Orwell, George

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A classic tale of Communism
Giving up one form of tyranny for another
For Young and Old
Animal Farm: A Fantastic Story
Animal Farm

Animal Farm (Signet Classics)
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0451526341
Release Date: 2004-01-06

Amazon.com

Since its publication in 1946, George Orwell's fable of a workers' revolution gone wrong has rivaled Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea as the Shortest Serious Novel It's OK to Write a Book Report About. (The latter is three pages longer and less fun to read.) Fueled by Orwell's intense disillusionment with Soviet Communism, Animal Farm is a nearly perfect piece of writing, both an engaging story and an allegory that actually works. When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust their drunken human master and take over management of the land, all are awash in collectivist zeal. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars, and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. The animals' Seven Commandment credo is painted in big white letters on the barn. All animals are equal. No animal shall drink alcohol, wear clothes, sleep in a bed, or kill a fellow four-footed creature. Those that go upon four legs or wings are friends and the two-legged are, by definition, the enemy. Too soon, however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power. "We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of the farm depend on us. Day and night, we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples." While this swinish brotherhood sells out the revolution, cynically editing the Seven Commandments to excuse their violence and greed, the common animals are once again left hungry and exhausted, no better off than in the days when humans ran the farm. Satire Animal Farm may be, but it's a stony reader who remains unmoved when the stalwart workhorse, Boxer, having given his all to his comrades, is sold to the glue factory to buy booze for the pigs. Orwell's view of Communism is bleak indeed, but given the history of the Russian people since 1917, his pessimism has an air of prophecy. --Joyce Thompson

Book Description

Orwell's brilliant 1946 satire, chronicling a revolution staged by the animals on Mr. Jones's farm.

Customer Reviews:

A classic tale of Communism.......2007-06-11

Orwell's animal farm was written in 1946 and is still in schools today because it's a classic. I loved reading it in school, and I love it still. It's one of those books that you don't forget. It's simple, but good. The simple tale of communism, and takes place on a farm is a captivating story.

Giving up one form of tyranny for another.......2007-06-08

At 139 pages (this edition, anyway), "Animal Farm" is a novelette (as opposed to a full-blown novel), but it packs a hell of a punch.

The plot is well-known by this point in time. Over one thousand reviews appear here on Amazon alone, there have been numerous adaptations all over the world of Orwell's book, as well as being discussed in high schools and colleges nationwide and internationally.

To say this should be required reading for people of all ages would be quite an understatement. A person can read every single review here and/or hear other peoples' interpretations of "Animal Farm," but that just cannot take the place of actually reading every single word of the novel to try to understand the complacency that takes place after Mr. Jones is disposed of and his attempt to get his farm back (later christened "The Battle of the Cowshed"). One *must* read this to be truly baffled as to why people (in this case, animals) accept half-cooked explanations for serious wrongs.

It's well-known that Soviet Russia was the target of this novel (as well as "1984"), but little did he know that, half a century later, it would be the United States that would be guilty of the same mindset they accused Soviet Russia of. The scare tactics of this administration (junta) have managed to keep well-meaning people silent and complacent (every time Cheney and Bush are in trouble, up pops yet another "terror plot" that would have leveled military bases and entire airports that was foiled by a "concerned citizen"). The American government actually encourages people to keep tabs on each other by reporting "suspicious activities" - much as they do in communist Cuba and communist China (as in Russia before them). And, all the while, the ferocious dogs (the American media) guard their masters (Cheney and Bush) unquestioningly.

As one reads more and more of the book, they will (hopefully) start connecting the dots and realize they need to think for themselves and always fight for freedom, because, as the bumper sticker proclaims, "If you ignore your rights, they will go away." - Donna Di Giacomo

For Young and Old.......2007-06-04

The novel Animal Farm is a great read because of the history and everything that is behind it. Not unlike most stories there is a deeper meaning behind the surface plot, this novel being an allegory for the Russian Revolution. I personally liked this book because of how the author was able to adapt the story to the level of farm animals. It gives younger readers the opportunity to have an introduction to history so that when they learn the real detains it enables them to compare and contrast. Also for those who know the historical references behind it, it is just a fun way to look at the story.

Animal Farm: A Fantastic Story.......2007-06-01

Animal Farm by George Orwell is an extremely rewarding book for readers about twelve and older, in accordance with some violent parts in the novel. The wording of Animal Farm makes it seem like a children's story (the full title reads Animal Farm: a Fairy Story) when in fact it is a cryptic warning about the dangers of communism. The book seems like an unfinished fairy tale: one where good does not triumph over evil in the end. A fairy tale without a moral. And that is, in itself, Orwell's warning: he ends the book openly, letting the reader think of all possible circumstances that could happen at Manor Farm. The novel is incredibly thought provoking, and many of the thoughts that are brought about relate to humanitarian concerns; thoughts of moral ethics, of rights and wrongs in a human society. I found the George Orwell's novel Animal Farm: A Fairy Story an entrancing and memorable short story of which I know the words and messages will remain with me throughout my life. Although this novel cannot amount for many words, what it lacks in volume (as is the case in many pint-sized books) is certainly made up in content. The content of this book will interest most readers immensely and cause them to more deeply consider their own ethics. I highly recommend Animal Farm to any reader above the age of eleven who enjoys a captivating story.

Animal Farm.......2007-05-29

I bought this for my 10 yr. old grandson to read over the summer. We will read it together and discuss the various points the books makes. I believe it to be a thought provoking exercise for young people, and a good way to get them into reading for reasons other than pure enjoyment.

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This guy was ahead of his time
The terror of 1984
My Favorite and Most essential read of all time...
War is peace.
The Ultimate in Dystopian Fiction

1984 (Signet Classics)
George Orwell
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ASIN: 0451524934

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"Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything except the posters that were plastered everywhere."

The year is 1984; the scene is London, largest population center of Airstrip One.

Airstrip One is part of the vast political entity Oceania, which is eternally at war with one of two other vast entities, Eurasia and Eastasia. At any moment, depending upon current alignments, all existing records show either that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia, or that it has always been at war with Eastasia and allied with Eurasia. Winston Smith knows this, because his work at the Ministry of Truth involves the constant "correction" of such records. "'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'"

In a grim city and a terrifying country, where Big Brother is always Watching You and the Thought Police can practically read your mind, Winston is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. He knows the Party's official image of the world is a fluid fiction. He knows the Party controls the people by feeding them lies and narrowing their imaginations through a process of bewilderment and brutalization that alienates each individual from his fellows and deprives him of every liberating human pursuit from reasoned inquiry to sexual passion. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.

Newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime--in 1984, George Orwell created a whole vocabulary of words concerning totalitarian control that have since passed into our common vocabulary. More importantly, he has portrayed a chillingly credible dystopia. In our deeply anxious world, the seeds of unthinking conformity are everywhere in evidence; and Big Brother is always looking for his chance. --Daniel Hintzsche

Book Description

George Orwell's prophetic, nightmarish vision of "Negative Utopia" is timelier than ever-and its warnings more powerful.

Customer Reviews:

This guy was ahead of his time.......2007-06-25

Do you think that the USA is going to invade North Korea without provocation? Probably not. Even Bush hasn't done it or advocated it, and if he doesn't it probably never will happen. But that's not what the people of North Korea believe. They think that they are going to be invaded. And this is what Chavez is pounding into his masses of poor people in Venezuela. Fear is a very good way to control people. Look at the USA after 9/11. We were shocked, and rightly so. We invaded Afghanistan, and rightly so. But then things got a little wacky and we were not sure if we were continuing in the right direction. If took several years before we could start to see things a little more objectively, but perhaps now we aren't really seeing things correctly either. Perhaps this is just the opposition's turn to confuse us.

Orwell shows how masses can be controlled without even knowing it. He shows how 4 = 5, and how you can make people appreciate how little you do for them. Instead of complaining about the Press's mistakes, thank your luck stars that we have a free press. And then wonder just how free it really is...

The terror of 1984.......2007-06-22

Thankfully in the year I was born which was 1984, the world wasn't exactly like it was in the novel.
What makes 1984 important to the modern reader is several things.
First is the fact that culturally its an incredibly relavent book. Most people have today heard terms like "How 1984", "Orwellian", or even "doublethink", in the modern vocab. Hell, even Radiohead did a song called 2+2=5. The reader, particularly the young one trying to grasp a sense of history, in the sense of the progression of modern thought, will find this book very important.
That relates to the 2nd reason why you need 1984, not only is it culturally relavent in its influence and often referenced nature. But it is one of those books that have shaped the way that we think, particularly in the free market west, and has helped give us moral justification in avoiding what becomes the excessive totaltarian nature of many collectivist style government. Perhaps in Orwell's mind he may of been more successful then he orginally planed to be in his warning, as he was a english socialist, and was deathly afraid of what he had seen happen with Stalin in Russia.
As a story, 1984 is a well thought out and griping story. The intergration of idea's, action, depth, and even a great deal of dark satire blend together well.
Although it is a good idea if one does have at least a decent understanding of Marxism before approaching it, as i've seen younger people in my generation approach the novel without the understanding of Marx and walk away with little more comprehension of the tale's warnings then they could.
Overall however, one of the few books everyone in our culture should at least attempt to read.

My Favorite and Most essential read of all time..........2007-06-12

I truly believe this book was sent as a precautionary tale to future generations. If not, Orwell damn sure used a prohet's brain to pen this masterpeice. In a world that cares more about war, profit, and restricting civil liberties, we should be so bold as to read this and take notice. Our time as a free people is almost gone, and we will never, ever get it back.

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery.

War is peace........2007-06-08

This book is a historical masterpiece. The characters, the setting, the message, still ring true today. Individualism is crushed in this books world; humans become like insects, and think with a hive mind. The doctrine that the people of this world chant like a mantra are all basic contradictions, such as, "War is peace". Putting the mind in a double bind where normal thought is paralyzed. A lot of people say that we are moving forward towards the 1984 world. I agree in a sense but we are going about it in a subtle different way. Such as the current cry for everything in the name of safety, really, Can you ever be safe enough? Therefore any law could effectively get passed in the name of safety, or battling terrorists or global warming, or equal rights, or etc infinitum. We have to remember to use common sense when something is presented as truth. Further we must be careful and ever vigilant when it comes to human rights and freedom of speech, and learn the lessons that Orwell tried to teach us.

The Ultimate in Dystopian Fiction.......2007-05-30

Reading this novel again in today's context is even more enlightening. Orwell's nighmarish vision of the future seems to be drawing closer with every passing year.

This book is a classic and simply must be read by everyone. I personally own two copies of this book and believe it should be a staple of every modern library.

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Terrific reads.
Animal Farm and 1984
A Classic
Masterpiece of politics
A book you can't put down!

Animal Farm and 1984
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Harcourt
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0151010269

Book Description

ANIMAL FARM

George Orwell's classic satire of the Russian Revolution is an intimate part of our contemporary culture. It is the account of the bold struggle, initiated by the animals, that transforms Mr. Jones's Manor Farm into Animal Farm--a wholly democratic society built on the credo that All Animals Are Created Equal. Out of their cleverness, the pigs Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball emerge as leaders of the new community in a subtle evolution that proves disastrous. The climax is the brutal betrayal of the faithful horse Boxer, when totalitarian rule is reestablished with the bloodstained postscript to the founding slogan: But some Animals Are More Equal Than Others. . . .

1984

In 1984, London is a grim city where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.

Customer Reviews:

Terrific reads........2007-06-13

We are living in George's nightmare !!ONE!1! =O

Animal Farm and 1984.......2007-02-12

I only wanted "1984" but was unable to find "1984" in a book apart from "Animal Farm". Otherwise the book and timelyness of shipping and receipt were great. You have made my Grand daughter happy with her gift.

A Classic.......2007-02-10

Should be required reading. A starkly written story with incredible accuracy considering it was written decades ago. Orwell is one of the best. Read Animal Farm also.

Masterpiece of politics.......2006-11-06

It is a book simpifying and reflecting the real situation of dictatorship.

A book you can't put down!.......2006-08-21

Animal Farm is a very creative way to show the short comings, brainwashing, and absolute control of the Russian government and of communism in the 1st half of the 1900s. 1984 is a great story that especialy now is important because of todays government. It talks about a controlling english government that is removing people that think and have ideas contrary to what they wish them to be. They also use fear tactics in the media to get the people unquestioningly on thier side. This book, a MUST!

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George Orwell's interesting memoir of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War
Revolution & Politics: A Must-Read
Compulsively readable...
Free Mind
Insightful

Homage to Catalonia
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Down and Out in Paris and London
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
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A Collection of Essays

ASIN: 0156421178

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"I wonder what is the appropriate first action when you come from a country at war and set foot on peaceful soil. Mine was to rush to the tobacco-kiosk and buy as many cigars and cigarettes as I could stuff into my pockets." Most war correspondents observe wars and then tell stories about the battles, the soldiers and the civilians. George Orwell--novelist, journalist, sometime socialist--actually traded his press pass for a uniform and fought against Franco's Fascists in the Spanish Civil War during 1936 and 1937. He put his politics and his formidable conscience to the toughest tests during those days in the trenches in the Catalan section of Spain. Then, after nearly getting killed, he went back to England and wrote a gripping account of his experiences, as well as a complex analysis of the political machinations that led to the defeat of the socialist Republicans and the victory of the Fascists.

Book Description

In 1936 Orwell went to Spain to report on the Civil War and instead joined the fight against the Fascists. This famous account describes the war and Orwell’s experiences. Introduction by Lionel Trilling.

Customer Reviews:

George Orwell's interesting memoir of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.......2007-05-23

"Homage to Catalonia" is a memoir of George Orwell's experiences during the Spanish Civil War. A committed socialist, Orwell was right in the thick of the action fighting on the side of the doomed Republic.

The book is at its best when it gives Orwell's first-hand account of life as a soldier, but is less compelling when he attempts to explain the complicated Republican politics, rivally, and in-fighting of the time.

Orwell's socialist politics also seem rather naive these days, given what has happened in the intervening 70 years.

Interesting for its personal insights, but read Anthony Beevor's great book for a comprehensive history of the Spanish Civil War.

Revolution & Politics: A Must-Read.......2007-02-19

George Orwell was one of the century's most honest, decent, and lucid writers about the human element in warfare and poltical revolution. His antitotalitarian novels "Animal Farm" and "1984," which made him famous, grew partly from his acute understanding of the events of World War II and partly from his personal experiences as a Loyalist volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, which is the subject of "Homage to Catalonia."

Orwell was a Marxist-Leninist in the 1930s, sufficiently committed to risk his own life in battle to help bring about a people's revolution in Spain. This memoir, written in 1937-38 while the war was still on, records how his idealism was battered by the cynical, pro-USSR politics he saw betray the Marxist ideal on the one hand, and the irreducible practicality of most ordinary people that makes it an impossible dream on the other. In the process, Orwell's contempt for the low standards of news-media accuracy only increased. Fans of Fox and CNN, take note.

By 1947 Orwell, the Marxist idealist, had become convinced that despite all their shortcomings and failures, the liberal Western democracies had developed the best form of political governance yet possible. Since the 1930s, one might observe, a leavening of socialist thought in these nations has brought about societies that are closer to Marx's egalitarian goals than the inflexible, authoritarian regimes that he directly inspired. The good intentions of "people's revolutions" are sure to be betrayed by the most ruthless leaders and factions they create. For every socioeconomic wrong they correct, such revolutions inevitably create many more of their own, totalitarian control and denial of due process being among the worst.

"Homage to Catalonia," written at the moment of Orwell's complete break with the Leninist variety of Marxism, is a model of fair-minded reporting. Anyone interested in the Spanish Civil War, the '30s, revolutionary politics, or even "For Whom the Bell Tolls," should read this book.

As somebody else mentioned, the fine recent movie "Land and Freedom" takes its inspiration from Orwell's book and ought to be watched in conjunction with it. Though fitted out with an imaginary love story, it is completely faithful to Orwell's spirit in "Homage to Catalonia."

Compulsively readable..........2007-02-16

As with most everything Orwell, this book will not have you leafing ahead impatiently to find out if and when things get good. If there is one book you read on the Spanish Civil War (and I bet it will be only one), this should be it.

Free Mind.......2006-08-07

George Orwell (Eric Blair) shows how someone can be an idealist but, at the same time, is able to keep all his observation and reasoning capacity.

At this moment, the Government in Spain is trying -in the best Ministry of Truth orwellian tradition- to re-write the recent history. It should be interesting having this book in spanish for many people lacking the most elemental knowledge about their own history.

It should have been interesting too having the opinion of Orwell himself about his own experience when he wrote "1984" or "Animal Farm". That should have been better than the amount of letters with dubious relation with the object of the book.

In summary, four stars because something is missing in the book and something should not have to be there.

Insightful.......2006-08-07

I say insightful because I, of course, had read 1984 and Animal Farm in high school. I knew about Orwell's participation in the Spanish Civil War with the POUM/"Trotskyite" sympathzing Independent Labour Party and that it influenced his work in both of the aforementioned works. But hearing it from Orwell's own words, his description of the Barcelona May Days and the reaction to it in the international press, of the Communist Party led suppression of the POUM in Catalonia, etc... All made the book very insightful. If you've read 1984 and/or Animal Farm, this is a must read to completely understand those books.

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"Down and out", but alive and indeed real people
Heavily edited edition
Orwell doesn't like Jews and gays...
La Vache Enragée
"The thought of not being poor made me very patriotic..."

Down and Out in Paris and London
George Orwell
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What was a nice Eton boy like Eric Blair doing in scummy slums instead of being upwardly mobile at Oxford or Cambridge? Living Down and Out in Paris and London, repudiating respectable imperialist society, and reinventing himself as George Orwell. His 1933 debut book (ostensibly a novel, but overwhelmingly autobiographical) was rejected by that elitist publisher T.S. Eliot, perhaps because its close-up portrait of lowlife was too pungent for comfort.

In Paris, Orwell lived in verminous rooms and washed dishes at the overpriced "Hotel X," in a remarkably filthy, 110-degree kitchen. He met "eccentric people--people who have fallen into solitary, half-mad grooves of life and given up trying to be normal or decent." Though Orwell's tone is that of an outraged reformer, it's surprising how entertaining many of his adventures are: gnawing poverty only enlivens the imagination, and the wild characters he met often swindled each other and themselves. The wackiest tale involves a miser who ate cats, wore newspapers for underwear, invested 6,000 francs in cocaine, and hid it in a face-powder tin when the cops raided. They had to free him, because the apparently controlled substance turned out to be face powder instead of cocaine.

In London, Orwell studied begging with a crippled expert named Bozo, a great storyteller and philosopher. Orwell devotes a chapter to the fine points of London guttersnipe slang. Years later, he would put his lexical bent to work by inventing Newspeak, and draw on his down-and-out experience to evoke the plight of the Proles in 1984. Though marred by hints of unexamined anti-Semitism, Orwell's debut remains, as The Nation put it, "the most lucid portrait of poverty in the English language." --Tim Appelo

Book Description

This unusual fictional account, in good part autobiographical, narrates without self-pity and often with humor the adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-out of two great cities. In the tales of both cities we learn some sobering Orwellian truths about poverty and society.

Customer Reviews:

"Down and out", but alive and indeed real people.......2007-06-24

Orwell presents this story as an autobiography. He starts the story in Paris where he prepares to go to work in a Hotel but then for a variety of reasons sort of just descends into poverty. Being an English teacher doesn't work and waiting to take a job in a hotel and the problems he has leaves him close to starvation. Even finding the Hotel job just leaves him with long hours of work and he finds himself at the bottom of a hotel's social structure. This is reflective of the society he lives in where there are little opportunities for one to rise above where one starts in life and of course work. He describes drinking on a Saturday night as the "one thing that made life worth living". At one point a murder happens right outside where he is sleeping and he just comments that within three minutes he had gone back to sleep not wanting to waste time over it. In London he lives as a beggar and a tramp and the experience just adds to his understanding of being down and out. Life there is no better for him. One can not help but think of "1984", and much of Orwell's other writings, and see in the story told here some of what later was the core of his message. His work in the Hotel was considered slavery and it seemed to him that the cause was that the lower class was trapped. In part the reason for being trapped was that the rich were just unconcerned and unaware of the poor. He could also see that the rich may really fear what may be the inevitable rising up by the lower classes up to fight back. These events were ones that Orwell would have related to socialism and the issue of whether it was itself good or bad. One side of the society was looking for liberty and the other side fearing they could lose it.
The books conclusions are well worth reading and understanding. He acknowledges that what he has shown to be poverty is really just a small insight into what it really is. He uses the books characters to graphically show the human side of the poor. The conclusion is clear that the "down and out" are real people, individuals, and are important.

Heavily edited edition.......2007-06-03

Be advised that the Harcourt edition appears to be the original edited version. As such the passages on slang end up containing a lot of "-----" which is interesting from the perspective of censorship in the 1930s, but is clearly contrary to the authors intent. Before purchasing a copy check the third or fourth page of chapter 32 for the following passage:

"The current London adjective, now tacked on to every noun is ..."

Orwell doesn't like Jews and gays..........2007-02-02

If you pick this little book up--while seated in your most comfortable chair, with a ready beverage nearby, and an empty bladder--odds are you'll finish it before you put it down again. Orwell is my kind of writer: he means what he says. This book imparts information, clearly and precisely; it is not a stylistic work, where the word trumps the meaning, and every syllabic filigree is employed. Here, the narrative is paramount (but the writing is still elegant and well-constructed). It is vastly entertaining, with Orwell's implacable candor, self-honesty, and knack for detail on full display.

La Vache Enragée.......2006-10-31

George Orwell, whose real name is Eric Blair, was born in India in 1903. He served in Burma with the Indian Imperial Police and spent the end of the 1920s - as any self-respecting author would've done - living in Paris . Orwell later fought for the Republicans against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. He became well-known following the publication of "Animal Farm" (a satire on Soviet Russia) and died in 1950, shortly after the publication of "1984".

"Down and Out in Paris and London" was first published in 1933 and is a largely autobiographical account - though there have been a few tweaks here and there. It covers Orwell's times living on the breadline : working as a plongeur in Paris, being caught out by con-artists and life as a tramp on his return to England. The book was originally called "A Scullion's Diary" and - it would appear - focused only on his days in Paris. After it was rejected a few times, Orwell tried his luck with the stories of his life on the streets in and around London added. To be honest, I find it a pity this happened, as the stories set in Paris are much more readable. While some of the characters we meet - Charlie, for example - are far from admirable, Orwell himself doesn't come out of the book entirely unscathed. His occasional foolishness is forgivable, but his apparent snobbery and insincerity can be a bit hard to take. For example, as the book closes, he comments he'd like to know people like Paddy (a fellow tramp he'd met in England) "intimately". However, on the very same page, the news of Paddy's apparent death is met with barely a shrug of the shoulders : "perhaps my informant was mixing him up with someone else". More honestly, it's clear from how he wrote about Paddy that Orwell considered himself better than his 'mate' and - rather than getting to know him intimately - just didn't care.

Recommended with reservations : if you only read two books by George Orwell, make this your third pick.

"The thought of not being poor made me very patriotic...".......2006-09-11

DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON shows the dark seedy side of one of the two most cosmopolitan cities in Europe and England. There is no glamour in George Orwell's depiction, but rather a taste of the raw and real side of poverty that occupies the lives of the lower and working class citizens and immigrants that sought opportunity in Paris and in London. Surprisingly, these were educated and former civil servants of their respective countries who happened to meet unfortunate circumstances, such as falling to illness or dropping out of society. Orwell observes that poverty does not discriminate.

Indeed, this is an autobiographical account of how Orwell lived as a struggling writer during the 1920s and 1930s where he literally lived a life that may have compared to a Dickensian novel, but with a little more wit and subtle cynicism. The life in the city and the unpredictable events that occur while scrounging for something to eat or scrimping by with few a shillings or francs in order to survive. Orwell succeeds in blending humor and irony in situations that usually do not accompany undesirable situations.

Orwell presents an array of characters with great vividness. Through the art of fiction, Orwell writes in the first-person and accounts the people and places he encountered. Of all the characters mentioned, Boris and Bozo were the most memorable. In Paris, Boris, a roommate, fellow vagrant and writer, former Captain in the Russian Army before the Bolshevik Revolution, who was well read with military history -- Napoleon to Clausewitz, worked odd jobs as a waiter or maitre d' hotel at various Parisian hotel restaurants. On the outskirts of London, Orwell saw a contrasting side of poverty that appeared harsher than what he had been accustomed to in Paris. And as in Paris, Orwell came upon unusual and enlightened people, such as Bozo, a pavement artist who drew likenesses of Winston Churchill and cartoons of political parties. He was the son of a bankrupt bookseller who spoke so so French and read Zola and Shakespeare, and was considered the quintessential beggar who spent his earnings on drink.

Overall, DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND IN LONDON will entertain and entice readers. George Orwell offers reader a unique and realistic view of living on the fringes, but deeply empathizes and attempts to understand each predicament of the people and places he encounters.

Essays (Everyman's Library Classics & Contemporary Classics)

Average customer rating:

Beyond 1984
A great teacher of writing and critical thinking
The Ultimate Orwell Essay Resource
Great book
Great collection

Essays (Everyman's Library Classics & Contemporary Classics)
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Road to Wigan Pier
The Complete Works (Everyman's Library)
Down and Out in Paris and London
Homage to Catalonia
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (Harvest Book)

ASIN: 0375415033
Release Date: 2002-10-15

Book Description

A generous and varied selection–the only hardcover edition available–of the literary and political writings of one of the greatest essayists of the twentieth century.

Although best known as the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four, George Orwell left an even more lastingly significant achievement in his voluminous essays, which dealt with all the great social, political, and literary questions of the day and exemplified an incisive prose style that is still universally admired. Included among the more than 240 essays in this volume are Orwell’s famous discussion of pacifism, “My Country Right or Left”; his scathingly complicated views on the dirty work of imperialism in “Shooting an Elephant”; and his very firm opinion on how to make “A Nice Cup of Tea.”

In his essays, Orwell elevated political writing to the level of art, and his motivating ideas–his desire for social justice, his belief in universal freedom and equality, and his concern for truth in language–are as enduringly relevant now, a hundred years after his birth, as ever.

Customer Reviews:

Beyond 1984.......2007-03-23

George Orwell: 1984 and beyond

The futurist novels 1984 and Animal Farm are George Orwell's primary literary legacy. He contributed the phrase "Big Brother" to the language, and is remembered... if at all...as a novelist and social commentator.

But Orwell was much more than that - during the Second World War he worked for the BBC as a commentator, essayist and writer. He was a consummate professional, a brilliant satirist, and an indefatigable correspondent. He volunteered in the Spanish Civil War and wrote "Homage to Catalonia" from his experiences.

What is more surprising is that Orwell ...who died at 46... left voluminous essays, letters and reportage which have been compiled in four thick volumes by Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus. * (George Orwell: Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters; Volumes 1-IV, Nonpareil Books, 2000), and in his Collected Essays.

. He lived as a tramp for a while, got arrested for being drunk, worked low-level jobs and wrote "Down and out in London and Paris" from his experience. Orwell struggled personally and financially; his first marriage ended with h is wife's death, his second was short, and he was usually broke. That changed with the publication of l984 and Animal Farm...the latter a satire on the Russian Revolution. Ray Bradbury's classic "Fahrenheit 451" owes a debt to Orwell. His BBC broadcasts during the War were classics.

In his short life, Orwell produced a huge body of work: his Collected Writings run to 20 volumes, and his essays fill four books. He is one of the major figures of 20th Century English writing.
Major Works

"Down and Out in London and Paris" 1933
"The Road to Wigan Pier" 1937
"Homage to Catalonia" -- 1938
"1984: 1945
"Animal Farm" 1949
"Selected Essays" 1957
"Orwell: The War Broadcasts" 1985

A great teacher of writing and critical thinking.......2007-03-21

As a lit major very interested in politics, I find this collection to be fascinating and instructive. Mr. Orwell's views on what corporations would do to the news media and the stifling effects of politically correct speech are vital today, and should be required in civics and political science classes.

Mr. Orwell managed to anger and inform both liberals and conservatives by exposing hypocrisy and dull-minded dogma. His writing style is sharp and free of tiresome twists and turns. In fact, "Politics and the English Language" (954) targets academic writing that is puffed up for no reason other than to hide the fact that the writer has little to say. (And this article should be required reading in graduate literature classes!)

The power of his insights and imagery can be seen in "How the Poor Die," a sad, upsetting essay that made me want a shower and a drink when I finished reading it. (Again, this is current today with the horribly neglected and virtually unregulated "assited living facilities"--and even the Walter Reed outpatient scandal.)

So few writers have had such vision that it is worth repeating the cliche: George Orwell was a social prophet--a genuine one.

Because of Mr. Orwell's deep understanding of political systems and human nature, his excellent style, and the breadth of his subject matter, I think it would not be over-praising him to say that this volume ranks with Montaigne's collected essays.

This volume is lovely, both in binding and text size; however, as other reviewers have pointed out, the publisher should have taken the trouble to include an index at the end of 1363 pages of essays! (Write to Knopf/Random House to complain!)

I'm going to contact my county library to arrange donating a copy of this; it is a shame this book isn't on the shelves!

The Ultimate Orwell Essay Resource.......2007-02-04

This is a beautiful, compact, hardcover, volume with a cloth bookmark built into the binding. If you are an Orwell fan, this book is well worth the money. It contains a very wide selection of Orwell essays, including the most popular ones such as "Shooting an Elephant," but also the rarer ones as well. I especially enjoyed reading Orwell's "As I Please" columns from the Tribune; these are difficult to find in compiled form.

I highly recommend this volume, but I must echo the same complaint of other reviewers: There is no index, and this makes it impossible to find Orwell's essays on a specific topic unless you already know what to look for. For example, Orwell's "As I Please" columns are labeled by the sequence number of their creation with no indication of topic. This is not very useful, as Orwell wrote about so many varied things.

All in all, a good value, but I must deduct one star because of the lack of an index. Also, I would certainly recommend this book for the Orwell aficionado, but not necessarily for the new or casual Orwell reader. Read Orwell's novels first; you will have a better appreciation of the essays afterwards.

Great book.......2007-01-10

Comprehensive collection of Orwell's Essays. An excellent book - really allows the reader to get a better sense of who Orwell was.

Great collection.......2006-10-02

I, like many, many other people the world over, read 1984 and Animal Farm and loved them. I first read Animal Farm my freshman year in college, and as soon as I was finished reading it I dove headlong into 1984. Powerful books, books that I still think about these many years later. But it wasn't until I read Orwell's essays that I got a really good idea of who the man behind those novels was.

Orwell's essays are really fascinating, for reasons he explained best himself. In the essay "Politics and the English Language," Orwell puts forward six tips on writing, all of them hinging on the simple idea of clarity. Orwell is a small island of clarity and concreteness in what he--and I--came to see as a world flooded with vagueness and dishonesty. His essays are clear--he says precisely what he wants as simply as he can, and the ideas stick with you.

This collection of Orwell's complete essays is worth its weight in gold. The essays are arranged chronologically, and Orwell's output was so prodigious that, read straight through, this book could almost count as an autobiography. Here we have, with his masterful clarity, Orwell's thoughts on everything in the world between 1928 and his death in 1950.

George Orwell was a really fascinating person, and his essays continue to fascinate me. I don't agree with everything he says--on the contrary, I disagree with the great majority of it--but I an compelled to admire him as a writer and a thinker--his writing style and the wit with which he engaged his opponents certainly makes him one of the greatest writers of the last century.

Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Looking at a future that is now past
Wonderful Work.
Deviates corrected for their own good
Chilling Account of Society without Freedom
Fine

1984
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Animal Farm
Brave New World (Audio Editions)
1984 (Cliffs Notes)
Lord of the Flies
The Great Gatsby: Complete and Unabridged (Audio Editions)

ASIN: 0786183926

Book Description

Orwell depicts a gray world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police, quashing freedom in a totalitarian world in which news is manufactured according to the authorities' will and people live tepid lives by rote.

Winston Smith, the hero with no heroic qualities, longs only for truth and decency. But living in a social system in which privacy does not exist and where those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death, he knows there is no hope for him.

The year 1984 has come and gone, yet George Orwell's nightmare vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is still the great modern classic of negative Utopia.

Customer Reviews:

Looking at a future that is now past.......2006-11-03

I greatly enjoyed this audio book, partly because the narrator's vocal gifts brought alive the various characters and thier accents. I also enjoyed revisitng a book that I had read long ago, in the earlry years of my life. I now was able to see more clearly the fears inspired by the Communist party in post-war Eastern Europe and China, and how those events inspired Orwell's writing of this book and the reactions of his audience.

Wonderful Work........2006-09-14

Richard Brown's voice is perfect for 1984 - a novel about a distopia. I listened to this while driving to work in my car. This is a very deep, thoughtful novel to begin with. It is made so real by a good actor. I highly recommend this.

Deviates corrected for their own good.......2006-01-02

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

Chilling Account of Society without Freedom.......2005-12-04

WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. These
are the three slogans that Winston Smith hears every day. When I first read this book 35 years ago, the threat of such a freedomless world seemed impossible to me. After all...we are not Russia. Today, the words of the book are dangerously true. WAR IS PEACE. Have we not started a preemptive war against another country for the ostensible purpose of peace? IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Don't some of our public schools and libraries censor books or resist the teaching of contemporary biology? What about the THOUGHT POLICE. Today in America, an individual can be convicted by introducting into evidence information that he or she reviewed from his computer in the privacy of his home. The books we read, the videos we rent, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive are all easily accessible by lw enforcement agencies. New technology allows scientists to scan our brains to determine if we are telling the truth. Yes...BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING US. Listen to this CD, read Orwell, and start a movement that prevents any further inroads into our thoughts and privacy.

Fine.......2005-10-11

It is a good book, i dont know if i totaly understand the point. It does make you hate people not involved with history and the world around them, if you arent you will believe anything.

Average customer rating:

No animal may drink alcohol "to excess"

Animal Farm
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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1984
Lord of the Flies
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Animal Farm (Signet Classics)

ASIN: 0786184779

Book Description

George Orwell's classic satire of the Russian Revolution is an intimate part of our contemporary culture. It is an account of the bold struggle that transforms Mr. Jones's Manor Farm into Animal Farm, a wholly democratic society built on the credo that All Animals Are Created Equal. Out of their cleverness, the pigs Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball emerge as leaders of the new community in a subtle evolution that bears an insidious familiarity. The climax is the brutal betrayal of the faithful horse Boxer, when totalitarian rule is reestablished with the bloodstained postscript to the founding slogan: But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.

Customer Reviews:

No animal may drink alcohol "to excess".......2005-10-28

A fairy tale or a nightmare? It all began with a dream by Major, a Middle White boar, of equality, and freedom from oppression. Maybe not in our life comrade, but eventually.

The dream brings a song. Intolerable conditions lead to revolution. As time passes things change; not exactly as planned.

There are two striking parts to this tale that stand out. First when Boxer is sent to the hospital and Benjamin reads the side of the van "Horse Slaughterer." Secondly there was a party in the farm house as the pigs were playing cards with the men, two aces of spades showed up. An argument ensues. Then a realization was drawn by the creatures outside looking in as they "...looked from pig to man, and man to pig, and from pig to man again..."

Average customer rating:

1984 - did it turn out any better?
Genious, Peo-ple!
I see why it's a classic
High school English teacher
Brilliant. Absolutely Brilliant.

Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Animal Farm (Signet Classics)
Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited (P.S.)
1984 (Cliffs Notes)
Brave New World
Fahrenheit 451

ASIN: 0452284236
Release Date: 2003-05-06

Book Description

Thought Police. Big Brother. Orwellian. These words have entered our vocabulary because of George Orwell's classic dystopian novel, 1984. The story of one man's nightmare odyssey as he pursues a forbidden love affair through a world ruled by warring states and a power structure that controls not only information but also individual thought and memory, 1984 is a prophetic, haunting tale.

More relevant than ever before, 1984 exposes the worst crimes imaginable-the destruction of truth, freedom, and individuality.
With a new forward by Thomas Pynchon.

Customer Reviews:

1984 - did it turn out any better?.......2007-06-24

This is one piece of fiction that is too close to a potential reality. Of course, because it is fiction there are slight exaggerations, but overall this novel takes you into a world that is actually in the past. When reading this novel, keep asking yourself is this possible? If you say no, perhaps it is. Telescreens-->television?

This novel is one that will awaken your senses, yet, you may not find yourself smiling. It is a serious read, but one that gets you to think and question.

Genious, Peo-ple!.......2007-06-06

have you read? Its the book everyone is reading now. It shows what its like to live in a totalagrarian society like Nazi Germany or W. U.S.

I see why it's a classic.......2006-08-06

I'm glad I finally read this book. It was a bit of a depressing read because certain parts reminded me of our current political climate. But the concepts of doublethink, thoughtcrime, and so on are definitely food for thought. In the week or so since I finished reading it, I've found myself thinking about those concepts, in particular when I see an ad or something that says exactly the opposite of what it really is (the "Clear Skies Act" comes to mind right now).

High school English teacher.......2006-05-10

I am a second year high school English teacher and I just read this book for the first time because I loved Animal Farm and I am now trying to figure out a way to talk my district into including it in the curriculum.
I am not a very political person (I don't even vote), but this is a very interesting read about a society that never existed, but is coming very close to emerging: a society in which someone is ALWAYS watching (think reality TV mixed with Bush's phone taps).
If you have never read this book, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Brilliant. Absolutely Brilliant........2006-04-09

Winston Smith knows something is wrong with his world. Smith spends his days re-writing history. He lives in a society where everything, even "facts" are tenuous. His movements, and the movements of his fellow citizens, are monitored by The Party. Big Brother is always watching. Freedom is an antiquated idea that no longer exists. One isn't even free inside one's own head. The Thought Police always find out.

George Orwell's famous dystopian novel is an excellent and timely read. People often crack jokes about this novel and our present society, but how far off the mark are those comments? An absolutely engaging and frightening read about a forbidden love affair and a corrupt society, I highly recommend this novel.

Average customer rating:

outstanding read
Shorter works by the master
A first rate essayist, a third rate collection
Great collection of essays
Such, such is the joy of reading this book...

A Collection of Essays
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Road to Wigan Pier
Homage to Catalonia
Down and Out in Paris and London
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The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage

ASIN: 0156186004

Amazon.com

Imagine any of today's writers of "creative nonfiction" dispatching a rogue elephant before an audience of several thousand. Now, imagine the essay that would result. Can we say "narcissism"? As part of the Imperial Police in Burma, George Orwell actually found himself aiming the gun, and his record--first published in 1936--comprises eight of the highest voltage pages of English prose you'll ever read. In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell illumines the shoddy recesses of his own character, illustrates the morally corrupting nature of imperialism, and indicts you, the reader, in the creature's death, a process so vividly reported it's likely to show up in your nightmares ever after. "The owner was furious, but he was only an Indian and could do nothing.... Among the Europeans opinion was divided. The older men said I was right, the younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth much more than any damn Coringhee coolie."

This essay alone would be worth the cover price, and the dozen other pieces collected here prove that, given the right thinker/writer, today's journalism actually can become tomorrow's literature. "The Art of Donald McGill," ostensibly an appreciation of the jokey, vaguely obscene illustrated postcards beloved of the working classes, uses the lens of popular culture to examine the battle lines and rules of engagement in the war of the sexes, circa 1941. "Politics and the English Language" is a prose working-out of Orwell's perceptions about the slippery relationship of word and thought that becomes a key premise of 1984. "Looking Back on the Spanish War" is as clear-eyed a veteran's memoir of the nature of war as you're likely to find, and Orwell's long ruminations on the wildly popular "good bad" writers Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling showcase his singular virtues--searing honesty and independent thinking. From English boarding schools to Gandhi's character to an early appreciation of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, these pieces give an idiosyncratic tour of the first half of the passing century in the company of an articulate and engaged guide. Don't let the idea that Orwell is an "important" writer put you off reading him. He's really too good, and too human, to miss. --Joyce Thompson

Book Description

In this bestselling compilation of essays, written in the clear-eyed, uncompromising language for which he is famous, Orwell discusses with vigor such diverse subjects as his boyhood schooling, the Spanish Civil War, Henry Miller, British imperialism, and the profession of writing.

Customer Reviews:

outstanding read.......2007-03-19

i have finished less than 30% of this collection of essays and i already enjoy this book.

if you are interested in becoming more acquainted with the mind behind 1984, then this is an excellent companion

Shorter works by the master.......2007-02-25

George Orwell's works are so packed with insight and flair (and sometimes error) that it remains even fifty-seven years after his death impossible not to be enlightened by some aspect of his work. A review of any of his novels or book-length essays practically writes itself so long as the reader was semi-conscious. A Collection of Essays is a bit tougher to review, in that regard. As the title suggests, it is a collection with the only fundamental common feature being the author. But of course that single common feature guarantees a fair number of similarities in tone and topic.

Most of the essays date from the late thirties or early forties. Only one post-dates the conclusion of the Second World War. Most focus almost entirely on aspects of English culture in Orwell's time, either alone or in comparison to others', though some observations can be made on human society in general. Orwell's greatest talent is that he can observe the roots of society in a way that lays bare the pretenses it throws up. In this he is a product entirely of his time and place. Additionally to this, one notices that Orwell himself is rarely far from the subject. He makes no apparent pretense of remaining aloof or remote from his subjects. He is in the topic, either directly in his reminiscences of the Spanish Civil War or his early years in a British boarding school, or at least as an observant bystander as in his commentaries on famous authors like Kipling or Dickens. When you read Orwell, you are there because he is there and he communicates his own mind to posterity with his words.

This collection is perhaps a bit less overtly political that some of his works. Readers of The Road to Wigan Pier or Coming Up for Air will notice that fewer grand pronouncements on our political future are found here than in some of his other works. Thus, we are largely spared the "obvious" conclusions that our society is lurching towards fascism to defeat fascism or that socialism is the only rational future that allows for our salvation. By this slight redirect of focus, one gets to see the mind of a great relater roam freely over a world that is somewhat familiar even to an American reader, but is nonetheless otherwise lost to us today.

A first rate essayist, a third rate collection .......2007-01-23

Giving less than five stars to a work by George Orwell, perhaps the greatest essayist and social critic of the 20th century makes me physically ill. Truly, were I making a determination on the works contained alone, I would want to give it six. Yet, readers should give serious consideration before purchasing this particular volume. While the works contained include some of Orwell's most memorable, the publisher offers zero context, either to the author, the period, or even where the works first appeared.

Some may say argue that it is up to the modern reader to have a sufficient background to understand these works; after all, isn't that what wikipedia is for? Yet the publisher here does not even do the minimum to aid the reader. One need look no further than the fact that the date these works first appeared is given at the end of each essay. Now this follows a literary convention common in Orwell's time, if less so in our own, but it seems feckless indeed to make the reader flip to the last page to determine when a particular work first appeared. Moreover, readers ignorant of the particulars of Orwell's biography and the period might take certain of his assumptions and statements way out of context. Examples abound of this, but lets look at one; in the brilliant and continually relevant "Looking Back on the Spanish Civil War," Orwell contrasts the atrocities of German fascists with Soviet Communists and determines that while both are evil, the former is clearly the worse. Now modern readers may balk at this, or at least be made uneasy thinking it a case not so clear cut. However, were the year Orwell wrote, 1943, at the beginning of the work, or better yet even a sentence or two of context offered to what Orwell knew, the reader would benefit from a far smoother experience.

None of these shortcomings, however, should be taken as Orwell being anything less than brilliant. Indeed, his keen mind and sharp pen eviscerated much of the social and political conventions of his time. For example, his in essay on Rudyard Kipling, the much beloved writer of the jungle book and reviled pro-Imperialist, Orwell balks at the conventional wisdom poking clever holes in the conventional wisdom of his day. Likewise, one wishes in the current milieu their lived an essayist able to write the following "Political language - and with variations this is true of all political parties, Conservative to Anarchist - is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." (Politics and the English Language, 1946). Or consider how much better American political discourse might be if every citizen considered the following "...atrocities are believed in or disbelieved solely on the grounds of political predilections. Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence....the very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world (Looking Back on the Spanish Civil war, 1943).

All of this to say, is that Orwell remains as relevant as ever. One only wishes that this publisher gave him all the attention he is due so that readers can gain from his work the proper and full effect.

Great collection of essays.......2006-11-12

I've always thought George Orwell was a great writer, and this year I've read or reread several of his works. "George Orwell - A Collection of Essays" has fourteen of his best short writings, including my favorite, "Such, Such Were the Joys..." about Orwell's years in school in England. It was fascinating reading, almost like something out of Dickens, with the Draconian teaching methods and the emphasis on class differences.

A diverse collection of essays, some better than others, but all well written. These essays were written in the 1930s and 1940s, although some of the events that are mentioned occurred much earlier in Orwell's life, and they reflect Orwell's time and culture.

If you enjoyed Orwell's novels, you owe it to yourself to check out his essays.

Such, such is the joy of reading this book..........2006-07-09

Orwell only gets better with age. Not a dud essay in the lot, and a couple are all-time classics. Oh, if only George had lived long enough to eviscerate the post-modernists, deconstructionists, and structuralists!

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