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Why Orwell Matters

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 1,177 ratings · 90 reviews

In this widely acclaimed biographical essay, Christopher Hitchens assesses the life, the achievements, and the myth of the great political writer and participant George Orwell. In true emulative and contrarian style, Hitchens is both admiring and aggressive, sympathetic yet critical, taking true measure of his subject as hero and problem. Answering both the detractors and...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published September 11th 2003 by Basic Books (first published 2002)

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Jun 20, 2008 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008_read

Why does Orwell Matter? Because Christopher Hitchens says so!

No really, he practiced intellectual and journalistic honesty.

How quaint.

-m

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Oct 24, 2008 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love George Orwell, but I haven’t read 1984 and Animal Farm since I was 17—the summer before college—and I haven’t read the rest of his fiction at all. But I love the nonfiction. I taught “Shooting and Elephant” and “Politics and the English Language” to countless freshman and not only memorized important passages, but stored away their main ideas, about anti-colonialism and about deliberate obfuscation, among those very most important ideas to me. I recently read Down and Out in Paris and Lon...more I love George Orwell, but I haven’t read 1984 and Animal Farm since I was 17—the summer before college—and I haven’t read the rest of his fiction at all. But I love the nonfiction. I taught “Shooting and Elephant” and “Politics and the English Language” to countless freshman and not only memorized important passages, but stored away their main ideas, about anti-colonialism and about deliberate obfuscation, among those very most important ideas to me. I recently read Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier, and Homage to Catalonia and was convinced that Orwell matters significantly. So this book was a natural for me.
Hitchens’ writing and his arguments are sophisticated. I read this one like a text at school, looking up relevant stuff, marking passages, writing in the margins. It’s a little book. Hitchen’s goal was not a complete analysis of Orwell so much a plea to take this guy seriously, don’t let this 20th century writer fade away as relevant only to his own time (1903-1950—Orwell died of TB and he might have been saved had he been able to get the appropriate antibiotic from the US in the immediate post-war period).
Hitchens seems to think Orwell’s anti-colonial stance his most significant since that’s the first concept he tackles. So do I. I’m positive that “Shooting an Elephant”, which I read first in a Freshman English class myself, colored my view of colonialism, arguments about postcolonial literature, and about the third world generally. Before reading this book I’d have said my own anti-colonial bent was learned as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa; now I’d say the fire was probably lit by Orwell and that was a huge part of my motivation to join the Peace Corps in the first place.
Hitchens goes on to analyze how both the left and the right have used and abused Orwell as well as his ideas about America, “Englishness”, feminism, and anti-Communism. He typically deals not only with Orwell’s relationship with the ideas but how proponents of those ideas deal with Orwell. Finally he analyzes the fiction, convincing me to reread 1984 if not to read all the fiction. He even touches on Orwell and post-modernism in a chapter that not only rescues Orwell from the post-modernists, but causes me embarrassment at my initial enthusiasm for post-modernist analysis of literature and validates my current views that it’s just as well the academic world is getting over that craze.
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Aug 06, 2008 John rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone with a brain

I couldn't help but be struck by the unspoken parallels between the Orwell described by Hitchens, and Hitchens himself. (Trotskyites who fell out with their fellow communists, etc.) The similarity between Orwell's treatment by the fellow traveling pro-USSR 'useful idiots' of the so-called intellectual left during his lifetime and beyond, and Hitchens' own battles with people like Noam Chomsky is remarkable, making me wonder if he is consciously modeling himself after Orwell, at least intellectua...more

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Sep 17, 2007 Nathan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: I agree, Chris, but still...

Shelves: history, science-social-theory-etc

I don't always agree with Hitchens, and often I vehemently disagree with him. But he's incredibly smart, never uninteresting. And regardless of whether one agrees with him or not, it is hard to disagree with the notion that Orwell does indeed matter in a time of wire tapping and Patriot Acts. Recently, a friend of mine, more than a decade younger than me, read 1984 for the first time. He found it profound, but didn't pick up on any of the anti-communist themes in the book. He related it complete...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"At best it could be asserted, even by an atheist admirer, that Orwell took some of the supposedly Christian virtues and showed how they could be 'lived' without piety or religious belief."

"But what Orwell illustrates, by his commitment to language as the partner of truth, is that 'views' do not really count; that it matters not what you think, but HOW you think; and that politics are relatively unimportant, while principles have a way of enduring, as do the few irreducible individuals who maint...more

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Apr 01, 2007 Nat rated it 3 of 5 stars

You don't really get an answer to the titular question by reading this book, just a spirited defense of Orwell from his critics (feminists, communists, those who think his novels are terrible, etc.), and praise for his (admittedly excellent) character and political integrity.

(In defending Orwell against his far left critics, Hitchens says that he once described Althusser as holding the "Electric Chair at the Ecole Abnormale", because Althusser, who had a history of mental illness, strangled his...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Patrick McCoy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-autobiography, non-fiction

I must admit I feel ambivalent about Christopher Hitchens. But I think we can both agree on the importance and impressive body of work written by George Orwell. Why Orwell Matters is not a conventional biography, although it does contain biographical elements. Hitchens has a particular ax to grind and does it in a convincing manner, he sought to rescue Orwell from those who want to deify him or who want to crucify him. This is a slim volume that is just over 200 pages, but dense with ideas and i...more I must admit I feel ambivalent about Christopher Hitchens. But I think we can both agree on the importance and impressive body of work written by George Orwell. Why Orwell Matters is not a conventional biography, although it does contain biographical elements. Hitchens has a particular ax to grind and does it in a convincing manner, he sought to rescue Orwell from those who want to deify him or who want to crucify him. This is a slim volume that is just over 200 pages, but dense with ideas and information. This means refuting the criticism of his enemies on the right, the left, feminists, and postmodernists. Along the way he also discussed his attitudes toward colonialism, England, and America. There's a particular chapter dealing with a list he had kept to identify which individuals he thought might be Stalinist sympathizers, which he gave to the British Research Information Department (which is not the gestapo or anything like that). It has been known about since 1980 where it appeared in a Bernard Crick's biography. It's not a blacklist since Orwell was not able to hire or fire anyone, nor was the Research Information Department. He admits that Orwell had some flaws, his novels aren't exactly top rate, he has a problems with women, homosexuals, and has made some anti-Semitic remarks in his day. This paints Orwell as human, and not without his flaws. However, I think Hitchens does a good job of showing why he is important; mainly because he was right about three of this centuries biggest injustices: colonialism, fascism, and Stalinism. He is also author to two of the most influential novels of the 20th century, Animal Farm and 1984. His true gift lies in nonfiction and essay writing-he was a master stylist. I found this to be an interesting and thought provoking book, but it probably isn't the best place to start if you aren't familiar with the writings and criticisms of Orwell's work. But for anyone that is acquianted with either of these, it is a fascinating rebuttal well worth the effort.(less)

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Feb 12, 2012 Ilya rated it 4 of 5 stars

The late Christopher Hitchens made a career of bashing things and people the bien pensant hold dear, from Mother Theresa to religion to opposition to the Iraq War. There were three historical figures, however, who commanded his respect: Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and George Orwell, and Hitchens wrote a short book-length biographical essay on each. According to Hitchens, Orwell matters because he made decency a virtue. The ideological battles of the 1930s-1940s in which Orwell participated (s...more The late Christopher Hitchens made a career of bashing things and people the bien pensant hold dear, from Mother Theresa to religion to opposition to the Iraq War. There were three historical figures, however, who commanded his respect: Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and George Orwell, and Hitchens wrote a short book-length biographical essay on each. According to Hitchens, Orwell matters because he made decency a virtue. The ideological battles of the 1930s-1940s in which Orwell participated (sometimes non-metaphorically: Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War and was wounded in the throat by a Nationalist sniper) have been fading away for some years, but the way he approached them deserves admiration. The original draft of Animal Farm said that during an attack by humans on the farm, "The pigeons swirled into the air, and all the animals, including Napoleon, flung themselves flat on their bellies and hid their faces." When Orwell learned that even in the darkest hour of World War II Stalin remained in Moscow and refused to be evacuated, Orwell changed this sentence to say, "all the animals, except Napoleon." The man who may have coined the term "Cold War" and authored a famous anti-Stalinist fable wanted to be fair to Stalin. Unlike former Communists who became anti-Communists, former Trotskyites who turned into neo-conservatives, and innumerable fools ever since, Orwell never radically changed his views. He formed his opposition to the British Empire as a young man in Burma, and remained an anti-imperialist until his death. He also supported democracy and socialism and opposed fascism and Stalinism more or less through his whole life. The contradiction between democracy and socialism, or more generally between freedom and equality, beautifully enunciated by Isaiah Berlin a few years after Orwell's death, was never central to Orwell. Orwell had a curious hobby of wondering, which British intellectuals would go Nazi if Britian were occupied by Nazi Germany, and which would go Communist if Britain were Sovietized. As Orwell lay dying, he was approached by a representative of a Foreign Office propaganda outfit with the question, which British left-wingers could be asked by this organization to write anti-Communist propaganda, in order to demonstrate that not all anti-Communists conform to the stereotype of a capitalist in a frock coat and a top hat, and which couldn't be because they were pro-Communist. Orwell gave his second list. There were no repercussions for the individuals involved except not being asked to write anti-Communist propaganda. This fact was uncovered in a 1980 biography of the writer, but it was publicized when documents about it were declassified in 1996, and the press gave epithets like "Winston Smith cooperated with the Thought Police" although, as Hitchens argues, it was nothing of the sort. There are other chapters on topics like Orwell and feminism and Orwell and postmodernism, but they are not that interesting. (less)

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Jul 12, 2009 Raghu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ever since I read Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty Four', I had admired George Orwell's ability to think honestly and clearly. He was able to see the monumental crimes of Stalinism and by extension, Leninism, which basically stands for Communism as it is believed and practised. This was in spite of him being a socialist at heart. Also, Orwell did produce strong reactions from both the Right and the Left. So, I was naturally intrigued when I saw Christopher Hitchens' book on Orwell.
This book deals with...more Ever since I read Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty Four', I had admired George Orwell's ability to think honestly and clearly. He was able to see the monumental crimes of Stalinism and by extension, Leninism, which basically stands for Communism as it is believed and practised. This was in spite of him being a socialist at heart. Also, Orwell did produce strong reactions from both the Right and the Left. So, I was naturally intrigued when I saw Christopher Hitchens' book on Orwell.
This book deals with all the important questions relating to Orwell today. The Right likes to claim him on behalf of his strong critique of Stalinism as if Orwell supported all their deep desires to severely punish left leaning people in their societies. Hitchens shows how Orwell stood by the rights of the working classes and the poor while castigating Stalinism. In the same way, the 'real Left' likes to demonize him as an agent of the bourgeoisie and portray him as an 'informer'. Hitchens again shows how Orwell was a genuine socialist at heart but knew that the centralized state like the USSR was not the way to get there. Hitchens paints a balanced picture of the man and the idealist without mopping over issues of relevance today. For example, Orwell was homophobic in some ways and Hitchens tries to investigate its possible causes. Orwell also did not have much time for feminists and in fact, for women.
Hitchens deals at length with 'The List', which has been used to taint Orwell with the charge that he informed on his left-wing friends to the British government and betrayed them. This is something many Leftists believe about Orwell. Hitchens argues strongly that Orwell did not 'inform' and that the argument does not hold water. But it was a fact that a certain 'list' existed in Orwell's handwriting and it was given to an influential friend of his. Looking at the overall picture that emerges of Orwell from the book, it is hard to accept that Orwell would have been an 'informer'.
The book is passionately argued and is not all that easy reading, though it is fairly concise. One would have to have sufficient interest in George Orwell in order to enjoy the book.(less)

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Jan 10, 2012 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Christopher Hitchens' WHY ORWELL MATTERS is an aggressive defense against Orwell's detractors and an answer to those who propose his sainthood.

What is the world like? How could it be better? These questions weighed heavily on Orwell. From his experience as a police officer in colonized Burma, he began to formulate views on imperialism. In 1938 he wrote "Homage to Catalonia" after volunteer service in the Spanish Civil War which illuminated his views on totalitarianism. His life experience in mo...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Jean Tessier rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: leisure

This is Hitchens' attempt at explaining Orwell's thoughts and to show how they
are still relevant half a century later.

Hitchens opted for a thematic approach to Orwell rather than a chronological
one. He has separate chapters for imperialism, socialism, nationalism, etc.
Each time, Hitchens shows how Orwell's views were shaped by events in his life
and how they evolved in his writings. Hitchens also shows how other writers
perceived these views, some are contemporaries of Orwell and others are writer...more

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Jan 19, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was all too much for me: the death of Christopher Hitchens, the death of Kim Jong-il. It was suddenly time to finally read Why Orwell Matters. It had always seemed a bit redundant and unnecessary to me. Of course Orwell Matters, he wrote a book called 1984.

Duh.

But I’m happy to report that having read Hitchens’s Why Orwell Matters, Orwell does in fact matter.

How can we not connect the dots of North Korean death, Hitchens death, Hitchens work on Orwell, and thusly Orwell’s work on North Korea?

H...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Charlie George rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, british

I have read and enjoyed a lot of Hitchens' short columns in the pages of Free Inquiry, and picked this up because I'm at least as interested in learning about and hearing more from him, as I am in Orwell.

Hitchens is a generally leftist, atheist intellectual who revels in sending up other intellectuals and public figures (especially other leftists). He also has a few conservative causes (e.g. supporting the Gulf War) and is perhaps best known for his strident criticism of Mother Teresa.

This book...more

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May 11, 2009 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars

A really great book written by a master debator who might be getting a bit too far out over his skis by taking on organized religion in general in the more recent God Is Not Great. Not so with this short but punchy discussion of the many faces of Orwell, one of the language's most famous and most influential voices who most people know almost nothing about outside of his authorship of Animal Farm and the essay, Shooting an Elephant. Raises Orwell up to his rightful place on the podium in front o...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

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Aug 11, 2009 Errol rated it 2 of 5 stars

I confess that I skipped around a bit when reading this book, and will probably come back and read it through eventually. I think I already know why Orwell matters to me at least- 1984 and Animal Farm were two of the first books to really stick out in my mind and when I read them I am still blown away by the way he whittles down the dark places in human nature so easily- but Chris Hitchen's main point is that the guy never took sides and was objective in his writing.

This book (essay?) mostly ma...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was actually an amazing book. The wonderful thing about Orwell isn't his positions...some he was wrong on, some developed over time. the wonderful thing about Orwell is he had, "The power of Facing". his own prejudices. the class system, the colonial order, Fascism among his enemies, Stalinism spreading among people he knew, he faced it all, with honesty, integrity, and a desire to be the best he could be, and recognizing his own flaws and sincerely struggling with them, not simply acceptin...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Dr. Tim added it

In a style that I suspect only Hitchens could carry off, this magnificent piece looks at the life and achievments of George Orwell and the ultimate significance of his work, vision and life. As ever, Hitch does not gloss over any faults or elevate Orwell to a status beyond criticism. Mixing high prasie with critical invective, true admiration with necessary questions, this book is a classic example of how to examine and understand a historic figure of lasting significance. For fans of both Chris...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Chuck O'Connor rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Hitch does Orwell good, shattering the pedestal or the prison his admirers or critics wish to place him. He also renders with sarcasm and wit the insufficiency of ideologues and post-modernists to claim or dismiss George. This is a straight-talking expose of a man whose idiom was straight talk. I liked it and only reserve a mild rating for it due to its brevity. I felt within each chapter a book unto itself. While it is clear in its explanation of Orwell's virtue (and why any thinking person...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Maughn Gregory rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-biography, philosophy

"To describe a state of affairs as 'Orwellian' is to imply a crushing tyranny and fear and conformism. To describe a piece of writing as 'Orwellian' is to recognize that human resistance to these terrors is unquenchable. Not bad for one short lifetime" (5).

I got this book after listening to a radio interview of Hitchens talking about it (http://ttbook.org/book/hitchens-why-o...). Hitchens argues convincingly (and against many current thinkers) that Orwell was the kind of "independent internation...more "To describe a state of affairs as 'Orwellian' is to imply a crushing tyranny and fear and conformism. To describe a piece of writing as 'Orwellian' is to recognize that human resistance to these terrors is unquenchable. Not bad for one short lifetime" (5).

I got this book after listening to a radio interview of Hitchens talking about it (http://ttbook.org/book/hitchens-why-o...). Hitchens argues convincingly (and against many current thinkers) that Orwell was the kind of "independent international," "Trotsyist" Leftist that was bound to be reviled by leftists and rightists of the totalitarian bent. A democratic socialist who believed that socialism could struggle against its own bureaucratic and authoritarian tendencies, to be a force for freedom (83). An anti-fascist who recognized the human tendency to idolize brute power.

For Hitchens, "The three great subjects of the twentieth century were imperialism, fascism and Stalinism.... [T]hey have bequeathed the whole shape and tone of our era. Most of the intellectual class were fatally compromised by accommodation with one or other of these man-made structures of inhumanity, and some by more than one" (5). His chapters on Orwell's work against each of these structures are philosophically and historically rich. I particularly liked the chapter on imperialism, which narrates Orwell's growing consciousness of how his participation in the British colonization of Burma contributed at once to the Burmese' political docility and economic underdevelopment, to the financing of Britain's industrial and imperial growth, and to the brutalizing - i.e., turning into sadists - of the British administrative class, including himself.

The chapters on Orwell and Englishness, America, Feminism, and the novels are good biography. (Alas, Orwell was a sexist and homophobe.) But I was especially interested in the chapter on how postmodern theories of language and 'objectivity as ideology' work against Orwell's understanding of the necessity of 'a common language' that is 'plain' enough to allow 'contestable speech' as necessary for 'open democracy' and the struggle against commercial and political oppression.
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Jul 26, 2011 Mary Ronan Drew rated it 5 of 5 stars

I’ve been reading my way through the collected works of Orwell, in 20 volumes, edited by Peter Davison. I’m doing this because I think George Orwell matters very much indeed. And so I was pleased to see that another writer I admire very much, Christopher Hitchens, was chosen to write this short book to explain why people like me are sufficiently fascinated to read some 12,000 pages of his work.

Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly has to say about the book:

Far from being an ordinary biography, this sma...more

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Jun 21, 2010 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Orwell or Hitchens

One great socialist journalist reviews the greatest socialist journalist-fabulist. Sometimes Hitchens has little nuggets of new information or insight about Orwell. And reading this is like listening to Hitchens over tea or a beer, the kind of talker every bloviating barfly aspires to be, thinks that he already is, but the great gusts of information and indignation that come from him have follow-through, have punch. They make one glad to have gone down to hear him in the lobby or at the bar rath...more

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Jun 01, 2010 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics

Is it redundant to describe a writer as self-indulgent, vague, and undisciplined? Anyway, even though I would accept each of them as descriptive of Hitchens' writing, yet I really enjoyed reading his defense of Orwell. Or, more precisely, his put down of Orwell's critics and those who misuse him.

Perhaps Hitchens doesn't really understand that it is not necessary to be ostentatious in demonstrating breadth of learning to avoid being patronizing. There is a lot of room to work between the two. Sa...more

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Jul 26, 2010 Vince rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

If you were to read this book aloud, you could hear yourself becoming more intelligent, or at least, Hitches will expand your vocabulary and improve your diction. This book came to my knowledge from watching a Book Discussion on CSPAN 2, and since I have always admired Orwell, specifically "Nineteen Eighty-Four," "Animal Farm" and "Shooting an Elephant," I was inclined to pick up it up off the 20% Discount shelf one weekend.
Hitchens finds Orwell to be fair, courageous and prescient in tackling I...more

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Feb 22, 2008 Avril added it

It always eluded me why Orwell was not only the scourge of the Right, but also of the Left. I could never quite figure out what was going on there. I knew he was a lefty, but why wasn't he ever accepted by his Socialist peers? Not that he particulary wanted that acceptance anyway.

In an essay regarding Stalinism he queried, "Is it Socialism, or is it a particularly vicious form of state-capitalism?" This question helps me answer the confusion I had regarding his political sympathies.

As Stalinism...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

This is a worthwhile study of Orwell that perhaps places too much credence in the ideological battles between totalitarianism, communism, and the right. On the plus side, it makes me want to read more of Orwell, which is perhaps the best result to be gained from reading Hitchens. One interesting point he makes is that Orwell, though not a great writer, is attractive to readers because of his unflinching honesty irrespective of the intellectual cross-currents that are swirling around him.

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Jul 28, 2010 David Riggs rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is interesting that Orwell could see authoritarian abuse regardless of where it came, or the suit it wore. Read on the heels of For Whom the Bell Tolls, it is interesting how both Stalinists and Fascists abused and murdered the commom man/soldier. The human grist in the Spanish Civil War was the moderate. Citizens of the US today should look around and be sure that their gaze lands on the behaviour of their politicians, not just the party symbols held up in front of them.

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May 17, 2013 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Part biography, part critique, Hitchens did a typically masterful job in his assessment of one of the 20th century's most important political and social voices. Hitch, who never hid his immense admiration for Orwell, gives equal time both to defending Orwell against his detractors while simultaneously eviscerating the sainthood that Orwell's supporters have bestowed upon him. Hitchens' examination was both fair and informative. A must-read for any Orwell fan.

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Jul 10, 2012 Vasil Kolev rated it 2 of 5 stars

I think George Orwell is one of the best (if not THE best) author I've read and a great and sincere human being. I started reading this to get some more information, a few more pointers, and in the end the book fell short. All in all it's a long-winded and pompous at times critique of Orwell with a few added facts and mostly replies to idiots.

If someone needs to get the answer to the question in the title, it would be far better to read some of Orwell's essays and books instead of this.

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Nov 26, 2011 Jennifer rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads

More accurately titled "Why Orwell Mattered." Hitchens spends almost the entirety of this short volume rebutting criticisms leveled...wait for it...fifty years ago. While valuable in its way, that's hardly the case for current relevance that the author purports to be making. I'd be more forgiving on the subject of the misleading title if any of the rebuttals had been even marginally entertaining to read.

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