Do you know what a time capsule is?

I saw one pictured in an old Life magazine back issue about the 1983 World's Fair in New York. 1938, the brink of war's abyss. The time capsule was featured at the Fair, filled with Depression era technology and pop culture. An ominous looking black scuba tank... a dark looking torpedo thing... metallic, shiny and heavily lowered by chain into a cement crypt to sleep for decades...observed by people who would never live to see it opened. The metallic time traveller contained hopeful letters to the future from a world on the brink of war and beset by economic decline.

The old world of sentiment was dying... to be replaced by a new streamlined world that promised utopia to some and endless darkness to others.

The last book in this great series...perhaps the saddest and most ominous. The begining of the atomic age (1945)is mentioned in this last part of the series... a bright atomic flash succeded by a long proceeding dark shadow...pointing towards 1984? Devolution, decay and death not evolution, utopian progress or hope shadows this last book.

The Penguin Books edition is simply a reprint of the earlier edition by Sonia Orwell made two years earlier in 1968. It is better bound as the earlier editions tend to crack because of their great age. This book is unique for two reasons: it is loaded with letters and tends to reveal more about the inner thought life of Orwell. This collection of writings shows the Orwell of the Cold War, far removed from the Edwardian England of his youth as was his character George Bowling from his childhood; Bowling looking at the crumbling churchyard of his youth from a street leading to the streamlined future Orwell and Bowling seemed to fear more than embrace.

The technology of mass death has also the power to end dictatorships while paradoxically threatening life on earth. The threat of total war would make slave states stable enough to survive without any credible threat. In other words, Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania would be forever locked into the static war of "1984" much like 1948 was locked into the seemingly permanent Cold War.

The problem of England's birth dearth reappears in yet another essay as an unavoidable fate...a fact "In Front of Your Nose."

The "Red Duchess" wrote back to Orwell after he had long written about her. The Duchess of Atholl had long been a subject of interest to Orwell who commented often on the "Blimps" who seemed to plague english society with various hues of functionlessness. Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists seemed to echo the Duchess' radicalism on the right wing.

The letters in many of the Orwell collections never seem to have answers. It is interesting to ponder why so few answers were ever published or if they ever existed. Was this an issue of deliberate omission?

Another curious unanswered fact: was why Orwell never seemed to write detailed letters about his personal life. There are no details about the adoption of Richard, the death of his first wife, or his second marriage...critical time points. When Orwell writes about hospital visits near his death bed, there is nothing about Sonia's involvement. Personal illness letters would have revealed much integrity and compassion, yet they are conspicuously abscent. Did Sonia want to leave out embarassing details such as why Orwell was so often alone with his TB or why she insisted on using his pen name as her married name? The last selection in the book is a poignant diary and note book, Orwell's last writings laced with gloomy thoughts about children dying, an outline for a long short story and notes about Evelyn Waugh.

It is ironic that Waugh wrote the "Loved One" about the funeral industry in America and Waugh was the last writer Orwell wrote about. Was Orwell thinking about death, but felt a need to intellectualize it rather than confront it honestly? There is no introspection involving Christ or eternity (despite Orwell's traditional values and previous essays on religion)...only a pointed remark about how appropriate a symbol (seen in a picture) was a crucifix hiding a stiletto "for the Christian religion."Interestingly,Orwell pointed out the contradiction in Matthew about the geneology of Jesus without citing the commonly known answer to it. Orwell also quoted a wrong verse for the whale in the book of Jonah when talking about Henry Miller's book "Inside the Whale." It is strange that a mind as sharp as Orwell's would find death a non-issue as he lay dying and would apply little intellectual accuracy towards the Bible even though he lamented the collective lost of the belief in immortality in several writings, claimed, in one letter, to have seen a ghost, and was upset that hell was often lampooned by comic strips. Orwell and death... quite an enigma.

Orwell was one of those men cursed with integrity and conscience who have no beliefs to sustain their integrity. Men like Winston in "1984" are forced to eventually pay homage to the idols they fight..."I love you Big Brother"... then die obedient under the System; like the show trials of Communists under Stalin with its numerous self-confessions followed by executions or banishments.

The man who died in 1950, midway in the twentieth century, was embraced with its begining and cursed with its future. Orwell longed for the Edwardian society of his childhood, yet had to live with the dawn of nuclear armed super states. Orwell was the
policeman shooting an elephant in Burma, and later performing a hanging for an empire he detested, yet had the integrity to serve. Orwell was Dorthy Hare dutifully accepting the role of a church spinster and a life of forgotten service. Orwell was George Bowling looking with longing recollection at the church of his youth and seeking the inner freedom of the long lost fish pond.

Orwell was frequently at odds with left culture: abortion, homosexuality, trendiness (vegetarianism), yet he was part of the Left. The man who died in 1950 had an Edwardian soul, yet was damned to live in a totalitarian-threatened world created by the failure of Capitalism in 1929.

Orwell's intergrity of vision may have kept that totalitarism from ever being justified.

Where is the omelette?
This fourth volume concludes the excellent essay collection from a man who died much too young and with whom I do by far not always agree, but who provided me a very satisfying and instructive reading experience.
I chose the headline from one of the essays in this volume because it gives Orwell in a nutshell, including my own ambiguities about him. He argues against the Soviet apologists, in the early post war time, who say that one must break eggs to make an omelette. (Is that a Lenin quote, btw?) His question: so where is the omelette? strikes me as witty and appropriate, but at second glance as callous and cruel. After all he seems to imply that yes, you may kill a few million people for a 'good' purpose, but the purpose must be met.
In such moments Orwell is deserted by his own devotion to clarity and he gets caught in his own puns. That does happen to him. As much as he lambasts against bad language, he will write e.g. 'I could multiply these examples endlessly' (talking about bad stories from the Soviet Union), when he actually means, he could add to these examples for some time.
Reading the man for 4 volumes gives me the conviction, that this suspicious interpretation of mine is unfair. No, he would not have intended to mean that.
The title 'In Front of Your Nose' refers to our ability to harbor contradictory notions without suffering too much from it: the English intelligencia in the 30s was able to oppose Hitler as well as disarmament and conscription. Another example: the gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus descended from Abraham and David through his father Josef, and then proceeds to tell us that Josef was in fact not the father. (I am sure theologists are perfectly able to talk this contradiction away.)
Vol. 4 has plenty of worth while literary criticism as well, like the previous 3. The essay on good bad books predicts that Uncle Tom will outlive the complete works of Virginia Woolf. (Frankly speaking for me that has already happened.) Jack London could tell his stories well, but they are not well written.
Let us close our Orwellian peregrination with a timeless reminder: political language is designed to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. Right, my AFs in the much afflicted US?

Orwell As a Knowledgeable Man and a Master of Good Prose and Clear Thinking
The late James J. Martin stated that one could learn great prose from reading George Orwell. Orwell's anthology titled IN FRONT OF YOUR NOSE is a good book to learn political insight and excellent writing. Orwell was not only knowledgeable, but he expressed some of the political tragedies and problems of the 20 th. century in this book. Readers should note this book is the fourth volume of essays of Orwell's essays literary criticism, political protest, etc.

Orwell was one of the very few who realized what a disaster W.W. II was for both Europeans and Asians. His essays on the forced repatriation of millions to the Soviet Union to miserable die in concentration camps were among the first to publicize this tragedy. Orwell's essays were blunt in stating that the only real winner from W.W. II was Big Communism especially in lieu of the rapid disintegration of the British Empire.

Orwell gave a good description of the inconsistent thinking of the British people. The British wanted total victory at any cost, and found themselves in bad economic shape. Many British complained about the immigration of Polish refugees to mine coal in Great Britain. Yet, the British public also complained (whined) about coal shortages. Orwell indicated the inconsistency of these remarks and commented that the British failed to see the logic between acts and consequences. Orwell Presented a clear picture of what wasto occur with the British Empire which disintegrated rapidly after "victory" during W.W. II.

Orwell's essay on Gandhi is an interesting case study of Orwell's honest assessment of political leaders. Orwell is clear that he could not live like Gandhi, and Orwell admitted that he probably could be friends with the Hindu leader. Yet,Orwell highly praised Gandhi's courage, policy of nonviolent resistence to the British rules, and Gandhi's honesty. Orwell gave Gandhi praise for being honest and a decent man among political rogues, hypocrites, and cowards. Whether one agrees with Gandhi, he was indeed a brave, honest man. Among poltical figures these are rare traits indeed.

This reviewer disagrees with part of Orwell's criticism of James Burnham. Orwell correctly shows Burnham's errors in predicting the outcome of W.W.II. However, Orwell should have recognized Burnham's book THE MANAGERIAL REVOLUTION was a solid account that political and economic affairs were to be controlled by managers and "experts" rather than a market economy and by traditional political processes.

Orwell's anthology has interesting essays of literary criticism and correspondence.Orwell was suprisingly well versed with continental European poltical leaders and literary figures. There is an interesting letter that Orwell wrote to Arther Koestler, author of DARKNESS AT NOON,in which Orwell favorablycompares this book with Orwell's own 1984.

Orwell also has some disturbing remarks regarding "allied" abuse and torture of defeated German prisoners of war. Orwell reflected that he remembered British and U.S. propaganda against the Germans before and during W.W. II. Yet, right in front of his nose, the "allies" were acting in the same beastial manner against those caught on the wrong side of the war. This was quite disturbing to Orwell, or any thoughtful person.

This reviewer has always been very impressed with Orwell's work. Any thoughtful individual who is not afraid of clear writing, honesty, and truth would enjoy Orwell. Unfortunately, the number of such people is small. As Orwell wrote one time, propaganda and lying do not decieve people. Propaganda and lying only help people who want to be deceived.

Like a refreshing river--read it!
Essays and journalism and very good footnotes deal with starvation in Europe, prevention of literature, Gandhi, an attempt to form an organization which would deal with issues like expelling people from theirhomes, people forced back to Soviet Russia,andmuch more including civilliberities for anarchists. ... Read more

Product Description
Written with students and general readers in mind, this volume examines George Orwell's powerful fictional writing, as well as his provocative documentaries and essays. Students will gain an appreciation for the many levels of meaning in the allegorical Animal Farm and the startlingly prescient 1984. Brunsdale does a masterful job of showing how personal and world events came together in Orwell's writing. A carefully drawn biographical chapter examines the development of Orwell's worldview from his impressionable student days to his later years as he struggled with his health, his political identity, and his literary career. The literary heritage chapter traces Orwell's influence as a truth-teller and reviews the literary influences that inspired Orwell to experiment and continually refine his writing style. Individual chapters provide in-depth but accessible analysis of each major work of fiction and nonfiction including the often-anthologized essay "Shooting an Elephant" and Orwell's first full-length publication Down and Out in Paris and in London. In addition to plot and character development, considerable attention is given to the historical contexts and the thematic concerns of social injustice that drove Orwell to devote his life to his writing. ... Read more

Product Description
Considering that much of his life was spent in poverty and ill health, it is something of a miracle that in only forty-six years George Orwell managed to publish ten books and two collections of essays. Here, in four fat volumes, is the best selection of his non-fiction available, a trove of letters, essays, reviews, and journalism that is breathtaking in its scope and eclectic passions. Orwell had something to say about just about everyone and everything. His letters to such luminaries as Julian Symons, Anthony Powell, Arthur Koestler, and Cyril Connolly are poignant and personal. His essays, covering everything from "English Cooking" to "Literature and Totalitarianism," are memorable, and his books reviews (Hitler's Mein Kampf, Mumford's Herman Melville, Miller's Black Spring, Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield to name just a few) are among the most lucid and intelligent ever written. From 1943 to l945, he wrote a regular column for the Tribune, a left wing weekly, entitled "As I Please." His observations about life in Britain during the war embraced everything from anti-American sentiment to the history of domestic appliances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Outstanding Orwell Part 2. 1940-1943
My earlier review on the first volume of this series may be of interest to the reader and help him understand the content of this volume.

Like the first volume, this volume is composed of letters, essays, book reviews and journals dating (generally) to the early war period when the fate of the world seemed bleakest. At the risk of seeming lazy, I will highlight what seems most interesting to me and look at selections I believe are unique to this collection. I can never be sure, however.

The Letter to The Editor of Time and Tide...conveys the panic caused by the unfounded belief in an impending invasion of England by Nazi Germany. Orwell displayed an amazing detail of knowlege about such things as the use of dynamite against entrenched street fighters taken from his days in Spain. Orwell later tried to persuade the Home Guard (I believe) or LDV to train volunteers in insurgent warfare, but later reflected that the ruling class would have other issues with that idea.

Phamplet Literature...The essay on phamplets reflects Orwell's giant collection of Depression era phamplets housed in the London Museum. This is essay is a literary time capsule since phamplets are often included in real time capsules. Phamplets give future generations a glipse into the nut culture of a particular period of history. The interesting question posed by this subject is whether the internet itself is a kind of populist electronic phamplet...blogspots drowning out legitimate literature and journalism. How would Orwell have reacted to this new electronic, immmense phamplet?

Literature and Totalitarianism...Do you remember in "1984" how the State altered its dogma to the changing political circumstances it created? East Asia then Oceania then Eurasia...endless shifting alliances and slogans. Hitler quickly changed Communism to a useful socialist brother when the pact was signed with Molotov. Hitler's Communist victims in Dachau, the KPD, were soon forgotten by the soviets as well. Truth is elastic for totalitarians.

New Words...an essay I haven't seen elsewhere, deals also with language and mind and probably had an influence on newspeak in "1984." It is interesting to note that Gordon Comstock compromises his idealistic poverty to become a middle class advertising copy writer in "Keep The Aspidistra Flying" after sneering at idotic ads for Bovril. Comstock's new life consists of composing idiotic ad slogans that seem almost totalitarian.

Mein Kampf...Orwell reviewed the writings of fanatics as well. The edition Orwell rviewed cast Hitler in a slightly favorable light in 1939 casting Hitler as an errant Conservative. The edition was quickly reissued with the royalties going to the Red Cross. Even Orwell professed a grudging acceptance of Hitler as convincing theatric figure capable of producing pathos and destiny in his presentation.

War-time diary...These diaries lasted from May 1940 to November 1942. They convey the pop culture of wartime England and the odd detachment many felt from major war events. Orwell recounted how his first wife and himself went to pubs at night only to find the patrons playing darts while major battles were raging; they would be the first to ask for the news radio to be turned on. These diaries are by far the best selections in the book and are hard to put down.

Another masterpiece from this prolific writer. The writer who embodied an everyman struggling for human dignity and freedom in an ominous age.

Missing pages
Does anyone else have a copy that's missing pages? Mine jumps from page 326 to page 339, and from 350 to 363

A family with the wrong members in control
This is my first volume of essays, articles and letters by Blair/Orwell, which I read thanks to Jim Egolf's recent review here. The man contradicts himself quite a bit, but I do not regret the time spent. Who wants to get bored by people that one always agrees with?
The main theme of the book, due to the time of the sample, is England in war with totalitarianism/fascism/nazism. Though Orwell was in his heart a leftist, he had enough insight from own experience to understand the nature of totalitarianism, he was a dedicated anti-Stalinist, and he staid away from party politics.
And yet: his long essay 'The Lion and the Unicorn', one of the core texts of this book, gives a political vision, that puzzles me. He displays a surprising naivete about the strength of economic planning in socialism. Of course, we have the benefit of hindsight, we know that a central planning bureaucracy can be the right approach for a short term effort, like for a war, but will be hopelessly lost in inefficiencies in 'normal' times. Orwell was deeply convinced that state capitalism or socialism was the future, there would be no return after the war.
I have decided to ignore his political recipes, but to enjoy his social analyses: England is a rich man's paradise, but the ruling class is too stupid to run the country.
One of his main contributions to our understanding of the confict of the time: his juxtaposition of the ideology of hedonism (which nearly led the West into the abyss) against the ideology of social sacrifice, which helped the Nazis to succeed, luckily only temporarily.
I wonder if he fully understood the real antagonism of Hitler to the West or if he got deceived by the temporary diversion of the pact with Stalin. (I notice when I browse the reviews and comments in this neighborhood that there is a certain willingness to say, the West should have gone with Hitler against the Soviets. Oh my, what a misunderstanding.) Probably he did. In a nice remark after the German attack on Russia he says, had this happened before the Hitler-Stalin pact, there was a chance of serious political disturbance in Britain, because the ruling class might have wanted to join the attack on Germany's side.
My favorite text in the collection is the essay on H.G.Wells' inability to understand Hitler. Wells was the man who envisaged scientific progress against reactionary societies earlier in the century. He was unable to understand that Hitler's essentially irrational and superstitious ideology was capable of an efficient alliance with the other side of science.

Fascism, Big Communism, Actual Political Power, and Literary Criticism
This book is an anthology of Orwell's essays, literary criticism, letters to friends,and political criticism. Those who read this book can read some interesting letters that Orwell wrote to the editors of THE PARTISAN REVIEW on the fortunes of W.W. II involving the British. The book concludes with Orwell's diary of the war. While George Orwell (1903-1950)was a self admitted "leftist," he was not an ideologue. Orwell showed that he was a well read individual and knew very well that political labels conceal the desire for political power regardless of political titles and party affilations.

Orwell was a master of literary criticism. Two examples are his review and comments on Hitler's MEIN KAMPF and Tolstoy's denounciation of Shakespear. Orwell commented that an English review of Mein Kampf favaored the German dictator. Orwell correctly predicted such praise would soon evaporate which it did. Orwell informed readers that praise for Hitler was not unusal. One must note that Churchill complimented Hitler in Churchill's book titled GREAT CONTEMPORARIES. Churchill also complimented Hitler in a speech to Parliament in November, 1938. Here Orwell shows not only his ability as a literary critic, but he informs younger readers that the political disapproval word,fascism, had a different connotation. Many Europeans including the British middle and upper classes had serious concerns of Big Communism with its record of mass murder and concentration camp brutality.

Orwell showed himself again as a literary critic when Orwell critisized Tolstoy for the latter's condemnation of William Shakespear. Orwell correctly refuted Tolstoy on a couple of issues. First, Tolstoy read Shakespear in translation which may have tainted his understanding of Shakespear. Also Tolstoy tried to condemn Shakespear in lieu of Tolstoy's social philosophy. Orwell stated such criticism was useless because such criticism would have been incomprehensible to Shakespear and his English contemporaries in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Orwell also chided Tolstoy for his assumed superiority. Tolstoy could not understand why Shakespear literary work was so appealing and wrote that everyone should know that Shakespear was some sort of scoundral. Yet, Orwell wryly comments that Shakespear's literay work was available throughout the world while Orwell could not find Tolstoy's essay until he found it in a museum.

The best part of this Orwell anthology are his political essays. Orwell noted that there was suppose to be a bitter political divide betwen Fascism and Big Communism. When the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in 1939 unhinged this concept and angered Communists and their fellow travellers. When asked about this unexpected turn of diplomatic events, Molotov (I believe it was Molotov) who said that the difference between Socialism (Bib Communism) and Fascism was a matter of taste. Approximately two years later when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, this view sure changed. Orwell stated that Stalin and his supporters would have called themselves Fascists if they thought such a label would enhance their power. Hitler and his supporters would have done the same. Orwell clearly indicated that men who have concentrated power will use whatever political labels to keep or enhance their complete hold on power.

Orwell used the political chaos both inside the Soviet Union and in Europe to sound a serious warning that literature could be lost because of the rapid changes in political loyalties. The sudden changes in internal enemis in the Soviet Union serves as a classic example. The heros of the Workers' Paradise were concentration camp victims the next day because they could not stay current with ruling party's changing enemy's list. The Non-Aggtression Pact mentioned above is another good example. Orwell reflected that in previous centuries, literary men (an women)had "a frame of reference." Their political and religious loyalties were stable from cradle to grave. However, given the rapidly changing of enemies, literary figures had no such stability and writing could be dangerous especially in the Soveit Union where writers were either sent to concentration camps or committed suicide. Had Orwell lived longer, he would have been pleased to see such Soviet writers as Boris Pasternak (DR. ZHIVAGO) and Alexander Solzhenitsyn who surived the Soviet purges and yet were awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In fact, Solzhenitsyn sent ten years in a Soviet concentration camp from which he emerged as a literary giant. Orwell did suggest that totalitarian thought control could not survive the spirit and soul of thoughtful men.

Among Orwell's many talents was his ability to expose political hypocrisy. Many of the British leaders were demanding that Mussolini be charged for "war crimes." Orwell scoffed at this nonsense. Orwell cearly indicated to his readers that those British leaders who demanded such "war crimes" trials against Mussolini were exactly the same British leaders who ten years previously praised Mussoini for the acts they now wanted to charge as war crimes. Orwell had a solid memory, and when Mussolini moved against the Communists and aided Franco in the Spanish Civil War, many of the same British leaders who wanted to try Mussolini for "war crimes," praised him for his actions which they awkardly tried to define as war crimes ten years later. Among those who praised Mussolini in the 1920s-1930s included Churchill.

In parts of the book Orwell showed himself as a military expert. When there were threats of a possible German invasion, Orwell had practical suggestions of arming the British citizen with the most practicle weapons. Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War and volunteered for W.W. II, but illness kept out of that conflict. Orwell also took pride in his position in the Home Guard.

This reviewer has one criticism. Orwell's letters to the PARTISAN REVIEW, political essays, literary criticism, etc. should have been arranged by topic rather than by time sequence. This would enable readers to easily read the book. However, this reviewer could not have done nearly as good a job. Orwell simply enhanced his position as a great novelist, literary critic, political thinker, and excellent prose writer. Readers would to well to read this book to have a better understanding of the war years (W.W II) than is presented in badly written textbooks and popular accounts. This reviewer highly recommends this book.

Disappointing
For years, I have been impressed by the quality of the essays in Dickens, Dali, and Others, Shooting an Elephant, and Such, Such Were the Joys.I was looking forward to reading more of Orwell's essays.I soon discovered, however, that Orwell's essays not published in book form shared all the faults of those that I had read, but few of the virtues.

Many cite Orwell's honesty as his primary virtue, but these essays reveal a man who is, if not dishonest, then at least quite blind to his own experiences.He states, without any supporting evidence, that "only Socialist nations can fight effectively" (p. 67, from The Lion and the Unicorn), despite the fact that he served in an army organized along socialist lines (as narrated on p. 255), if not the army of a socialist nation, five years prior to the publication of this statement; the army was defeated decisively by Generalissimo Franco's decidedly non-socialist forces.

Orwell also frequently resorts to name-calling.Those who disagree with him politically are almost invariably "reactionaries", "Fascists", or "pro-Fascist".Jack London is "not . . . a fully civilised man."; rather, he possesses a "streak of savagery".Any thought, expression, or even word of which Orwell disapproves is "vulgar", from the cartoon postcards of Donald McGill to Kipling's statement that "He travels the fastest who travels alone" to Yeats's use of the word (!) "loveliness" (Orwell also claims that "Yeats's tendency is Fascist." on p. 273).

It is clear to me after reading this volume that the editors who selected pieces for the three volumes of essays published during Orwell's lifetime made the right choices; they show him at his best.The rest of the material here is hardly worth reading except as a window into the soul of a man who was incapable of viewing the world except through the distorting lens of a commitment to socialism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

1984
The book is a little bit more yellow and worn than I would like.This was not metion. ... Read more

Product Description
Burma, where George Orwell worked as an officer in the Imperial police force, is currently ruled by one of the oldest and most brutal military dictatorships in the world. Emma Larkin presents a side to the country that the regime does not want revealed: a hidden world that can be found only in whispered conversations, covered books and the potent rumours wafting like vapours through the country's teashops. Starting in the former royal city of Mandalay, she travelled through the moody delta regions on the edge of the Bay of Bengal, to the mildewed splendour of the old port town Moulmein, and ending her journey in the mountains of the far north, in the forgotten town Orwell used as the setting for Burmese Days. Visiting the places where Orwell lived and meeting the people who live there today, Emma Larkin gives a vivid and moving portrait of a people for whom reading is resistance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Same book, added prefatory & sub-titles
This British edition is the same as the Penguin hardcover from 2005.

Larkin, writing under a psuedonym as an American born in Asia, educated in London, and resident in Bangkok, brings the right balance of an insider--being able to speak the language and get into the feel of Burma--and outsider--marked obviously by her presence. I wondered how the Burmese reacted to her as she suddenly must have entered many situations and places in which the local people probably never expected that a Westerner would be able to converse, interview, and delve into their own relatively unknown (to outsiders) language. Humbling too to note how many of the people she met had mastered English and were better read than many to whom Dickens is an author in a native language and not one learned with considerable effort so far away from much contact with the West.

However, Larkin diminishes her own role to highlight the conditions endured in a police state. I never knew that on 8--8-88 3,000 people were killed while demonstrating; the fate of "The Lady" is about all many of us have heard about "Myanmar", unfortunately for that nation and for human rights. This is why her linking today's experiences to previous conditions at first perpetrated and then rebelled against by Orwell himself makes for a well-chosen structural foundation for her book. Written calmly and even detached from her surroundings somewhat, Larkin lets the people she talks to tell the stories. I do sense that much of Burma was left out--I would have liked, seeing the map, to know more about the peninsular strip adjoining Thailand, the border areas with Bangladesh, India, and China, and the Himalayan frontiers, but her travels seem to have been more limited to the center of the nation. This may be, however, due to surveillance. I was amazed she was able to get away with as much as she did given her "not blending in."

She conveys information calmly and clearly, and her own quest to retrace Orwell's steps results in a lot of sensibly established parallels that I doubt any previous reader of Orwell or traveler to Burma had been able to make--quite an accomplishment for this modest book. I hope too that it reaches a wider audience and that more of us learn about the regime strangling this nation. Larkin's lack of self-importance makes her book a quiet but effective voice against tyranny, and Orwell would be proud of her. ... Read more

Product Description
George Orwell (1903-1950) is Britain’s most famous political writer. He aspired to be a novelist, but it was with his reportage on the conditions of the poor and on the Spanish Civil War, and his journalism on popular culture and politics, that he became a leading observer of his times. With his last books, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, he became a global icon, leaving ideas and terms that continue to shape political and cultural debate. In this controversial new biography, Scott Lucas argues that we now need to be rescued from Orwell. Orwell was never really a socialist, Lucas argues, and, in spite of his interest in "clear writing", he remained as confused in his politics as he was talented and prolific in prose. Most strikingly, soon after the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell passed a list of ‘suspect’ individuals, from Charlie Chaplin to Michael Redgrave, to British Intelligence. Since his death, Lucas suggests, Orwell has become a talisman for the neoliberal right, for "little England", and even for an American-led world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

ORWELL SLICED AND DICED
Having read at least 8 excellent biographies in this Haus "Life and Times" series I was confident the publishers would select a prestigious English man-of-letters to describe Orwell's career and sum up why 62 years after his death the word "Orwellian" no longer needs an explanation.

But for some reason they chose an obscure academic who writes about subjects no one cares about (the Suez crisis etc.) One needs only to skip to the last paragraph "Suddenly the Crystal Spirit is not so clear" to know this will be an annoying miopic egotistical read.With almost every career move or word Orwell published being dissected rather than appreciated this has to be one of the worst least sympathetic purported biogaphies ever printed. One can only assume he thought by dissing Orwell he might make a literary impact himself. Judging by the minimal reviews either side of the Atlantic it's safe to say Birmingham University made a huge mistake allowing an anti-Orwellian to lecture on their premises.

The normal task of going through the same paces as 20 other Orwell biographers was obviously not enough for Mr. Lucas.Instead he decided this was his opportunity to point out the flaws in almost every Orwellian thought process, essay or novel. For instance in the James Joyce biography the writer spends 9 pages outlining the entire plot of "Ulysses". Lucas spends precisely 2 on "1984" and then moves on to what interests him - recounting and backing-up all the contemporary criticism of "1984".Why would readers want to know how many mediocrities failed to understand the true significance of a book which is NOW accepted as a timeless classic?

The same goes for Orwell's most famous essay "Charles Dickens".An incredible writing marathon, with Orwell sitting for hours at an old fashioned typewriter - not to display his encyclopedic knowledge of every Dickens novel - but to seamlessly link a whole raft of illuminating (and humourous) explanations as to why Dickens was both our greatest popular author - and a hugely influential humanitarian. But Mr. Lucas knows better.He contends this essay was not written by Orwell about Dickens but "Orwell was recasting of himself through the elevation of Dickens".I.e. he was only writing self-promoting propaganda!

The irony here must be apparent to all Orwell readers.A minor foreign academic (from his ivory tower) belittling one of the greatest minds England's ever produced sums up why Orwell spent his whole working life campaigning against pretentious commentators who never fought in the trenches.

With so many great books written by people who personally knew Orwell it's obvious this small paperback stitched together by someone who knows nothing about Orwell's England has no value. The biggest irritation being this biographer is incapable of analysing how a journeymen writer (who never strayed far from England) could have so accurately predicted how and why certain "tendencies" would escalate to become ominous threats to the entire future of Western Civilization.Just a few of Orwell's predictions coming true - 60 years after his death.

"Government Debt" is a euphemism for bureaucrats becoming so powerful their budgets cannot be controlled. Yet only in 2010 did we learn (for the first time) the economy of almost every Western country has been brought to its knees by CORRUPT BUREAUCRATS.

Machines are so efficient year by year millions of human jobs are disappearing.

As in Oceania promoting unsubstantiated FEAR keeps the proles' expectations permanently low. Expensive security measures and distant wars must be paid for with their taxes.

Politicians are controlled by an anonymous faceless Inner Party.No legislation emancipates the proles.The only perceptable change is the rich (inner party) continue to get richer.

Proles remain servile (non-revolutionary) if fed media garbage. I.e. computer generated music, porn, reality TV.

Despite TV being in its infancy Orwell realized such devices would control us - not the other way round.Children are first brainwashed by TV. Subsequently their lives are dependant on de-humanizing computer-driven machines.

I believe the reason Orwell virtually committed suicide writing "1984" was he had to set down on paper all his insights about how 2 tyrants could have extinguished millions of lives before and during WW2.And that they succeeded because they alone knew how to fully exploit the frailties of human nature. Like so many others Lucas does not recognize "1984" was never intended to be a conventional novel.The storyline was only a pretext for him to describe an imagined future society - and to insert the "Emmanuel Goldstein" section where he explains how it became this way.With just one outlet for his sense of humor - the inverted logic of Newspeak and doublethink.

It came as no surprise Mr. Lucas's background prevented him connecting the obvious dots. Especially this one.Orwell told his publisher "I first thought of it in 1943". How long did Orwell work at the BBC?From 1941-1943.Does one need to be born in England to grasp "1984" could never have been written were it not for Orwell's brief exposure to British bureaucracy at the BBC?That Orwell was not describing communist or totalitarian rulers.He simply extrapolated the power structure he observed in London during WW2.His pre-programmed "imagination" then projected what our entire planet might become if senior bureaucrats could obtain absolute self-perpetuating power.

Eric Blair may have made many miscalculations.But in my opinion any biographer who inserts petty nasty stuff about "secret lists" is not fit to kiss the hem of Orwell's corduroys.The train left the station a long long time ago.George Orwell is one of the greatest Englishmen who ever lived.Remind me again - who is Scott Lucas?

I never like to write a negative review without ending on a positive note.Orwell fans can gain a full understanding of every aspect of the great man in "The World of George Orwell" published in 1971.Easily the best read as most of the 18 essays are contemporaneous.

A Decent Man of Political Conscience
In my youth, after reading Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, I considered George Orwell to be that quintessential beacon of political conscience, that single moral compass, a man with a terrifying awareness of the evils of political subterfuge, a man who left us with an essential warning: be vigilant!

A contribution to the Life & Times series, Orwell, by Professor Scott Lucas, is not so much another project of sentimental praise or hagiography of a writer, but a successful attempt at objectivity, revealing a novelist, essayist and critic of popular culture who, at the end of his life, collaborated with "Big Brother" (British Intelligence) naming names of communists that he believed posed a threat to British (western) democracy. This list of 36 men and women remains a secret, and the British authorities continue to hold on to the list in the name of national security. This is a major contradiction of the man, considering he was the author of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Lucas does not involve himself in petty character assassination, demolishing this twentieth century icon for some sort of personal, political or academic gain. In fact, Professor Lucas reinforces Orwell's "decency", a man of courageous sensibilities; however, his "Englishness" as the author points out, remained a staple throughout his writing career.

For the most part, this short critical biography touches upon Orwell's major writings, analysing each in a fair and interesting manner. Most twentieth century critics believe Orwell to be an essayist, a political critic, more so than a novelist. I believe Lucas agrees with this assessment, though, when one re-reads, `Down and Out in Paris and London', `Homage to Catalonia', `Animal Farm' or `Nineteen Eighty-Four', would have to admit that his talent as a novelist, although not genius, is excellent.

This is a highly polished work, extremely well written and insightful in terms of the author's goal of objectivity. As an admitted hero-worshiper, it was a learning experience to read a piece on Orwell that attempted to approach the subject from many perspectives, some good, some not so, without bias in any form.

That said, my only criticism is that the book should be longer, unpacking a few arguments that required further elaboration, however, it is obvious that the author was under space constraints from his editors. Then again, without question, this is a minor quibble.

Although there seems to be many works on George Orwell, and many excellent biographies, (`Orwell: A Wintry Conscious of a Generation' is noteworthy) this one is surprisingly good: entertaining and educational.


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Deviates corrected for their own good
In a society that has eliminated many imbalances, surplus goods, and even class struggle, there are bound to be deviates; Winston Smith is one of those.He starts out, due to his inability to doublethink, with thoughtcrime. This is in a society that believes a thought is as real as the deed. Eventually he graduates through a series of misdemeanors to illicit sex and even plans to overthrow the very government that took him in as an orphan.
If he gets caught, he will be sent to the "Ministry of Love" where they have a record of 100% cures for this sort of insanity.They will even forgive his past indiscretions.

Be sure to watch the three different movies made from this book:
1984 (1954) Peter Cushing is Winston Smith
1984 (1956) Edmond O'Brien is Winston Smith
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) John Hurt is Winston smith

1984 Actors: Edmond O'Brien, Jan Sterling
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

Fiction Fragments...
I am no stranger to the sin of pride. I pride myself on being systematic and as a result being as objective as possible (hopefully.)I believe I have read every published writing Orwell has ever written.Reading this collection reminded me of the colonial partition of Africa. Have you ever studied the crazy patchwork of counties created in Africa without regard to tribal boundries? Orwell's writing has been divided up by an editor who disregarded the unity of the works being reviewed..this is a grave disservice to Orwell.


This collection consists of exerpts from Orwell's early novels, essays and and a short selection from 1984. The writings are in chronological order starting from the Burma period to the novel "1984" written in 1948. The book has collections which appear in many other works; I am always worried that I have missed something because of the many overlapping editions of Orwell works spanning decades.

Orwell's novels appear in strange fragmentary chapters in "The Orwell Reader" which hide Orwell's complete writing from us. Orwell's great ability as a descriptive writer is hiden from us in fragments of selections.Orwell's novels tend to be one dimensional. The novels lack introspective dialogue and depth, but have an interesting journalistic quality which we refer to today as "atmosphere."

The selection from "Keep the Aspidistra Flying" describes Gordon Comstock, the protagonist, researching fetal development after discovering his girlfriend is pregnant. This incident shocks him from his wandering penury to face the responsibilities of life. This novel reflects personal letters in which Orwell mentions the evil of abortionand opines about a future UK devoid of children... facing demographic crisis. Very prophetic. Abortion was a subject in other essays. Orwell once remarked that abortion should be seen as "more than a pecadillo."

Much of Orwell's fiction is based on source material found in the large four volume collection of personal writings begining with "In an Age Like This." These four volumes provide an invaluable insight into the thought life of Orwell and are cheap.

In "England Your England" we are told that the struggle with Germany has to be fought as a socialist struggle against Fascism, yet we are only told that the socialism is democratic...we are never a detailed description of what alternative existed to the dying British Empire and capitalism. Orwell later recanted some views on the War stating that he under estimated the power of patriotism.

The essays on James Burnham and Ghandi are particulary noteworthy for their keen political insights. Orwell correctly stated that if the Soviets did not democratize they would eventually collapse and that Ghandi had subordinated spiritual values to baser political ones. Orwell, however, never explored the spiritual core of Ghandi which he dismissed as "unappealing." The superficiality of Orwell perhaps made him an objective journalist; this is his enduring legacy, his efficency of thought.

The selection from "The Road to Wigan Pier" is an ideal example of the travel journalism which shows the essiential compassion and time capsule value of Orwell's writing about depression era poverty. Orwell lived with the coal miners he wrote about.The Road to Wigan Pier

This book should be ignored and the reader would be better advised to just buy individual Orwell novels and collections of complete writings. When you purchase large collections of Orwell's writings it is best to check the table of contents to avoid duplicating selections and wasting money.

Great writer...very bad, butchered edition; therefore, one three stars.

A Moveable Feast
The blurb on the back of the book calls THE GEORGE ORWELL READER "a feast of reading for the thinking person." It is. For years this book was virtually my Bible, occupying a permenent place on the nightstand and accompanying me on every long trip, until it assumed its present, scribbled on, food-stained, dog-eared appearance.

Orwell has been called "the conscience of his generation", but more than that, he possessed an intellectual honesty which is utterly extinct among today's political writers - all of them, Left and Right, are either blinkered, ivory-tower idealogues, rabble-rousing demogogues or line-toeing party hacks. Whether you agree with Orwell's own political views (often, I don't) is immaterial; his ability divine and expose hidden motives, to sniff out hypocrisy, and to call a spade a spade and then use it to slice open those who refused to do so, are simply unmatched. Seldom if ever since Johnathan Swift has anyone written with such an utter disregard for tact, diplomacity, or political orthodoxy. A die-hard Socialist who was shot fighting with a quasi-Marxist militia during the Spanish Civil War, Orwell actually spent at least three-quarters of his intellectual life scourging and ridiculing Leftism and Leftists (those who "got their crockery from Paris and their political opinions from Moscow"), not out of self-sabotage, but because he hated cant, lying and cruelty and found a surplus of these traits on his own side of the isle.

The READER combines all three types of Orwell's work, including a sampling of some of his best essays and reportage ("Shooting An Elephant", "Second Thoughts on James Burnham", "Politics and the English Language", "Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool", etc.), and lengthly excerpts from his novels BURMESE DAYS, A CLERGYMAN'S DAUGHTER, COMING UP FOR AIR, KEEP THE ASPIDISTRA FLYING, and 1984, his nonfiction works THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER, DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON and HOMAGE TO CATALONIA, and the seminal essay "The Lion and the Unicorn." For Orwell fans, it's a sort-of "greatest hits" album, and for strangers to his work, it works a terrific primer, providing a very diverse and wide-ranging sample of his thoughts.

There will probably never be another Orwell: humanity has marched too far down the road of blind party loyalty, one-issue voting and material selfishness to produce one. But thanks to books like this, there is no need for a replacement. Whenever we feel ourselves getting too complacent, too stupid or too hypocrtical, Georgie boy and his trusty literary spade will be there to stab us in the arse.

Amazing Introduction to Orwell.But buy the originals.
This book has been my introduction to Orwell.He is an amazing writer and thinker.Despite the fact that my politics diverge considerably from his (I consider myself an avid capitalist) I have so much respect for his clarity of thought and his unparalleled skill as a writer.

That said.

I would rather buy the originals than these excerpts.Which is what I am going to do now.:)

Homage to Orwell
The honesty and realism of Orwell never ceases to amaze. He opens 'Shooting an Elephant', the first story in this collection, by telling us that he was hated by many people. He will spend the rest of the essay showing us why. The pointless death of an animal no longer harmful becomes the legal murder we witness in 'A Hanging'. In both cases we see people becoming their jobs, counting doing one's duty more important than being human.

He sees "the dirty work of Empire at close quarters" and knows that " imperialism is an evil thing" but continues to do his duty as both imperialist and colonist would see it. The amazing thing is that he is not alone in this. In "A Hanging" the hangman is a convict and after the deed is done we see both Europeans and natives laughing and drinking together. In "Shooting an Elephant" he is stuck between "hatred of the empire" and "rage against the evil-spirited little beasts" that made his job impossible. But again, we witness crowds of natives expecting him to be a Sahib.

Orwell's stories show us the demoralizing duties, the pompous gravitas of Imperialism. It dehumanizes both rulers and ruled, turning them into the role they play rather than allowing them to become who they might have been. Both fortunately and unfortunately, he also knows that, "the British Empire is dying [...] it is a great deal better than the younger Empires that are going to supplant it."

This collection is pure Orwell. His unsentimental love of ordinary people, coupled with the easy, natural, sympathetic description of complex characters, relationships and motivations, reveal Orwell as a man who was genuinely at home with ordinary people. Only he could write movingly of how imperialism traps (freezes!) both rulers and ruled into roles and duties, of the daily humiliations of colonialism, and the little lies that keep the system going, and still show the oppressors as human beings. Even people we might miss. The only one I have ever read who comes close is Camus on Algeria.

In '1984' (only excerpted in this collection), a prophesy of what the Empires destined to replace the British empire could become, it was his ear for the corruption of language by permanent war that struck me, when I first read it well over three decades ago, as the perfect lens for viewing the lies spoken daily by both sides during the Vietnam War. Also, Orwell's insight into the political necessity of continual crises to keep the people both frightened and grateful for protection explained rather nicely how the communists (or Islamic Fundamentalists today) could work with us (and we with them) whenever it was politically convenient to do so.

In the collection of literary pieces what surprises is that a man of the left like Orwell, who was always a socialist, could appreciate authors as patriotic and conservative as Dickens and Kipling. We should always measure men by whether they can appreciate the strengths of their enemies. To my mind it is the height of civility in our twisted world to be able to admire an enemy whom someday you may have to kill. We need to remember that there always is, or at least always should be, something beyond (and above) politics.

But much of Orwell's posthumous fame comes from his writing on communism. As well it should, he was among the very few famous intellectuals (Camus and Koestler also come to mind) who forthrightly criticized the Soviet dictatorship. But he always remained a man of the left. It was during the cold war that this admirer of decency, virtue, and honesty; to say nothing of socialism, was dishonestly dragooned into being a cold warrior by, among others, Commentary magazine. They went so far as to call him a neo-conservative, twenty-five years before the fact!

They should learn how to read. And `Homage to Catalonia', also excerpted in this collection, is an excellent place to start. Yes, the critique of totalitarian communism is there, perhaps expressed better than anywhere else. Here he is interacting directly with the type of Monster dimly limned in 1984. He didn't need to read about the communist's mania to dominate every coalition they enter into, he lived through it. He saw in Barcelona the destruction of a genuine working class movement by the disgraceful collusion of liberals and communists.

When Franco led much of the Spanish army into revolt it was the workers who spontaneously resisted. They formed workers' committees to run the factories and workers' militias to win the war. In Catalonia, the anarchists, the radical wing of the worker's movement, were stronger than the socialist parties. In Madrid, a loose governing coalition of liberal and socialist parties was attempting to win the war not only on the battlefield but in the court of world opinion. In plain English, this meant do not appear too radical. You see, socialism worried liberal, capitalist nations like England and France; but anarchism scared them to death.

As time went on the government drifted to the right. Orwell was not shocked by this. He understood the diplomatic necessities as well as anyone. What did surprise him was that this rightward drift coincided with ever strengthening ties with the Soviet Union. You see, all the Soviets cared about was the defense of the Soviet Union, and to them this meant the politics of the Popular Front. In the thirties this meant an alliance between everyone (communists, liberals, conservatives) against Hitler and Fascism. An alliance at any cost. So farewell workers control, workers' councils, and workers' militias; this would be just another bourgeois war.

And that's what shocked him. Even though Orwell initially favored this policy, as did most of the European Left, he changed his mind when he saw it in action. He too had believed that the most important thing was to win the war. But the suppression of independent socialists like the (Troskyite) P.O.U.M., the gradual repression of the anarchists, and the lies in the international press about all this turned him around.

And isn't that vintage Orwell? This man of honesty and integrity, who would report exactly what happened, even when it went against what he believed or wanted. This is why Chomsky called 'Homage to Catalonia' the best book on the Spanish Civil War. It would have been an honor to have George Orwell as a friend, an ally, - or an enemy. Men like this illuminate our world.

The originals in their entirety are more appropriate for him
I was disappointed with this compendium of the grand writer's work.I consider Animal Farm a great treatise on the ills of communism from both a generic and specific point of view, and was hoping for many similar insights.Communism's socialst critic writes penetrating stories and clear analogies, so I was hoping for the best.

Shooting and Elephant was a cutting view into the life of colonial police in India.Indeed, that type of insight into human behavior and how people's behavior breaks down in groups is what makes Orwell strong.

Unfortunately, there are many more situations where sections were cut out of books (yes, it's a reader, I should've know that before I purchased) where the original in it's entirety captured the points much more completely.It's hard to encapsulate a great work like 1984 with an excerpt.

While Orwell is indeed a great author, I was disappointed by the disjointed nature of the collection.His writing remains best captured in their original full length form. ... Read more

Product Description
George Orwell is regarded as the greatest political writer in English of the twentieth century. The massive critical literature on Orwell has not only become extremely specialized, and therefore somewhat inaccessible to the nonscholar, but it has also attributed to and even created misconceptions about the man, the writer and his literary legacy. For these reasons, an overview of Orwell's writing and influence is an indispensable resource. Accordingly, this Companion serves as both an introduction to Orwell's work and furnishes numerous innovative interpretations and fresh critical perspectives on it. Throughout the Companion, which includes chapters dedicated to two of Orwell's major novels, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, Orwell's work is placed within the context of the political and social climate of the time. His response to the Depression, British imperialism, Stalinism, World War II, and the politics of the British Left are also examined. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

All About Orwell and More
How interested in Orwell are you? If your interest is merely casual, this book is not for you.If, on the other hand, you consider Orwell the greatest politiacal essayist and satirist of the Twentieth Century, you should read it. Of course, the book should be read after you have read some of Orwell's books and essays and, perhaps a biography.

The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell contains essays by reputable Orwell experts and scholars. Theseessays discuss Orwell's novels and essays as well as his views on particular subjects. The focus is principally on his political writing and the evolution of his political views.While the writers of this book have different points of view,most agree that Orwell became a socialist in the 1930's and never ceased thereafter to be a socialist. Nevertheless, he was never a Marxist and he often criticized other socialists.It is clear that the view of Orwell, popularized in the United States, as a Socialist who repented is incorrect or, at least, oversimplified.

The book is a surprisingly good read considering the multiple authorship and nature of the series of which itis a part. If you have more than a passing interest in Orwell, this is a must read. ... Read more

Product Description
Examines the life of George Orwell, the English author of "Animal Farm" and "1984," and discusses the political and social criticism disclosed in his work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent introduction
Although it is written for younger readers, this is an excellent, short introduction to George Orwell's life and works. I am an adult, but I appreciate relatively brief, clear biographies like this. With this background, one is better prepared to read Orwell's own writings, or even fuller biographies about him.I must say that I was amazed by the facts of his life story and by his determined pursuit of experiences that wouldhelp him become a writer.

This book is especially useful for students who need concise background information about Orwell for writing term papers. -WGL ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One World?
Since each of Orwell's books have sufficient reviews (raves), I won't bore you with repetition.

I was suprised that this compilation (officially called "The Complete Novels") is not officially available on Amazon.com.If you'd like a single book with "all" of Orwell's novels, it is available via the Amazon.co.UK site.Nothing fancy, just the stories.The only drawback is that the print font is smaller than in most books.For most, this will not be a problem, though.

Be careful: although called "The Complete Novels", it doesn't include "Down and Out in Paris and London" or a couple of his other books.Maybe they weren't considered novels. ... Read more

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Classic where we learned the phrase "Big Brother is Watching!" It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. Ending: He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark mustache. . . . Includes an Appendix called "The Principles of Newspeak." ... Read more

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En esta novela encontramos al lider unico cuya presencia es ante todo una abstraccion, la negacion del individuo, la sustraccion de la informacion: el Gran Hermano. Es, al mismo tiempo, una advertencia y un deseo. El autor ha construido una metafora del imaginario social del siglo XX, al describir un pais carcelario, vigilado por un lugar desde donde se ve a el y a todos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Excelente!
Libro en español = "review" en español: llegó rápido y en perfecto estado. La factura venía con un agradecimiento en español y en inglés, lo cual me hizo sonreir por el resto del día. ¡Genial! Seguiré comprandoles libros de ahora en adelante.

1984
The words (Planeta Cero) kept bothering me.Thought it was the publisher. I just found out, too late..after it shipped, this book is printed in Spanish, not English.If the language is not English, it should be stated clearly on the main line nearthe title.

could not read it
Nowhere does it say this book is in Spanish.This was not what we wanted and was no way made clear that it wasn't in English like the other several books we ordered.We paid return shipping and still have seen no balance refund.We order alot from Amazon but this transaction was not fair.

Ironically assigned reading in many public schools
1984 is extremely influential on the way we as a society label each other and our government with names such as "Big Brother" Orwellian and such.These names like calling someone a Nazi allow us to appear to argue but actually allow us to dodge the real issues.This is fairly ironic considering the origin of such terms.Basically 1984 is set in London in the distopian future.Orwell wrote it in response to Stalin's corrupting the ideals of Socialism.He was a socialist and so was really bothered by that failure.

The plot to 1984 isn't so important as the setting.Basically the story follows Winston Smith.Smith harbors less than perfect views of his environment, for which he will one day be arrested regardless of his actions.Not loving the government (thought crime) is the only crime that is recognized.Hidden cameras and microphones are omnipresent in the city, included mandatory TVs which can't be turned off, only show a single government station and contain hidden cameras through which "thought police" may monitor what is in front of the TV at any time.Social interaction doesn't exist, since that would be considered weird and therefore criminal.

There are three classes of people in London:Inner Party members, Party members like Winston and the proletariate, who aren't watched so closely because they aren't considered human.In this world Winston goes from merely not liking the government to engaging in unusual behavior.He starts by buying decorative antiques at a proletariate shop and progresses to having a girl friend, who he can only meet with in remote country side settings on account of social interaction is not allowed by the government.It is obvious to him that he will one day be taken to the Ministry of Love, a windowless building which handles law enforcement, and never fails at getting thought criminals to love the government.

The novel is always dark.No happy beginning, no happy middle and no happy ending.Still it is important to read it before throwing around terms like "Orwellian"It has been so influential on society that it is required reading - if you want to pass your tenth grade English.Failing to read is a sign of insurgence against the government.

Ironically assigned reading in many public schools
1984 is extremely influential on the way we as a society label each other and our government with names such as "Big Brother" Orwellian and such.These names like calling someone a Nazi allow us to appear to argue but actually allow us to dodge the real issues.This is fairly ironic considering the origin of such terms.Basically 1984 is set in London in the distopian future.Orwell wrote it in response to Stalin's corrupting the ideals of Socialism.He was a socialist and so was really bothered by that failure.

The plot to 1984 isn't so important as the setting.Basically the story follows Winston Smith.Smith harbors less than perfect views of his environment, for which he will one day be arrested regardless of his actions.Not loving the government (thought crime) is the only crime that is recognized.Hidden cameras and microphones are omnipresent in the city, included mandatory TVs which can't be turned off, only show a single government station and contain hidden cameras through which "thought police" may monitor what is in front of the TV at any time.Social interaction doesn't exist, since that would be considered weird and therefore criminal.

There are three classes of people in London:Inner Party members, Party members like Winston and the proletariate, who aren't watched so closely because they aren't considered human.In this world Winston goes from merely not liking the government to engaging in unusual behavior.He starts by buying decorative antiques at a proletariate shop and progresses to having a girl friend, who he can only meet with in remote country side settings on account of social interaction is not allowed by the government.It is obvious to him that he will one day be taken to the Ministry of Love, a windowless building which handles law enforcement, and never fails at getting thought criminals to love the government.

The novel is always dark.No happy beginning, no happy middle and no happy ending.Still it is important to read it before throwing around terms like "Orwellian"It has been so influential on society that it is required reading - if you want to pass your tenth grade English.Failing to read is a sign of insurgence against the government. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Books, Cigarettes, and Other Vices
When George Orwell's diaries were released online as a daily blog, beginning about a year ago and still ongoing, I remembered how much I enjoyed his essays and how long it had been since I'd read any of them. I was reminded of The Road to Wigan Pier when I recently read The Road to Southend Pier: One Man's Struggle Against the Surveillance Society, about the recent proliferation of closed-circuit TV cameras throughout Britain. Very Big Brother-ish.

So when I saw Books v. Cigarettes on a display with others from the Penguin Great Ideas series, I grabbed it. Not only was I looking forward to reading the book-related essays of Orwell, but the design of the book itself is a delight. A smidgen taller and wider than a mass market paperback and considerably thinner, the cover evokes the old Penguins of the mid 20th century, right down to the price printed on the upper right hand corner : 3'/6. The cover is rough, not slick, with subtly embossed lettering. I love it.

There are only six essays here, 126 pages. Orwell gets off to a good start by taking to task those who complain that books cost too much. He compares the cost of the books he's bought over the years with the amount he's spent on booze and cigarettes, and finds that even with his above-average book consumption, books cost less than other vices. Essays about bookselling and book reviewing follow, then one about the British Left's lukewarm support for freedom of the press. According to Orwell, the Left's support of Soviet Russia made them overlook little things like censorship.

The final three essays are not really book-related at all. Following a 1940 essay about the coming war, there's a description of the miserable time Orwell spent in a hospital for the poor in Paris, then a long essay (nearly half the entire book) of his miserable time as a boy at boarding school.

I don't think I would recommend this volume as a good introduction to the essays of Orwell - Shooting an Elephant: And Other Essays (Penguin Modern Classics) would be a better choice. But for those looking to read a few favorites in an attractive new edition, this is just the ticket.

... Read more

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"Shooting an Elephant" is Orwell's searing and painfully honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma; killing an escaped elephant in front of a crowd 'solely to avoid looking a fool'. The other masterly essays in this collection include classics such as "My Country Right or Left", "How the Poor Die" and "Such, Such were the Joys", his memoir of the horrors of public school, as well as discussions of Shakespeare, sleeping rough, boys' weeklies and a spirited defence of English cooking. Opinionated, uncompromising, provocative and hugely entertaining, all show Orwell's unique ability to get to the heart of any subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Go past the novels and dive into the other writing of George Orwell
Have just started Homage To Catalina as I needed to make sure I had read everything by GO. But I do so enjoy his other writing and the reviews from the news papers. Shooting the Elephant is a wonderful story and so captures the expectation of the British person (with no knowledge) of the Indian person and those in the middle, caught and mortified, but unable to change attitudes at that time.

Orwell on politics and language
Of course I read this collection many years ago as most self-respecting writers of my generation have.After all, Orwell was a mentor to all of us as well as one of our heroes, and this collection includes not only the title piece, which is as good a personal experience essay as has ever been written, but also "Politics and the English Language," an essay on how to write and how not to write that is without parallel.

But as I perused the "Contents" page a forgotten chapter title caught my eye,"Confessions of a Book Reviewer"!I immediately turned to page 171.Oh, what a delight I beheld!Orwell begins the essay with, "In a cold but stuffy bed-sitting room littered with cigarette ends and half-empty cups of tea, a man in a moth-eaten dressing gown sits at a rickety table, trying to find room for his typewriter among the piles of dusty papers that surround it."After some further dreary detail, Orwell continues, "Needless to say this person is a writer.He might be a poet, a novelist, or a writer of film scripts or radio features, for all literary people are very much alike, but let us say that he is a book reviewer."

Of course Orwell is writing (with some scant distance) about Orwell.How candid he is and how well he eschews any glamour or romance in the self-portrait!And yet, there is something heroic about Orwell's depiction of the literary "hack" that is agreeable.He goes on to say as "the menacing finger of the clock" moves toward the reviewer's deadline, "suddenly he will snap into it.All the stale old phrases--'a book that no one should miss,' 'something memorable on every page.' 'of special value are the chapters dealing with, etc., etc.' will jump into their places like iron fillings obeying the magnet, and the review will end up at exactly the right length and with just about three minutes to go."

Orwell practiced a style that never called attention to itself (because the content was paramount), yet upon closer examination is characterized not only by precise diction and a rare clarity of expression but with the sort of metaphorical language that brings content to life.Note those "iron fillings"!

"Shooting an Elephant" begins with these famous words, "In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people--the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me."A few lines down he remarks, "I was young and ill-educated and I had had to think out my problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East.I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it...With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny...; with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts.Feelings like these are the normal by-products of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian official."Change a few words and the sentiments he expresses might very well apply to someone from the United States in Iraq in the 21st century.

"Politics and the English Language" begins "Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it.Our civilization is decadent and our language--so the argument runs--must inevitably share in the general collapse."Ah, the lament of prescriptive linguists everywhere!What is wonderful about this essay is how specific Orwell is in first giving examples of writing that is, as he terms it, "a little below average" (there are five selected paragraphs); and second in referring back to these paragraphs as he demonstrates just what is wrong with that way of writing.He condemns in turn, "Dying metaphors," e.g., "ride roughshod over," "no axe to grind, etc."; "Operators or verbal false limbs," "militate against," "make contact with..."; "Pretentious diction," "epoch-making," "unforgettable..."; "Meaningless words...," e.g., "democracy," about which he notes, "not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides."

In the examples from last category I was struck again by how topical Orwell is now sixty-some years after this essay was written.He notes that "In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning."Clearly he has been reading some of today's postmodern literature!

Some of the essays are no longer of much interest, I must admit--although I would say that the two mentioned prominently above are easily worth the purchase of the book.In particular the essay, "Books vs. Cigarettes" is largely irrelevant because of the price comparisons in the pounds and shillings of many years ago.However even here there is something worthwhile.Near the end of the essay Orwell notes that "the ordinary [English]man spends more on cigarettes than an Indian peasant has for his whole livelihood."

What is most striking about this book is again the clean, crisp, easy to read, but by no means in any way "dumbed down" prose.Orwell is the sort of writer that other writers greatly admire.His easy to read style is the result of hard work.Despite the decades that have gone by, these essays are for the most part still very much worth reading.If you have never read Orwell on language and politics, you are in for a special treat. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an authorized reprint of a hardcover edition published byHarcourt, Brace & World, Inc. ... Read more