A Life in Letters and Diaries

by George Orwell, Peter Hobley Davison (Editor)

A selection of George Orwell's letters and diary entries, drawn by Peter Davison from'The Complete Works of George Orwell' and 'The Lost Orwell'.

487 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Eric 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.

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving selection of Orwell’s letters and diary entries, from childhood until shortly before his death, that provide insights on his life as well as on his social and political beliefs. He is one of the most courageous and independent thinkers I have read, and it was interesting to see this reflected in his personal life. I particularly enjoyed his description of a visit to a library book discussion in Headlingley in 1936: one of the leaders of the discussion was a “very intelligent and extremely well-informed man named Creed. From his refined accent, quiet voice and apparent omniscience, I took him for a librarian.” Turns out he kept a tobacconist’s shop, but as a retired librarian, I was pleased by Orwell’s stereotyping.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very beautiful and brilliantly edited book. Through diaries and letters (both to and from), we get some insight into a very intelligent man who was a master of the written word. Many of the early letters made me smile, as they show Orwell's life experience making their way into his novels. The last 10% of the book is damn depressing, as Orwell works to complete 1984 as he is dying, while at the same time he is working on Such, Such Were the Joys, which is not nearly as important a work but which was clearly of special importance to Orwell personally.

Orwell met a great many interesting people, even before he was particularly famous or successful, which makes for interesting history.

I enjoyed Orwell grappling with viewing himself as a Socialist while, as he gets older and wiser, realizing Socialism has not worked, wondering if human nature makes Socialism's fair and ideal outcome an illusion at best and more likely a bait-and-switch for totalitarianism.

I've just seen a publication of the complete writings of Orwell at a bookshop in London. It's many-volume length is that of an encyclopedia. Orwell's prodigious output gave the editor a wealth of material to choose from and focus on. He's done an excellent job of it. My only disappointment is that there's no mention of Graham Greene. I know Orwell was no fan of Greene, but I wondered at the reaction to Greene's The Heart of the Matter which echoed Orwell's Burmese Days.

I've also finished Orwell's novels and the 5-volume Reportage. Next up: Christopher Hitchen's Why Orwell Matters, which I believe will be the final book in my Orwell period.

[Mehrnaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

هواشناسی و گیاه‌شناسی با اورول.