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Title: A Collection of Essays by George Orwell ISBN: 0-15-618600-4 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: October, 1970 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (14 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The end of all isms....
Comment: Orwell was not only a keen observer of human nature and somebody who had the guts and foresight to condemn extremism from all corners he was also essentially a great humanitarian. The care he takes in using discriminating language and urging others to do so is a great legacy and one we are in dire need of today in this era of thoughtless engineering and sloganeering and aliteracy among the literate. His disemination of Gandhi and his sceptical stance towards hero worship is also badly in need of being reread and rejuvinated. All saints should be pronounced guilty until proven innocent would be a laudable addition to public life, or church for that matter. Orwell is without missionary zeal except when it comes to writing itself which he describes as a disease as well as a cure and a matter of seriousness for soul evaluation.
Anything penned by the man who gave us the following explanation for fascism is worth contemplating:
"The dog which performs his tricks because he is afraid of the whip is not yet well trained enough. The really well trained dog does his somersaults without being asked to perform."
Rating: 5
Summary: A great essayist and a lively read.
Comment: Orwell is as likely to go down in history as an essayist as he is as a novelist. The clarity of his style is matched only by the clarity of his thought. Orwell's belief in using language correctly, in order to transmit ideas, rather than to obscure them, is as essential to his idea of freedom as is democracy. He thought that the English language was in a bad way and set about to correct it in 'Politics & the English Language.' "The English language," says Orwell," becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.... Modern English is full of bad habits...If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration." Lazy language - pretentious diction, meaningless words, and cliché - was a mask for lazy thinking. He would have been aghast at the abundance of modern jargon or the 'spin' put on news stories by politicians today, both of which is to either hide up the paucity of genuine ideas or to mislead the public. For Orwell, to speak, and just as importantly, to write, clearly are important for the political process. These ideas were, of course, to feed into his novel, 1984, with its use of Double Speak, to say one thing while thinking another. We recognise these words and phrases all too well: People's Democracies for Communist dictatorship; pacification for mass murder and terror; We, the people for We, the ruling elite; and Protecting democracy for Defending our financial interests.
These essays, written in the 1930s and 40s, capture the era perfectly. His subject matter ranges widely and there is much here to chew over. It doesn't matter whether he is talking about the outdated jingoism of Rudyard Kipling, the true nature of British imperialism in India, the slightly obscene picture postcards of Donald McGill, the brutality and snobbishness of English Public schools, the lack of radicalism in Charles Dickens, or the horror of an execution that Orwell witnessed, all are brought vividly to life by the clarity of his writing, his keenness of intellect, and his eye for detail. Orwell will be remembered because he not only articulated the times in which he lived but also because he was a genuine literary artist.
Rating: 5
Summary: This Guy Is Nuts.
Comment: This is the man who wrote "1984," the single most frightening piece of fiction I have ever read.
Still...
In this excellent collection of works that is only slightly duplicated in "The Orwell Reader," Mr. Orwells sees fit to to critically analyze the worlds of smutty post cards and boy's 2-penny newspapers.
I kid you not.
They make amazing, and amazingly funny reading.
With the same zeal and clear critical thought that Orwell applied to the Spanish Civil War and homeless countrymen, he analyzes the art and purpose of smutty post cards. What a hoot!
Actually, it is refreshing.
This is big fun.
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Title: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell ISBN: 0156421178 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: October, 1969 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell ISBN: 015626224X Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: March, 1972 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Burmese Days: A Novel (Harbrace Paperbound Library, Hpl 62) by George Orwell ISBN: 0156148501 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: May, 1974 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell ISBN: 0156468999 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 19 March, 1969 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage by George Orwell, Richard H. Rovere ISBN: 0156701766 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: June, 1961 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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