02 Collected Essays

The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters #2

by George Orwell

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Politics, Journalism, History, Memoir, Classics

540 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

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

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a short section in this volume where three contemporaries respond to Orwell's thoughts about pacifism, which he is against. What's most interesting about these letters that is they are borderline unreadable—boring, poorly structured, and saying nothing of emotional resonance. The main thing they accomplish is to highlight just how good Orwell's writing is. I can't say I've thought much about the topic of pacifism or that it's of high relevance to me, but when Orwell takes it on, it gains a life and meaning that few others could confer.

The same could be said about most of this volume. With few exceptions, nearly every piece is about World War II, particularly about some very niche aspects of the war: political fights and alliances between Fascists, Communists, and Pacifists; English attitudes toward Russia; the possibility of a socialist state emerging from the ashes of the war. These topics are interesting from a historical perspective, and the volume as a whole also forms a portrait of wartime England—rationing, air raids, propaganda, and the like. But what makes it valuable from the perspective of posterity is Orwell's ability to hit on some core truths about human behavior.

If there's an overarching theme in that area, it's an exploration of duality. Orwell is very interested in the concept of patriotism, framing it as a primal human reaction that can lead to narrow-mindedness and atrocities, but without which the people of England would not have been driven to fight against Hitler. He also frequently brings up the idea that the "hedonism" offered by the left leaves people cold because it cannot tap into these primal emotional drives. The passage below loses almost nothing when considered in light of today's politics. (What to do about it is another question.)

Nearly all western thought since the last war, certainly all ‘progressive’ thought, has assumed tacitly that human beings desire nothing beyond ease, security and avoidance of pain. In such a view of life there is no room, for instance, for patriotism and the military virtues. The Socialist who finds his children playing with soldiers is usually upset, but he is never able to think of a substitute for the tin soldiers; tin pacifists somehow won’t do. Hitler, because in his own joyless mind he feels it with exceptional strength, knows that human beings don’t only want comfort, safety, short working-hours, hygiene, birth-control and, in general, common sense; they also, at least intermittently, want struggle and self-sacrifice, not to mention drums, flags and loyalty-parades.

Orwell's best writing on duality occurs in the essay, 'The Art of Donald McGill." McGill is the long-forgotten creator of a certain type of vulgar humorous postcard, which Orwell finds fascinating as the expression of the base side of human nature, existing in tension with the desire for higher meaning.

I never read the proclamations of generals before battle, the speeches of fuehrers and prime ministers, the solidarity songs of public schools and left-wing political parties, national anthems, Temperance tracts, papal encyclicals and sermons against gambling and contraception, without seeming to hear in the background a chorus of raspberries from all the millions of common men to whom these high sentiments make no appeal. Nevertheless the high sentiments always win in the end, leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic. Women face childbed and the scrubbing brush, revolutionaries keep their mouths shut in the torture chamber, battleships go down with their guns still firing when their decks are awash. It is only that the other element in man, the lazy, cowardly, debt-bilking adulterer who is inside all of us, can never be suppressed altogether and needs a hearing occasionally.

In general, I find Orwell's literary and cultural criticism to be my favorite of his writings, and "The Art of Donald McGill" is one of the best of this genre. This volume also includes a few other standouts, including Orwell's essay on Kipling and an exploration of a poem called "Felix Randal."

The final long section is comprised of Orwell's wartime diaries, which are largely focused on war news from the perspective of someone already very knowledgable on the topic. To be fair, these were not written for publication, but I found them rather dull and the only weak point of this volume.

[Joachim Stoop · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 sterren!

Enig minpunt aan deze tot binge reading aansporende bundel? Dat de tien uitgekozen essays, geschreven tussen 1936 en 1948, slechts 172 bladzijden beslaan.

Nu George Orwells enorme oeuvre publiek domein is geworden, regent het vertalingen. Gelukkig maar, want hij blijft één der allergrootste romanciers, essayisten én denkers tout court. Orwell schrijft rijk over armoede, sappig over honger, tijdloos over tijdperken en toont zich even sterk in terugkijken als vooruitkijken (‘1984’!). Evengoed ondervinden we de onveranderlijkheid der dingen: ook medio 20ste eeuw werden boekverkopers al lastiggevallen met vragen over onbekende titels ‘maar met een rode kaft’, en waren boekrecensies te summier (kuch).

Of hij nu billenkoek krijgt in het jongensinternaat of als soldaat in Birma een losgeslagen olifant moet afknallen, Orwell prikt de heftigste momenten glashelder én lichtvoetig in het lezersgeheugen, onderwijl inzichten uit de losse pols schuddend. Evergreen George was tegelijk een verhalenvertellende oom waarmee je nachtenlang rond een kampvuur wilt hangen, een anti-totalitaire strijder, een tot zelfreflectie aansporende wijsgeer, een literair entertainer en een kameleon die in een wirwar aan thema’s steevast een waarachtige zoektocht ondernam naar wat was, is, wordt en hoort te zijn.

https://www.humo.be/nieuws/enig-minpu...

[Ecoute Sauvage · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most pitilessly, admirably, honest observers ever. Was early to join the now-unpopular school of thought that held Winston Churchill to be a coward (viz: Gallipoli) and a fraud (viz: loading arms on to the Lusitania, a civilian passenger ship). His integrity shines throughout.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was amazing and really interesting! Although it took me really long to finish it (6 months), I enjoyed (almost) everything about it.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Country Right or Left is the tenth among The Essays, which you find in the 917th spot on The Greatest Books of All Time site, where Nineteen Eighty Four is 6th and Animal Farm 54th, furthermore, Homage to Catalonia is among the first few hundred…however, we get from the introduction to The Essays that those could surpass the rest of the magnum opera, and we can see that there is magic in here – if you choose to visit my blog, there are more than five thousand reviews on books and films, not that this is of any relevance, it is a sort of duty though https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...



9 out of 10

I would say the ground was prepared for this in Inside The Whale, the previous essay, where George Orwell looks at writers, Henry Miller https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... James Joyce, Ferdinande Celine and quite a few more, and their attitude towards war

Henry Miller was indifferent, Inside The Wahle in the sense that he was ‘protected’, in there the whole fleet of the world could sink and you would not feel a thing, when talking about The Spanish Civil War, Miller was again aloof
He even said that one could only get there for selfish reasons, a job as reporter, but otherwise it would be stupid…there would be those who do not feel any patriotism, they have no reaction towards their flag or anything

On the other hand, we have those who scream and shout, proclaiming their love for the country, even humping the flag, like the favorite but of jokes, Orange Jesus, the pathetic leader of the free world today…
https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...

- Which shows how much we have progressed from the time of Orwell

He wrote about Big Brother https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... and now we have this danger in the once greatest democracy in the world, where they have troops on the streets
Presumably, that is to fight crime

It does not make sense to be alarmist, or engage in conspiracy theories, like MAGA types, but to have the national guard in cities controlled by the opposition looks like what they do in tyrannies, where they had caudillos in control
I have lived under Ceausescu and took part in the Revolution – there is a link in the standard ending – that deposed a dictator, Orange Jesus loves them: Putin, Kim, MBS, Erdogan, even small time Lukashenko, this is sick

- Still, we hear about him and his buddy, how good they are

The latest lecture was in…the Downtown sauna of all places
And the one giving it was…Jesus, as in Jim Caviezel, the thespian who took a beating for Mel Gibson, in The Passion of The Christ

This actor was saying that Putin is a good guy, and enormities like that.
I had to leave the sauna
It is a crazy world we live in

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence
Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

[Rene Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Orwellovy eseje nebo romány jsou mnohem lepší. V deníku se mi líbí, že sice Orwell podporuje spojence, ale pořád nás upozorňuje, že Stalin je zločinec, neidealizuje si Churchilla ani jeho válečný kabinet. A také jeho poznámky o americkém veřejném mínění nebo o složité situaci v Indii jsou zábavné. Poněkud otravné je Orwellovo předvídání a přivolávání sociální revoluce. Pro českého čtenáře může být zajímavé, jak málo je v deníku o atentátu na Heydricha.
Také si při čtení deníku uvědomíte, jak obtížné bylo i pro Orwella dostat se při své práci v BBC k čerstvým informacím o průběhu války. Na jednom místě je poznámka, že ani Churchill prý nemá dostatek informací o vývoji války v Řecku. Jaký kontrast s tím, že už první válku v Iráku streamovala CNN a válku na Ukrajině můžeme sledovat skoro v přímém přenosu. A přesto hustá fog of war přes množství dostupných informací nám stejně jako Orwellovi nedovoluje odhadnout další vývoj.

[Ivo Skopal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skvělá kniha. Skvělá! Je krásně vidět, jak moc se lidé mýlí v tom, kam se bude budoucnost vyvíjet. Jak náročné je odhadnout další vývoj světových událostí. A nezáleží na tom, jestli je člověk vzdělaný literát nebo ne.

Orwellovy deníkové zápisky z druhé světové války taky velmi zajímavým způsobem ukazují, že pro Británii byl v průběhu války zásadní vývoj ne na kontinentu, ale v Indii, na Blízkém východě a v severní Africe. Minimálně jeho záznamy o tom vypovídají.

Další část zápisků se týkala běžných každodenních věcí. Jak lidé reagují na nálety v Londýně, zda je dostatek potravin, jak se Británie připravovala na německý útok či jak válka dopadá na psychiku a pracovní výkonnost. Ze zápisků jsou jasně patrné Orwellovy levicové nálady. Očekával, že tváři v tvář válečnému strádání musí v Británii dojít k revoluci, jelikož nejbohatší část společnosti nebyla ochotna být solidární s lidem.

Jak vidíme, nebyla to jediná věc, ve které se tento výjimečný spisovatel mýlil.

Knihu doporučuji všemi deseti.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Orwell was a great thinker and a great writer. He had a tremendous memory and self deprecating wit. All of these qualities are on display here. While not as good as "Funny, But Not Vulgar," this is still an educational and often fun read.

It's important that Orwell reminds us that Nazis were Socialists, while at the same time it's difficult to read Orwell praise that Nazis' Socialism as the superior method of organizing a country. He failed to see increases in productivity come from the freedom offered in a capitalistic democracy, and he also failed to see that countries which go the route of Socialism either wake up and revert to Capitalism or they sleepwalk their way to totalitarianism.

Additionally, reading Orwell reminds us that no matter how much things change, they can stay the same. Read this quote inserting "the US" for "England" and "American" for "English." "With all its injustices, England is still the land of habeas corpus, and the overwhelming majority of English people have no experience with violence or illegality. If you have grown up in that sort of atmosphere it is not at all easy to imagine what a despotic regime is like."

Orwell's abilities as a prophet are mixed, "Almost certainly we are moving into an age of totalitarian dictatorships-an age in which freedom of thought will be at first a deadly sin and later on a meaningless abstraction."

Orwell is certainly quotable:
"One cannot see the modern world as it is unless one recognises the overwhelming strength of patriotism, national loyalty."

"Patriotism is usually stronger than class-hatred, and always stronger than any kind of internationalism."

Upon realization that every example of Socialism is handcuffed to a reduction of artistic freedom, "Totalitarianism has abolished freedom of thought to an extent unheard of in any previous age."

[Michel Schynkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek bevat een selectie uit de vele essays die Orwell gedurende zijn vrij korte, maar goed gevulde leven schreef (1903-1950). De periode die hier bestreken wordt loopt van 1936 tot 1946. Deze essays zijn niet alleen interessant als tijdsdocument, maar veel (zei het niet alle) van de gekozen topics blijken ook nog verrassend actueel. Bovendien zijn ze geschreven in een heldere en frisse taal die allesbehalve gedateerd aandoet. Schreven journalisten vandaag maar zo goed. Eén van de essays (Politiek en taal, geschreven kort na WO II) handelt trouwens expliciet over zijn ergernis aan het gebrek aan klare taal. 'Het moge duidelijk zijn dat de neergang van een taal uiteindelijk politieke en economische oorzaken heeft: het is niet simpelweg de fout van deze of gene individuele schrijver. Maar een gevolg kan een oorzaak worden, die dan op haar beurt de eerste oorzaak gaat versterken, enzovoort, enzovoort. Een mens kan beginnen drinken omdat hij zichzelf een mislukkeling vindt, maar door de drank wordt de mislukking compleet. Dat is zo ongeveer wat er aan de hand is met de taal. Ze wordt lelijk en slordig omdat onze ideeën onnozel zijn, maar de slordigheid van de taal maakt het ook weer makkelijker om onnozele ideeën te hebben.' (p.49) Dit uitgangspunt van het essay werkt Orwell vervolgens op een indrukwekkende manier uit en illustreert het met tal van goedgekozen voorbeelden.

Deze essays hebben net als de romans 'Animal farm' en 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' nog niets aan relevantie ingeboet. Visionair is een woord dat al te makkelijk wordt bovengehaald en hem volgens mij niet voldoende recht doet, omdat het te nietszeggend is. Uit deze stukken komt Orwell vooral naar voor als een schrijver die pijnlijk scherp en eerlijk was in zijn analyses. Het is volgens mij deze oprechtheid waarom we hem nog steeds graag lezen en als actueel ervaren.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did it feel to be involved in WW2? This book gives an insight into one mans war namely George Orwell. He of course is not an average or neutral observer but to have have someones reactions recorded as they occurred is always more interesting than hindsight or hearsay.
Orwell's essays are an absolute pleasure to read. He must be one of the best essayists in the English language. They (the essays) are an exposition of clarity and style which any writer of any kind should have as something to measure them self against.
For a man of the left who, while despising Hitler AND Stalin, also was no apologist for the British Empire, Orwell was always picking a political path that while fastidious was also quite trenchant. At one point he characterizes pacifists as fascifists.
The book gives many clues to the way his mind was working up to his masterpiece '1984'.

[Guido Everaert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes you think! Plain and simple

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second volume of Orwell’s collected works cover the period from 1940-1943. This was a time when Orwell had published several novels and made a name for himself as an investigative journalist and socialist writer, and as such there are far fewer letters to other writers and far more published opinion pieces and articles.

Given that the book covers the opening years of World War II, when Orwell was living in London, I was disappointed to find that surprisingly little of the book involved the war – even when bombs must have been raining down around him during the Blitz, he was still writing book reviews and discussing poetry and the state of contemporary literature. When the war was discussed, it was in political terms, without any of the personal angle which I preferred in his earlier writing, such as Down and Out In Paris And London or Homage to Catalonia. Then, of course, I found that the book has an appendix of 100+ pages covering his war-time journals. I can understand why the editors chose not to intermingle them with the rest of the book – a lot of the diary entries contain observations and winning phrases which he’d specifically noted down for later use, so you’d end up with too much repetition – but if I’d known it was there beforehand I probably would have chosen to read the diaries alongside the rest of the book, just for chronological continuity.

In any case, the war-time journals themselves are one of the best parts of the book – I always love Orwell, but his writing is much more enjoyable when there’s a personal aspect to it. It’s fascinating to read a day-by-day (or sometime week-by-week) account of the Blitz in general, let alone coming from the pen of such a gifted and famous writer. Much of his diaries – like much of the rest of the book – consist of political observations, arguments and predictions, but there are also lots of brief fragments of feelings and impressions on the whole situation scattered throughout. The entirety of his entry for October 19, 1940:

The unspeakable depression of lighting the fires every morning with papers of a year ago, and getting glimpses of optimistic headlines as they go up in smoke.

Or an addendum to a mostly political entry on November 23:

Characteristic war-time sound, in winter: the musical tinkle of raindrops on your tin hat.

Or, amusingly, on 27 March, 1941:

Abusive letter from H.G. Wells, who addresses me as “you shit,” among other things.

The predominant thing I took away from the book as a whole – something that was also present in the first volume – was how political WWII was. As a war, it’s been completely deified by modern society. Now, I believe (as Orwell did at the time) that Nazi Germany was nonetheless in the wrong, and the Allies in the right, terms I wouldn’t use to describe any war of the past decade. But right or wrong, Orwell’s writing clearly demonstrates how overwhelmingly political any war is – the complex plotting between conservatives and liberals, right-wing and left-wing, socialists and fascists and pacifists and communists. Many of his essays and diary entries are devoted to nutting out the motives behind propaganda and political decisions, or measuring the morale of a hoodwinked public. We take it as a given that everybody in England pitched in, with stiff upper lip, to defeat the Nazis. That was never true – there were grumblings and demonstrations and people quite potently arguing that England should stay uninvolved, or even join Germany. Antisemitism was rife, sometimes even from Orwell himself, and the US soldiers stationed in the UK were deeply disliked by the locals. Perhaps half a century from now people will think the Iraq War was universally condemned, with every single person in coalition countries united against it, when in fact many supported it. It can go either way, regardless of how the war itself pans out. The only reason I thought the Iraq War was so complex and politically motivated, and that WWII wasn’t, is that I happened to be alive during the Iraq War. Historical wars settle on an accepted narrative, for better or worse. Even the Vietnam War is starting to settle into a general consensus – just not the one the US would like.

So, as always, Orwell makes me think about stuff, whether I agree with him or not. I’m very much looking forward to the next book and keeping an eye out for a hint of the Holocaust. He hasn’t mentioned anything about it yet, and I still can’t wrinkle out of Wikipedia and history books whether or not people in Allied countries knew it was happening.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Essays, Journalism and Letters of Orwell, My Country Right or Left was an interesting writing collection by George Orwell. This collection wasn’t the book wasn’t what I expected. Then the last half the book with is wartime diary was just flat out fascinating.

I won’t lie, when I read George Orwell in high school, it left a mark on me. I ate up both 1984 and Animal Farm. The critique he had on society was so interesting and dark. So I was interested in reading more from him. I requested this book off of book mooch ages ago and then it got put on my shelf and forgotten about until I moved. This seemed like one of the perfect books to read to get something a little bit more serious on my reading list this year.

One of the things that really surprised me was how interested Orwell was in both propaganda and the use of new words. I wasn’t anticipating him speaking so favorably of propaganda and in a way wanted more done by the British in the WWII. In a way it shouldn’t be so unusual. In 1984, propaganda was essential to the running of their world and the support of the military. I’m just not as convinced that propaganda is so essential and can do in essence mind control. After growing up with ads and skewed news stories everywhere, I’m skeptical by most propaganda. But I do know that the more often we characterize something as being evil, the more likely it can leave an impact.

This book also allowed me to see Orwell’s personality. He just came to life. He seemed like such a character. Someone who was so passionate about life and wanted to serve his country.

Several of the essays didn’t always impact me in the same way as I would have hoped. He would talk about political leaders and I didn’t know them. It doesn’t take long for party leaders to be forgotten in history if they weren’t fully in charge. I knew Churchill, but some of the other names, I didn’t know.

My favorite part of this book was his war diaries. Those were great. More meaningful then his letters reporting about the war. In a way it was interesting and not surprising to see how the air raids weren’t always taken seriously. Such is human nature. The talk about life and events were interesting. It showed me different views of the world which I love.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Hitler and the Nazis bombing down his door in this second volume of essays and letters, Orwell manages to still knock out a few (477 pages worth) peices on England, the War, and the potential end of literature as we know it. It's the blitz baby and George is right there taking it all down in his diary, letters and essays as he reflects on Shakespeare, the Spanish Civil War and tea. Whether you are a facist, communist or just plain British, Orwell has something to say to you.

[Patrick Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few true democratic liberals,a man with conscience,and aware always about power and how it absolutely corrupts...One of the great political thinkers. His takes on
Literature and the war are just so good.He was wrong about a few things,but right on the important stuff.

[Anthe Hollants · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Alexander Holbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pugnacious yet erudite, tough but compassionate, one of the best writers to have ever drawn breath.

[Susan Paxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I "discovered" Orwell, the four volume Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters, carefully gathered from used bookstores, were my best friends, so much so that the trade paperback copies (this one, happily, is a hardcover) are falling apart.

Unfortunately, they still are my best friends. The 20 volume Peter Davidson Complete Orwell was in print for about 60 seconds, and I don't believe ever was published in the US, so had to be gotten from the UK. I have one volume, very fortuitously found in a used bookstore. I can't afford the rest.

That doesn't make the original 4 volume set unworthy, but it is wretchedly incomplete and often censored because people Orwell was writing about were at the time still alive. This particular volume, My Country Right or Left, covering 1940-1943, has much in it that illustrates Orwell's rapid growth as a writer during the first part of the Second World War. He himself felt that much of the period was wasted, but in this volume we have jewels like The Lion and the Unicorn and essays like "New Words," "Looking Back on the Spanish War," and his classic on popular culture, "The Art of Donald McGill" (picture my reaction when I found out that an Australian airman serving in the UK was sending his girlfriend Donald McGill postcards). Also included are his London Letters to the US magazine Partisan Review and his wartime diaries through November 1942, as well as short pieces based on radio talks he was giving on the BBC India Service, letters, book reviews, etc. It's 450 pages of Orwell approaching his peak. Orwell may have thought these years were thrown away, but here we find Orwell learning how to write with speed and grace - and the first faint hints of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Very much worth having, but a poor substitute for the Complete Orwell I can't afford and feel the lack of deeply.

[Adam Bregman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As for lucid political writing, literary criticism and essays on England life, George Orwell had much to convey, all of it heavily opinionated and deftly crafted. This second in a four volume collection covers the war years of 1940-1943, beginning when Orwell was living in London and had already published all of his full-length works, aside from Animal Farm and 1984. During these years, he was in financial straits, was not able to join the army for health reasons and worked for the BBC creating radio programs for India, while surviving the blitzkrieg. At the same time, he was writing for many publications and some of those pieces were spectacular including his very long essay, The Lion & The Unicorn, of which this volume contains the unedited version. That first half about English eccentricities is really something, while the second part about the war would have been more relevant at the time it was written. While I am a devotee of all of Orwell's writing, I am particularly enraptured by some of his literary criticism and among the finest pieces in this collection are Tolstoy and Shakespeare, Mark Twain--The Licensed Jester and The Meaning of a Poem. There are many missives devoted to assailing the pacifist movement. While supporting freedom for India, Orwell was no fan of Gandhi, nor left-wing elements that supported a passive approach to Hitler (however dated and ridiculous that idea now seems). Despite that Orwell had already penned most of his significant work by this period, it's unclear that he was recognized as one of the great literary figures yet. He appears to be very much the working journalist trying to survive, while regularly producing unparalleled brilliance.

[Eko Setyo Wacono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seperti essai-essai Orwell yang pernah saya baca sebelumnya, kumpulan essai-essai dalam buku ini pun menunjukkan tingkat intelegensi Orwell sebagai seorang penulis yang mampu menuliskan sebuah essai bertema sosio-politik menjadi sangat menarik laiknya sebuah karya seni.
Ditulis dengan pengamatan yang gamblang , jujur, dan mengagumkan akan keadaan masyarakat Inggris dan eropa semasa dan setelah Perang Dunia II, tulisan-tulisan Orwell di buku ini membuat pembaca berpikir akan banyak hal, baik bagi yang setuju dengannya ataupun tidak.
Kecerdasan, kejernihan berpikir, dan kejujuran Orwell terepresentasikan dengan sangat jelas dalam tulisannya. Kalimat pendek dan bernas yang ia gunakan sangat berpengaruh, meski kadang orang-orang menganggap gaya tulisan itu membuat pengarangnya tampak arogan, tetapi Orwell mengelolanya dengan cemerlang.
Dia benar-benar membuat seni menulis politik. Selain seni dalam arti seseungguhnya dimana dalam buku ini pun ia mengulas tentang ulasan buku juga membahas puisi dan keadaan sastra kontemporer.
Benar-benar buku yang "mencerahkan" dan menegaskan bahwa manusia adalah makhluk yang (seharusnya) berpikir. Really Worth Reading.

[Jackie Carreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing the journey through the collected writings of Mr Orwell. Volume 2 is fascinating, particularly as we are now into the Second World War and Orwell's insightful and often searing views on the conflict. Interesting also to see how much history is written then read for five minutes and then disappears altogether, leaving us with such narrow views of history - unless we choose to research and study and look deeper, which most simply don't or can't. We have indeed been doomed to repeat so much. Loving this immersion into Orwell's world. These volumes are not for the faint-hearted, and will be much more interesting to fans of the novels, but I'm looking forward to discovering what Volume 3 will bring.

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press]

"While [Orwell] is best known for Animal Farm and 1984, most of his writing derived from his tireless work as a journalist, and thanks to David Godine’s welcome reissue of The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell, which has been out of print for a decade, readers can find it all in one place. All of the author’s insightful, hard-hitting essays and journalistic pieces are here…the most complete picture of the writer and man possible."
—Eric Liebetrau | Kirkus Reviews

[theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
While reading this book I found out that I'm burnt out. I don't really remember what was happening (of course I know that it's about war and all but I don't remember closer). But even tho I didn't really pay attention I finished it and I liked it.
Some parts were really sad but the book got just more personal when he was writing about Prague (I live in Czechia).
In the end I decided to reread this book when my brain will return.

[Ian Plenderleith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every aspiring writer should read Orwell - the clear, economic prose combined with his intellectual rigour and honesty render this collection readable from start to finish, even if it's just a review of some long forgotten novel or a letter to his publisher. The same applies to Volume 3. Volumes 1 and 4 are still on the shelf - I'm saving them for cloudy days.

[Krystie Herndon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I like reading letters and essays, I found this book a bit tough going. I felt like the author had written for a rather esoteric audience, that did not include me. Nevertheless, between Orwell and Muggeridge, I certainly know a lot more, than I did before, about the morale of the intelligentsia in England during World War II.

[Santiago Gonzales · Rating 3 out of 5]

To me, not as interesting as Volume 1 of Orwell's collected essays. Volume 2 understandably focuses on WWII (1940-1943). Interesting reporting of various opinions held by Brits in those days. Much emphasis on surviving the Blitz. Orwell hopes if Britain is going to suffer major setbacks than perhaps Socialism will be given a chance.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Orwell's clarity and perceptiveness never cease to amaze. "Literature and Totalitarianism," "Looking back on the Spanish War," and "The Lion and the Unicorn," each drew and interesting perspective towards the political world we currently reside.

[Djela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This shows how people can be pulled by both sides of political spectrum and that not everything is black and white.

A style of writing that is capable of making you feel like you were there, and that’s probably the best feel you can have in literature.

[Ellie Book Worm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more I read Orwell, the more I love Orwell. Evermore relevant.

[Onur]

Using this entry for the essay of the same name, not this book.