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George Orwell Omnibus: Animal farm; Burmese days; A clergyman's daughter; Nineteen eighty-four
- GenresFictionLiterature
613 pages
Published September 1, 1989
About the author
George Orwell
1,374 books52.2k followersEric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both fascism and stalinism), and support of democratic socialism.
Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.
Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 25, 2024
Three years ago (it seems) I found much current discourse so absurd that I found it relevant to reread Nineteen Eighty-Four. It seemed that both sides of the political spectrum was busy redefining terminology to fit their own agenda. On the right, Trumpists, Brexiteers, etc. talked about alternative facts, while the left began insisting that there are 57 genders. I find both such positions equally absurd, and thought that it might be time to refresh my (fading) memory of Newspeak and the general assault on rational thinking and the pursuit of (some reasonable) objective truth.
I'd read Nineteen Eighty-Four forty years ago, since I was the kind of kid who thought that I couldn't pass the opportunity to read that book in 1984 - even though I was only thirteen or fourteen at the time. As it turned out, I actually remembered more of the story than I thought I did. This may possibly have been helped along by the Eurythmics soundtrack to the 1984 movie of the same name. While I've never seen the movie, I've listened to that album a lot - for forty years.
The house library includes my wife's four-book Orwell omnibus, so while I wanted to reread Nineteen Eighty-Four, I decided to read it from the beginning. I'd also read Animal Farm a long time ago, but the two other books I'd never read.
Animal Farm is quickly read, but that doesn't diminish its importance. As a fable, it's not difficult to see how it warns against Stalinism.
Burmese Days deals with an English civil servent in the interwar period. It's Orwell's first book, and not particularly memorable.
Apparently Orwell denounced A Clergyman's Daughter, or was at least so dissatisfied with it that he didn't want it reprinted. Apart from a very annoying chapter written in dramatic form, it still strikes me as far more memorable than Burmese Days, even though the backbone centers around a fairly unbelievable plot device common to the time the book was written.
In any case, I usually try to avoid reading works by the same author too close together, as sometimes they may run together in my memory. Thus, I decided to read the omnibus cover to cover, but space out each work by at least a year. This does mean that my memory of Burmese Days is more hazy than of A Clergyman's Daughter, but on the other hand, they still stand out in my recollection as two distinct works.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is as bleak and quotable as I remember. It's funny how many phrases spoken by Annie Lennox on the soundrack album that are direct quotes from the book, but ultimately, a single quote sums it up:
I'd read Nineteen Eighty-Four forty years ago, since I was the kind of kid who thought that I couldn't pass the opportunity to read that book in 1984 - even though I was only thirteen or fourteen at the time. As it turned out, I actually remembered more of the story than I thought I did. This may possibly have been helped along by the Eurythmics soundtrack to the 1984 movie of the same name. While I've never seen the movie, I've listened to that album a lot - for forty years.
The house library includes my wife's four-book Orwell omnibus, so while I wanted to reread Nineteen Eighty-Four, I decided to read it from the beginning. I'd also read Animal Farm a long time ago, but the two other books I'd never read.
Animal Farm is quickly read, but that doesn't diminish its importance. As a fable, it's not difficult to see how it warns against Stalinism.
Burmese Days deals with an English civil servent in the interwar period. It's Orwell's first book, and not particularly memorable.
Apparently Orwell denounced A Clergyman's Daughter, or was at least so dissatisfied with it that he didn't want it reprinted. Apart from a very annoying chapter written in dramatic form, it still strikes me as far more memorable than Burmese Days, even though the backbone centers around a fairly unbelievable plot device common to the time the book was written.
In any case, I usually try to avoid reading works by the same author too close together, as sometimes they may run together in my memory. Thus, I decided to read the omnibus cover to cover, but space out each work by at least a year. This does mean that my memory of Burmese Days is more hazy than of A Clergyman's Daughter, but on the other hand, they still stand out in my recollection as two distinct works.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is as bleak and quotable as I remember. It's funny how many phrases spoken by Annie Lennox on the soundrack album that are direct quotes from the book, but ultimately, a single quote sums it up:
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - for ever."Doubleplusgood.
August 10, 2011
There's no denying Orwell's ability to tell a good story and these are all classic novels but they all suffer from having a fairly grim subtext about human nature and foibles. Orwell went to Eton, spent some time in the Burmese police force when it was part of the British Empire and wrote about down and outs in the depression by living among them. You have to admire his commitment and there was some truth in his message but he was certainly always politically motivated (George Orwell aka Eric Arthur Blair was an old school Socialist) - but as to whether you'll enjoy these novels is a matter of taste - one for the socio-political realists among you. Not big on laughs!
September 11, 2009
... sad ending!
But I like the over-all feeling//philosophy!
I live in East Berlin.
I *still* deal with the effects of 2+2 equaling 5 every day. Not good.
But I like the over-all feeling//philosophy!
I live in East Berlin.
I *still* deal with the effects of 2+2 equaling 5 every day. Not good.
August 1, 2007
My absolute favorite was A Clergyman's Daughter. Animal Farm and 1984 were great too, but ACD was superlatively so. (Surprisingly, I could not get into Burmese Days. I'm not quite sure why this is so.)
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March 31, 2009ebook,fiction
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews