Animal Farm (Signet Classics)

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:

"Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad.".......2007-10-15

Just before he dies, Old Major, an old pig, shares a dream he had with the animals of Manor Farm. In the dream, he saw a future where animals were no longer the servants of man but enjoyed the profits of their own labor.

His dream became reality much sooner then he imagined, however. Shortly after his death, the animals spontaneously revolt against the farm's owner, Jones, a mean drunk.

With the humans gone, the animals start working the farm together, anxious to enjoy the rewards. They also form their own government, a complete democracy where every animal has a say. They create seven commandments that they will all live by to make the newly renamed Animal Farm an even better place to live.

It isn't long, however, before the pigs begin to take a place of leadership because of their superior intelligence. Two in particular, Snowball and Napoleon, rise to the top and always take opposite sides on every issue.

The first year, things go smoothly. But the second year, things begin to fall apart and a leader emerges, slowly gaining more power. Will the other animals go along with the changes?

Having heard about this classic all my life, I finally decided it was time to become acquainted with it. I can see why everyone talks about it so much. It is a powerful allegory about the dangers of Socialism. And, while some of the commentary directed squarely at the USSR may be lost on today's readers, anyone familiar with the history of that country or the other communist countries in our history will certainly get the point. It's amazing how accurate George Orwell was years before things got bad in Russia.

While it did take me a few minutes to truly get the ending, it was very chilling.

The best part is, the book is fun, too. The story moves quickly and the animal characters are so well drawn it's hard not to get pulled in to the story. I was hooked and couldn't wait to see how it ended.

Some classics are boring and hard to get through. This isn't one of them. Don't fear the classic label, but pick this up and read it today. You'll be glad you did.

Amazed!.......2007-10-15

Having read Animal Farm in one sitting, i feel that it transcends the obvious allusions to communisms and the likes to something far more poetic. Human nature, it seems, has a very deceiving quality to it. Orwell made it clear that the book was parallel with real life (Russian Revolution and such) and similarities are easily made between characters in the book and real life people. Although i'd say the biggest lesson learned is the power of mind-manipulation and how few can control many through fear.
Simply put, you can call it a process... Bad people reign--good people overthrow bad people---hunger for power consumes a handful of the good people---manipulation/propaganda is instilled and WAHLA ---Once again Bad people reign... It's a sad cycle that this book has beautifully portrayed.
Definitely worth a read, especially if you are "into" politics.
Lucas.

A Brilliant Satire of Government Politics!!!.......2007-10-07

George Orwell was not only the author of 1984 but Animal Farm as well as written numerous essays, articles, etc. about his take on politics. In 1984, society was in the future under a totalitarian dictatorship where nothing was sacred or left to chance. In Animal Farm which I think it's more effective and definitely better reading material than 1984 is the story about a farm of animals who take over the farm against Jones, a drunken, abusive farmer and master of Manor Farm. At first, the rules were applied but slowly changed according to the leaders' rules. The animals in charge were symbolically pigs named Napoleon and his right-hand man, Snowball. Napoleon begins breaking the rules by sleeping in the main house and having parties with the other pigs. The rules or commandments are representative of Moses and the Jews when they were going to the promised land and received the ten commandments. Also, the rules begin to change when the pigs in charge become more like Jones by abusing alcohol and even killing other animals when they disobeyed. Slowly, the animals that were once united by their hatred towards Jones were becoming divided again amongst themselves. The story is quite a classic novel and better suited for younger readers than 1984.

The Rise of Totalitarianism.......2007-10-07

Animal Farm is a strong metaphor for the rise of tyranny using the model of a failing communism after the deliberate overthrow and subsequent breakdown of capitalism and democracy. In Orwell's story oppressed farm animals rebel against their masters only to find themselves falling prey to the inherent problem of an escalating despotism following emancipation that culminates in an even vaster gap of inequality between upper and lower classes with the wants of the very few outweighing the needs of a neglected majority that are slowly turned into isolated brainwashed slaves controlled by fear.

The ideology of equality is sound but in overthrowing the ruling elite who cannot say that yet another privileged will not emerge? An even stronger dictatorship that can control the masses with the intimidating thought that if the populace doesn't obey any order then the old ways can come back? What makes Animal Farm so good is that it explains how revolutions designed to close the differences in rank can be easily exploited. This is the inevitable dilemma faced by all civilizations that desire governed order and is especially true of socialism and communism. Nobody has captured the difficulty of the exploitation of trust and power any better than Orwell has done with Animal Farm.

Animal Farm doesn't answer any questions but makes lots of them and is all about awareness of these possibilities, a conundrum born out from our systemic need to consolidate power socially.

Orwell based his work on a combination of the Bolshevik revolutionaries and Stalinism but the overall message is a one of warning about how any system of political control can become corrupt if it is allowed run with carte blanche.

It is also a message about how awareness of one's own strength can suddenly change the balance and for this reason has been seen as subversive material. Animal Farm is often banned by most totalitarian regimes and even some governments had banned it because they didn't understand it or believed that its anti-communism message was considered too strong for public consumption.

A historical commentary.......2007-09-30

Best book ever written. It's important to note that it is not only about Russian Communism but equally about the French revolution. Orwell himself was a disillusioned socialist, so to view this book (as conservatives do) as a simple polemical against Communism is a distortion. Rather it is a tragedy about many years of history.

Orwell correctly never denies that Mr. Jones abused his animals. He correctly recognizes the socialist dream as exactly that. It's worth noting that the theme song of the revolution, "Beasts of England" is an exact parody of the old Socialist poem "Men of England" by Percy Shelley from the early 19th century. The character Napoleon the pig is both Napoleon Bonaparte and Stalin. Orwell's relentless cynicism portrays most of the animals as far too stupid to realize what's happening as the revolution betrays its original principles. The most sympathetic character is the old donkey who knows better, but can only watch helplessly as the dogs and pigs establish their tyranny. Its ending corresponds closely with Napoleon (Bonaparte) crowning himself king.

As far as advice, Orwell offers none. Figure it out yourself.

Average customer rating:

A clear prophetic warning
One of the greatest works of literature of all time
dystopia utopia
Maybe the most misunderstood novel of all time
A Dystopian Vision

1984 (Signet Classics)
George Orwell
Manufacturer: New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0451524934

Amazon.com

"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:

A clear prophetic warning.......2007-10-19

Besides the obvious obsolete year reference, one must understand that this story holds more truth and viability then commonly thought. Big brother is real. Not exactly in our society but in the very mold that our brains are wired. As we are all humanly capable of self-expression, we are equally capable of oppression of another through disagreement. In other words, it is in our nature to be unstable of mind and to use whatever means in winning the day. Everyone wants Utopia. Although, each of us have very different ideas of how to go about it. The result is chaos. The result is the nature of man. In 1984, Big Brother has harnessed that inner chaos we all possess to his advantage. Between drugs and insanity the world will never be at peace. The balancing of powers will never cease to change, although collectively people can recognize this flaw and feast upon it. The only way the self-elected elite can stay in power is by utilizing the power of human consciousness and fragility through whatever means possible in order to keep the masses at bay. Through confusion and brainwashing it is proven(in actuality as well) that the elite can control and warp the minds of the ignorant.
This frightening and prophetic book was indeed an eye-opener for me. As in reality, there are no happy endings, just an empty void of helplessness and a profound desire for help. Help, in which i feel, mankind will desperately need.
Lucas.

One of the greatest works of literature of all time.......2007-10-14

George Orwell's 1984 remains one of the seminal works of literature in the English language, and one of the most important. If you haven't read it, you owe it to yourself to read it and experience the world Orwell created (a world that bears an increasing resemblence, however shadowy, to our own).

dystopia utopia.......2007-10-13

This is what got me into literature. Not the Scarlet Letter or Grapes of Wrath or anything else really. I thankfully read this due to a recommendation from my English teacher and I've been on my way to appreciating literature ever since. Make sure you watch the movie Children of Men if you liked this book. They draw many parallels and both are amazing.

Maybe the most misunderstood novel of all time.......2007-10-11

This is a great book. However, it is not so much a political novel as so many people seem to think, as It is one of the great existentialist novels right up there with Notes From the Underground and Nausea.

Like Smith reading Goldstein's book, you don't learn anything new about political systems if you are even modestly well read, but you do learn much about human happiness in face of such systems.

The chief irony that seems to be widely overlooked is that Insoc did successfully create a society, in Oceania, of true equality. Despite the fixed class system, everybody was the same non entity in the eyes of the state, which after all were the only eyes that really existed. Winston didn't really exist, but neither did O'Brain; only Big Brother truly existed. It was a state where the collective oligarchy weren't enticed by luxury or comfort, so that the relative greater comforts of the Inner Party compared to the Outer Party, and the Outer Party compared to the Proles was not as relevant as the fact that the state existed for the sole purpose of perpetrating it's own power. Everybody in every stratum of society was the same nonentity in relationship to that power.

We might readily think of 1984 as presenting us with a dystopia, but so far as we define a utopia by the standards of equality, justice and happiness, Oceania is decidedly an Utopia. And this presents us first and foremost with the existential dilemma that the perfect state is a monstrosity to which we insticntively recoil.

A Dystopian Vision.......2007-10-07

"1984" may well be the poster child for the genre of dystopian literature. Personally, I thought Orwell was most successful when it came to describing the society around Winston or the psychological struggle during the interogations. The love story was a weaker part of the book (for me).
Unlike Huxley's "Brave New World", Orwell dosen't try to go for dark humor but instead uses the society of fear to convey his views on totalitarinism to the audience. Personally I thought Orwell's characters weren't as interesting as those in Huxley's or Lewis's dystopian novels (C.S. Lewis wrote "That Hideous Strenght"). The concept for Room 101 was imaginative but almost seemed to give the Ocenaian officials an unrealistic advantage (personally, I feel some people could have overcome even fear). Perhaps I shouldn't get on to Orwell too much over this; after all Lewis's villans tried to overcome human nature in their own ways as well.
Overall, Orwell wrote an interesting work. It is even more interesting when one compares the totalitarianism of Oceania to that of the U.S.S.R. (notice that Big Brother and Goldstein have some resemblances to Stalin and Trotsky). I am currently reading a book far more chilling than Orwell's fiction. "The Gulag Archipelago" would make a very good companion to "1984" as it gives a picture of actual totalitarianism at the time when Orwell wrote his fictional masterpiece.

Average customer rating:

1984 - George Orwell
just what i wanted
Terrific reads.
Animal Farm and 1984
A Classic

Animal Farm and 1984
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
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:

1984 - George Orwell.......2007-10-01

On 1984:
In George Orwell's 1984, war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength. So goes the slogan that describes life in dystopian London, a city monstrously ruled by the totalitarian state of Oceania. Along with Oceania, the states of Eurasia and Eastasia rule the world. Their co-existence isn't peaceful, however, as the three states are perpetually at war with each other. In Oceania, the government's figurehead is Big Brother, who is a personification of the collective power of the state and not a real person. His "face" fills the streets on the poster fronts plastered all over the city with the words "Big Brother is Watching You" underneath his overbearing glare.

Winston Smith, the novel's main character, works for the Party (the government). He despises his job along with the Party and Big Brother, but under no circumstances is he allowed to show it. In fact, to so much as even think a thought against the Party or Big Brother is considered treasonous and punishable by death! At present time, the Party doesn't have the technology to read people's minds, but they are working on it. Instead they control behavior through telescreens (television panels) and microphones. In London, telescreens are ubiquitous and cannot be turned off or interacted with. Presumably there are agents monitoring activity nearly everywhere that a member of the Party might frequent through these devices. In addition to technological surveillance, there is also human surveillance offered by both children and adults. Citizens of Oceania and members of the Party in particular are encouraged to report any unusual behavior which is interpreted as disloyalty to the state. It becomes virtually impossible, then, to get away with saying or projecting any kind of dissidence towards the Party. Individualism of any kind is considered unorthodox and a threat to the state. Winston would not be allowed to read this review without risking his life.

Oceania's population is divided between Party members, who make up 15%, and the unintelligent and underprivileged proletariat, which round out the remaining 85%. The "Proles" as they are known, could theoretically rebel and destroy the Party, but they are too ignorant and simple-minded to even dream of it. Winston knows this to be true, though still reserves some faint hope that he could be wrong and that the Proles could rise against the machine. The only other hope he has of an overthrow lies in the mysterious existence of the Brotherhood, a shadow collective inside of Oceania seeking to eliminate the Party and establish a democratic government. Winston has never met a member of the Brotherhood because it is impossible to even approach somebody to find out if they are disgruntled with the Party. To do so would be to risk your life. If they caught you, you would be eliminated and dubbed an unperson in Newspeak (the official and preferred language of Oceania). You will never have existed.

This is why Winston was apprehensive when Julia, a girl working in the same government building, slipped him a note. Initially he had suspected that she was a member of the Thought Police, an organization involved with seeking out heretics or disloyal Party members. Was she trying to snuff him out? Had she tapped into his mind and found a reservoir of anti-government angst? Winston thought his days were numbered, but was she the one that would reveal this to the authorities?

Orwell has given the world a political and psychological masterpiece. Written in 1948 as a vision of how the world would look in 1984, Orwell's only fault has been the fact that the novel is more relevant today than during its namesake. In our ever-advancing technoage, 1984 stands as a caution and a warning against governmental controlling measures. But to view his novel as a reaction against totalitarianism is to miss the boat. Orwell also explores human nature from a multiplicity of levels. He examines the human thirst for power and how this thirst intensifies when a group fuses their collective thirsts into a giant groupthirst (to use Newspeak). He asks what ultimate loyalty really means and how it can be redistributed from one object to another. What will such a task require? Can pain or love or any human longing outlast or outperform the other? Can truth be altered? And if so, who has the right or the power to alter it? These questions and more are asked in 1984. Will your answers to the questions tow the Party line, or will you sigh in paranoiac relief that you can think for yourself?

On the quality of the edition:
The cover is hard and firm, just what you'd want from a hardcover edition. Unlike other hardcovers which bend easier, however, this version takes quite an effort to keep the book fully opened and bent back to read. This makes it impossible to read with one hand holding the book up. I read with the book placed on a surface, so I have no problems. But for others, this might be an issue. All in all, I am very satisfied with the quality of this edition.

just what i wanted.......2007-07-18

this was just the item i wanted so i was very well pleased with it.

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.

Average customer rating:

Against the war... any kind of war.
Unattractive topic made surprisingly interesting
George Orwell's interesting memoir of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War
Revolution & Politics: A Must-Read
Compulsively readable...

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

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ASIN: 0156421178

Amazon.com

"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:

Against the war... any kind of war........2007-08-13

Maybe the best plea against _any_ type of war. I recommend it strongly to everyone.

Unattractive topic made surprisingly interesting.......2007-07-18

George Orwell must be an excellent writer because, in all honesty, I wasn't overwhelmingly interested in reading about the Spanish Civil War. Nevertheless, I really, really liked this book.

Understanding the history behind the war isn't a necessity, but I definitely recommend bringing yourself up to speed via wikipedia before starting. That way, Orwell's personal recollections, which are the meat of the book, will be more relevant to you.

Orwell presents a refreshingly honest account of the war and his own evolving take on it. Spain's resulting chaos is a prescient warning for those who take too passionately and seriously partisan politics. Orwell shows that it never takes too long before ideals are thrown out the window to be replaced by the centuries repeated same old quest for power.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Spanish Civil War, human nature's struggle for power, or Orwell's insightful, often humorous observations.

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.

Average customer rating:

If you're Down and Out.....
"Down and out", but alive and indeed real people
Heavily edited edition
Orwell doesn't like Jews and gays...
La Vache Enragée

Down and Out in Paris and London
George Orwell
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 015626224X

Amazon.com

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:

If you're Down and Out............2007-10-09

If you're down and out read Down and Out in Paris and London. Most likely you'll change the outlook on your situation.

George Orwell gives the lowdown on being downright poverty stricken and homeless in Paris and London in the 1930's. The book's graphic detail and description gives the reader a woeful glance of the ugliness of life on the street. Some of the psychos, freaks and weirdos he encounters are a bit difficult to bear at times, and I even suggest SKIPPING chapter 2 entirely. It was awful and disturbing! Don't read it expecting "mercy".

Aside from that chapter, the book is interesting and absorbing and will open your eyes to a day in the life of society's poorest, whose purpose in life is merely to survive.

Despite the above reference about chapter 2, it's a quick and easy read. If you, like me, are unfamiliar with the small amount of French in the story, babelfish.altavista will come in very handy.

"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.

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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ASIN: 0375415033
Release Date: 2002-10-15

Book Description

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

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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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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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..."

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Big Brother Is Watching You.
Apocalypse Now and Then
One of my favorites...
Required Reading for any thinking person
A few thoughts on my favorite book...

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

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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:

Big Brother Is Watching You........2007-09-24

_Nineteen Eighty Four_, first published in 1949 by George Orwell (pen name of Eric Blair), is a horrifying dystopian novel of a world in which the individual human being has been completely degraded and deprived of his fundamental humanity that reflects the totalitarianisms of the day, particularly communism and Stalinism. George Orwell (1903 - 1950) was the pen name of the British author Eric Blair, who developed an early enmity towards those in power and their abuses of power. Orwell was a socialist but came to witness the horrors of the Soviet state and the betrayal of his ideals by Stalinists. As such, Orwell came to loathe totalitarianism in general and wrote novels showing the degrading effects such societies had on people. Throughout this book, one can witness the underlying hatred of Orwell and those imprisoned by the system for the totalitarian state and bureaucracy which completely controls their lives and existences. This book in particular shows that rage in the main character of Winston Smith, a mere pawn in a totalitarian society. Orwell's books are indeed prophetic and show us a world in which the very life-force has been sapped out of mankind by those in power. Orwell imagines a highly efficient totalitarian state, capable of enforcing political correctness at the highest levels, tampering with the memories of men, and maintaining a total disregard for the truth. Orwell shows how under such regimes the very notion of truth becomes suspect and the individual can no longer distinguish between fact and state propaganda. This particularly applies to the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin, which is the primary setting for Orwell's stories. However, Orwell's books are also applicable to the West of today, where the constant menace of totalitarian ideology exists.

_1984_ gives us a whole slew of new terminology to describe the situation as it exists in a totalitarian state in which political correctness is enforced. The book introduces such terms as thought police, thought crime (and thought criminal), doublethink, memory hole, Ingsoc, and Newspeak. Such terms reflect the complete disregard of the totalitarian state for the truth and the active promotion of propaganda within society. They have also largely entered into our culture as expressions to describe the enforcement of political correctness.

_1984_ focuses on the main character Winston Smith, a member of the Outer Party who lives in England and works for the Ministry of Truth. As it turns out, the Ministry of Truth ironically is responsible for spreading propaganda, and as all ministries mentioned by Orwell has a purpose exactly opposite to its stated purpose. The world of 1984 is a very bleak one indeed, run by a single party and its ruling leader "Big Brother", in which all individuals are subject to surveillance by the state should they commit a "thought crime". All expressions of individuality in 1984 have been wiped out and the human being is totally degraded living a pathetic existence of total subservience to the party. Sexuality has been suppressed as part of the "Anti-sex League" as well as religion. Truth itself is highly malleable and memory is constantly distorted, reflected in such ironical and oxymoronic sayings of the party as "War Is Peace", "Freedom Is Slavery", and "Ignorance Is Strength". Further, the nation of Oceania is constantly at war with either Eurasia or Eastasia, varying from day to day and reflected in the official propaganda of the state bureaucracy. All party members revere their leader "Big Brother" (perhaps reminiscent of Josef Stalin or other totalitarian dictators) and despise the rebellious "Goldstein" (perhaps reminiscent of the Soviet hatred for Leon Trotsky). Further, the party exists in a caste system in which the "proles" (the proletariat) live underneath the party members (who are divided into the Inner and Outer Party). Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth but begins to keep a diary (which is strictly forbidden to party members) in which he reflects his hatred for "Big Brother". His work involves developing propaganda for the party. At work he meets up with Julia, who he initially believes is a strict orthodox member of the party. However, eventually he comes to realize that Julia is in love with him and they have a secret encounter in the countryside. Eventually Julia expresses to Winston her complete loathing for the party, though she publicly maintains a persona of utter obeisance and orthodoxy and belongs to the "Anti-sex League". Together they find a new hiding place in a shop in a part of the city where the "proles" live and attempt to re-discover the past of England. Throughout this period, however, the two live in constant fear of the thought police, should they catch onto their affair. Eventually, Winston meets up with O'Brien at work, a man who he believes is a member of the Resistance, and is given a copy of Goldstein's book which explains the rise of the party and the need for perpetual war. Orwell quotes extensively from Goldstein's book which reflects much of the social thinking of the time, in particular the theory of managerial elites. However, Winston and Julia are captured by the party and it turns out that O'Brien is in fact a member of the party. While taken captive, both are tortured and made to recant their original beliefs about the party. In a particularly disgusting scene, Winston is taken to Room 101 where he must face his worst fear. There he ultimately betrays Julia (as she has already betrayed him) to save himself from being tortured by rats (the worst torture that he can imagine). Eventually, Winston is completely re-educated and made to love "Big Brother" while his relationship with Julia is forever changed after their mutual betrayals of each other. Thus, ends in the most horrifying of manners Orwell's classic novel. Orwell concludes with an appendix on "The Principles of Newspeak" which effectively shows how even the language itself can be put to the purposes of propaganda within a totalitarian state.

_1984_ remains a classic dystopia reflecting the darker side of human existence within the Twentieth Century as it played out in the totalitarian dictatorships of the age. Throughout this novel, the very notion of truth remains problematic, as the party re-defines history to reflect its own agenda and thus even memory itself becomes distorted. Orwell shows the sheer degradation that the human being undergoes within such a surveillance society, to the eventual point where a man can be tortured by the powers that be to such an extent that he will eventually even renounce his love and embrace the figure he hates the most. While the novel is made to reflect Soviet society and Stalinism in particular, it also reflects the modern world in general, in which large-scale and efficient bureaucratic structures rob man of his humanity. Orwell's novels prove particularly prescient warnings to mankind to avoid the dangers of totalitarianism. As such, they should be read by all thinking individuals who seek to understand the horrors that can be inflicted upon the human being through totalistic societies.

Apocalypse Now and Then.......2007-09-17

"1984"--or "Nineteen Eighty-Four" in the Oldspeak--is one of those books prophecizing doom that has remained relevant enough to generate a famous Macintosh commercial, a "Simpsons" parody, and a reality television series named for it among other things. What allows "1984" to remain in our consciousness and not a relic of the post-World War II, Cold War, Atomic Age era is that like the book of Revelations, "1984"'s dire predictions can be adapted for each new generation.

"1984"'s epic battle of good versus evil doesn't take place on any plain of Armageddon, but rather within the mind of one man: Winston Smith. Winston is a 39-year-old man who works for the Party at the Ministry of Truth, which has an ironic name because Winston's job is actually to doctor reality so that the Party always appears infallible. Winston sees that while the Party, under the leadership of Big Brother, claims surpluses of everything, no one can buy simple items like razor blades or shoelaces. As he becomes disillusioned by the Party's rule, he and a young woman named Julia begin a torrid secret affair. Then he is contacted by a man high up in the Party named O'Brien who works for a resistance group known as the Brotherhood. But before he can help the Brotherhood, Winston is betrayed, arrested, and taken to the dungeons of the Ministry of Love, where he endures physical and psychological torment that threatens to break him and strip him of all humanity.

As it is written, Big Brother and his Party would seem to represent the fascist or Communist movements of the 1940s. Taken literally it would be easy to dismiss the book as an archaic remnant of Cold War hysteria. But the beauty of "1984" is that because it focuses on the internal struggle for Winston Smith's soul, it can transcend all that. For the warning in "1984" isn't about communism or fascism, but the threat of letting anyone crush the human spirit through overbearing dogma.

Much like faithful Christians of every generation have painted everyone from the Pope to Hitler as the Antichrist, every generation looks for its Big Brother. From communists to corporations to churches, individual readers can read "1984" and make their own interpretations of who or what Big Brother and the Party represent. But no matter how each of us sees it, the general warning should be clear: the human spirit is our most precious possession and must be retained at all costs.

That is all.

One of my favorites..........2007-09-11

This is one of my favorite books of all time, right up there with Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. If you haven't read this book, and you are into politics, it is a must read for everyone!

Required Reading for any thinking person.......2007-08-15

1984 should be required reading for any thinking person. Not only is the base story line compelling and thought provoking as a lesson on the more obvious problems presented in Orwell's dystopia, the ideas and thoughts presented through such things as the book the "resistance" reads are extremely relavent to today's world. The view of the military-industrial complex and how it helped lead to the society shown are amazingly prescient of how many industrialized nations are conducting business in modern society.

A few thoughts on my favorite book..........2007-08-09

Reading this book as an impressionable youth back in 1976 turned me, in many ways, into who I am today, thirty-plus years later. Never trusting the official government story, whether it be the Kennedy or Martin Luther King assassinations or the official 9/11 conspiracy theory. I realize that the powers that be always have their own agenda, which invariably differs completely from the people's interests. It has led me to do my own research (now far easier on the internet than in the NYC libraries with their budget-slashed hours I could never coordinate with). It has led down some frightening paths that more people should be going down, for truly we are living in Nineteen Eighty-Four this very minute.
And as a bit of clarification, Orwell was not "predicting" this dystopia for 1984, as some have written here. He was not a soothsayer. With this book he artfully expounds on his experiences working in the real "Ministry of Truth" during World War II: the BBC's Propaganda department. The date 1984 is a simple juxtaposition of the date in which he wrote the book, 1948. Another way of saying, "today". And to me, that's far scarier than some date off in the future.

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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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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