George Orwell (1903-1950)

[bookslover]

Yesterday (1/21) was the 60th anniversary of Orwell's death - of tuberculosis at the age of 46. He is best known, of course, as the author of the novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. But, he was also a first-class essayist who is considered to be one of the more important writers of the first half of the 20th century.

If you're interested in Orwell at all, I'd encourage you to acquire George Orwell: Essays, published in 2002 as part of Alfred A. Knopf's "Everyman's Library" series. It's 1,363 pages of Orwell's essays and journalism.

A small "s" socialist himself, he had a clear eye about the true nature of both Nazism and the Soviet Union. He was one of the few intellectuals of his day who was not fooled by Communism, as opposed to someone like George Bernard Shaw, for instance.

In any case, politics aside, he was a writer of clarity and power, and I enjoy reading him very much.

 

[py3ak]

Orwell is one of my favorite writers. They are reprinting or have recently reprinted a 4-volume set of essays, and it is probably easier to get all his books now than when he was alive. Of his lesser-known novels I particularly enjoyed Down and Out in Paris and London and A Clergyman's Daughter. His journals are being posted as blog entries, 70 years to the day after they were first written, at this site: THE ORWELL PRIZE

 

[Jon Peters]

Although I read some Orwell back in college, my book club, as part of a Utopia theme, is read 1984 and Animal. We are also reading Utopia by More and A Brave New World by Huxley, if anyone cared.

Orwell's book are excellent. That collection of essays sounds very interesting.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

A Brave New World by Huxley is by far my favorite of the genre.

 

[jambo]

For years I had been looking out for an omnibus version of Orwell's which was long out of print. Then over the summer whilst on holiday in England as I wandered through a car boot sale there was the very book itself just lying there crying out to be picked up and taken to a good home. The guy was only asking £1 so it was my bargain of the year.

I recently read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury which is an Orwellian type story

---------- Post added at 06:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:05 PM ----------

Thanks Ruben for the link to the blog.

 

[py3ak]

Is there really an omnibus edition that includes everything that is in the 4-volume set?

Amazon.com: George Orwell: An Age Like This 1920-1940: The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters (Collected Essays Journalism and Letters of George Orwell) (9781567921335): George Orwell, Sonia Orwell; Ian Angus: Books

Amazon.com: My Country Right or Left 1940-1943: The Collected Essays Journalism & Letters of George Orwell (Collected Essays Journalism and Letters of George Orwell) (9781567921342): Sonia Orwell, Ian Angus, George Orwell: Books

Amazon.com: George Orwell: As I Please, 1943-1945: The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters, Vol 3 (9781567921359): George Orwell, Sonia Orwell; Ian Angus: Books

Amazon.com: In Front of Your Nose, 1945-1950 (Collected Essays Journalism and Letters of George Orwell) (9781567921366): George Orwell, Ian Angus; Sonia Orwell: Books

 

[tommyb]

I re-read 1984 over the summer because of where I saw the government going. It was so prescient it could have been written last week. About the only thing Orwell got wrong was the date.

 

[py3ak]

I think Huxley was probably more correct than Orwell on the attitude towards sex in the dominant totalitarian environment of the future....

 

[bookslover]

Orwell is one of my favorite writers. They are reprinting or have recently reprinted a 4-volume set of essays, and it is probably easier to get all his books now than when he was alive. Of his lesser-known novels I particularly enjoyed Down and Out in Paris and London and A Clergyman's Daughter. His journals are being posted as blog entries, 70 years to the day after they were first written, at this site: THE ORWELL PRIZE

Thanks for that link to "The Orwell Prize". I've added it to my blogrolls and will check it regularly!

 

[jambo]

Is there really an omnibus edition that includes everything that is in the 4-volume set?

Amazon.com: George Orwell: An Age Like This 1920-1940: The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters (Collected Essays Journalism and Letters of George Orwell) (9781567921335): George Orwell, Sonia Orwell; Ian Angus: Books

Amazon.com: My Country Right or Left 1940-1943: The Collected Essays Journalism & Letters of George Orwell (Collected Essays Journalism and Letters of George Orwell) (9781567921342): Sonia Orwell, Ian Angus, George Orwell: Books

Amazon.com: George Orwell: As I Please, 1943-1945: The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters, Vol 3 (9781567921359): George Orwell, Sonia Orwell; Ian Angus: Books

Amazon.com: In Front of Your Nose, 1945-1950 (Collected Essays Journalism and Letters of George Orwell) (9781567921366): George Orwell, Ian Angus; Sonia Orwell: Books

The omnibus edition included just 6 of his books: Animal Farm, Burmese Days, A Clergyman's Daughter, Coming up for Air, Keep the Aspidistra Flying and 1984. The volume was published in 1976 by Secker and Warburg/Octopus

 

[py3ak]

I see - it's an omnibus of the fiction. (Though Down and Out in Paris and London is sometimes thought of as a novel, it has a very heavy factual base. It is also alarmingly hilarious.)

Also available, but not well known, is Orwell's work while at the BBC during part of WWII.

Amazon.com: Orwell: The Lost Writings (9780877957454): George Orwell, W. J. West: Books

It has business letters to T.S. Eliot asking him to read some of his poetry for a broadcast to India, as well as scripts for radio programmes that Orwell worked on, that kind of thing.