Product Description

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are. Whether puncturing the lies of politicians, wittily dissecting the English character or telling unpalatable truths about war, Orwell’s timeless, uncompromising essays are more relevant, entertaining and essential than ever in today’s era of spin.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40267 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

About the Author
GEORGE ORWELL (born Eric Arthur Blair) was born in India in 1903, but moved to England in 1907 and in 1917 entered Eton, where he began writing. He worked widely in journalism but fame came in 1945 with the publication of ANIMAL FARM.

Customer Reviews

A very English idealism
You don't have to be a socialist to enjoy this little collection of Orwell essays. You just have to enjoy simple but bitingly precise use of the English language, and hold a forlorn affection for the English themselves. 'England is.. a land of snobbery and privilege, ruled largely by the old and the silly,' says Orwell. And then adds, 'But in any calculation about it one has got to take into account its emotional unity..'

It is Orwell's combination of a sentimental attachment to the ordinary Englishman who doesn't hesitate in the face of Fascism, and a withering dismissal of English anti-intellectualism, that makes this book so beguiling. It feels remarkably contemporary as he observes 'England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality.' And touchingly prescient as he predicts in 1940 that 'in whatever shape England emerges from the war..the gentleness, hypocrisy, the thoughtlessness, the reverence for law and the hatred of uniforms will remain, along with the suet puddings and the misty skies.'

Towards the end he gets a little bogged down in his manifesto for change - and his belief in nationalisation now seems quaint. But the book returns to form at the end with a coruscating attack on the misuse of English.

Poor a slightly warm beer, look out over some interlocking hills, and enjoy.

I am so Glad that Orwell Wrote
The four essays in this book were first published from 1931 - 1946. They are polemical in nature expressing George Orwell's views from left wing political perspective. Whilst studying for a BA degree, I had intended to read a couple of the essays here but never got around to it. They fell off my reading agenda so I was grateful to discover that Penguin Books had reissued them under the title "Why I Write". I must say it was a better late than never reading experience.

On reading a few pages of this book, I was quickly engaged. I was engaged because Orwell's writing is direct without too much unnecessary frills. He gives four "great motives for writing but more important he states that: "I write ...because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing." Orwell is also keen to point out that there is an aesthetic dimension to his work but more important the above quotation immediately shows that Orwell was a political writer. He was a writer very conscious of the times in which he lived and felt a need to respond to some of the issues of the period. He certainly had his finger on the pulse of Englishness of the time. He makes incisive comments on class; he puts down the folly of English snobbishness and his wit was cutting as he mocks pretence and ignorance.

He was keen on class issues, and one aspect of his discussion that fascinated me was the failure of the English socialist movement to introduce a, "version of socialism" in England. He contends that left wing propaganda had frightened away a whole class of necessary people: "factory managers, airmen, naval officers, farmers, white-collar workers, shopkeepers, policemen." These people thought that socialism was a menace. It seems to me that a similar situation still exists today but with interesting irony. The English, I would extend that to the British, are basically socialist at heart - note how in times of difficulty, be it home ownership problems, factories closing down or banks failing, that it appears most people want the government to intervene and help them out of difficulties.

Of course many of things Orwell wished for in this book were prescient at least in thought if not deed. For example, abolishment of the House of Lords, disestablishment of the church of England, nationalized industry and setting up a classless education system. But of course significant change has probably not come about because as Orwell said back in the 1940's: "But at this moment, when the drowsy life of England has barely altered, and the offensive contrast of wealth and poverty still exists everywhere, even amid the bombs, why do I dare to say that all these things `will' happen?"

However, it must be said that some of Orwell's pronouncements are now out of date and no longer true. For example, "In England people are still hanged by the neck and flogged with the cato' nine tails." Furthermore, some of his pronouncements are bold and with the passing of time has turned out to be rash generalizations. For instance, analysing "private capitalism" he believed that what world war 2: "has demonstrated is that private capitalism - that is, an economic system in which land, factories, mines and transport are owned privately and operated solely for profit - does not work." In contrast to private capitalism Orwell believed that a, "planned economy is, stronger than a planless one." Of course it is almost needless to say that over the years this has turned out to be false.

In the essay, The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius Orwell make some telling, and still relevant today, home truths: "as Europeans go, the English are not intellectual. They have a horror of abstract thought, they feel no need for philosophy or systematic `world-view'." Or take another example, "It is quite true that the English are hypocritical about their Empire. In the working class this hypocrisy takes the form of not knowing that the Empire exists."

In the final essay, Politics and the English Language, Orwell contends that the decline of a language, "must have political and economic causes." The key issue here for me is how yet another problem that Orwell addresses is said to have it root cause in politics. However, his critical analysis of some short selected extracts is very revealing of how sloppy we use language. He admits to committing the very faults he was criticizing. This is not too surprising because if we were to heed Orwell's advice to the letter our use of language would be limited and impoverished.

Some 60 - 70 years plus from the time of publication of the essays in this book, although some of the issues are dated and some of the pronouncements have turned out to be wrong on balance there are more truths that are still true and relevant today. Invest the short time required and read it and learn something about your self and nation.