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رسائل جورج أورويل
تميل خطابات أورويل إلى أن تكون عملية. ينطبق هذا على رسائله لأصدقائه بمثلما ينسحب على مراسلاته مع وكلائه الأدبيين، إذ يعتذر سريعًا إذا ما تأخر في تنفيذ واجباته أو أهمل بعض المجاملات الاجتماعية، حتى رسائله إلى إلينور جاك وبريندا سالكلد وليديا جاكسون، فقد كان ينقصها التحبب، على الرغم من رغبته الجلية في إنشاء علاقاتٍ غرامية معهن.
حزن كثيرًا لوفات إيلين ووالده وأمه وأخته مارجوري، لكنه كان متحفظًا بشأن التعبير عن ألمه، وهذه ليست بالضرورة دلالة على بروده، ولكنها الطريقة التي تربى عليها هؤلاء الذين وُلدوا بظروفٍ صعبة تشبه ظروف أورويل، هم ممن تجبرهم الحياة على أن لا يُظهروا ضعفهم أو حزنهم لأحد، أو بشكل علني على الأقل. يعتقد أورويل أن الألم والمعاناة نسبيان، حيث أن المأساة نفسها تؤثر على الناس بصورٍ وأشكالٍ مختلفة. لقد عاصر حربين عالميتين طاحنتين أدتا لمقتل أكثر من مائة مليون إنسان، وظلت أشباح هذه الفجيعة مخيمة في خياله، مما انعكس على رؤاه وكتاباته، وطباعه أيضًا.
يُمكن لأحدهم أن يصف أورويل بالعناد والصرامة، وقد شبهه أحد أصدقائه بشخصية من إحدى رواياته، وهي شخصية الحمار في "مزرعة الحيوان"، على الرغم من ذلك يذكر الصحفي ديفيد أستور أنه عندما يكون مكتئبًا أو مضطربًا، فإنه يهاتف أورويل ملتمسًا مقابلته في حانة محلية، لأنه يعرف أن أورويل سيُضحكه ويسليه ويشجعه. يمكن للمرء أن ينسب هذه الصرامة إلى الأوضاع المالية، فقد كان أورويل مفلسًا في كثير من الأحيان.
حزن كثيرًا لوفات إيلين ووالده وأمه وأخته مارجوري، لكنه كان متحفظًا بشأن التعبير عن ألمه، وهذه ليست بالضرورة دلالة على بروده، ولكنها الطريقة التي تربى عليها هؤلاء الذين وُلدوا بظروفٍ صعبة تشبه ظروف أورويل، هم ممن تجبرهم الحياة على أن لا يُظهروا ضعفهم أو حزنهم لأحد، أو بشكل علني على الأقل. يعتقد أورويل أن الألم والمعاناة نسبيان، حيث أن المأساة نفسها تؤثر على الناس بصورٍ وأشكالٍ مختلفة. لقد عاصر حربين عالميتين طاحنتين أدتا لمقتل أكثر من مائة مليون إنسان، وظلت أشباح هذه الفجيعة مخيمة في خياله، مما انعكس على رؤاه وكتاباته، وطباعه أيضًا.
يُمكن لأحدهم أن يصف أورويل بالعناد والصرامة، وقد شبهه أحد أصدقائه بشخصية من إحدى رواياته، وهي شخصية الحمار في "مزرعة الحيوان"، على الرغم من ذلك يذكر الصحفي ديفيد أستور أنه عندما يكون مكتئبًا أو مضطربًا، فإنه يهاتف أورويل ملتمسًا مقابلته في حانة محلية، لأنه يعرف أن أورويل سيُضحكه ويسليه ويشجعه. يمكن للمرء أن ينسب هذه الصرامة إلى الأوضاع المالية، فقد كان أورويل مفلسًا في كثير من الأحيان.
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First published January 1, 2010
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About the author
George Orwell
1,258 books50.5k 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 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 16, 2021
على الرّغمِ من أنّني أنجزتُ حتّى الآن أكثرَ من ستّة كُتُب مُترجمة، فإنَّ هذا العَمل بالذّاتِ لهُ مكانةٌ خاصّةٌ في قلبي، ولا أظنُّ عملًا غَيرَهُ سيُنازِعُهُ عليها.
هوَ حُلمٌ سعيدٌ تحقّقَ بترجمتي رسائِلَ كاتِبٍ عظيمٍ ومُلهِمٍ أولِعتُ بهِ زمنًا (وما زِلت)، ومَعَهُ ذِكرياتٌ كثيرةٌ تفيضُ في كُلِّ صفحةٍ، وكُلّ سطرٍ وكُلّ كلمة، بل وكُلّ علامة ترقيمٍ وتشكيل، حتّى صارَ الكِتابُ كيانًا مستقلًّا جسدًا وروحًا.
فقد كانَ هذا العَمَلُ عُصارةَ جُهدٍ مُشترَك، عاضدَتني فيهِ رفيقةُ العُمر (ريما) وأثرَتهُ بمُلاحظاتٍ وإضافاتٍ كانَ الكِتابُ سيكونُ باهِتًا وناقِصًا بدونِها. فضلًا عن الرّوح الحيَّةِ التي بثَّتها فيّ، والاطمئنانِ الجميلِ الذي ألهمَتنيه، حتّى تمّت التّرجمَةُ بأبهى حُلّة.
ها قد وصَلَ الكِتابُ اليوم، ووصلَ معهُ ابتهاجٌ جميلٌ ورِضا.
فشُكرًا لكُلّ من جمَّلَهُ وأخرجَهُ للحياة: رفيقتي ريما،
و جورج أورويل،
ودار المدى
كُلّ الحُبّ.
🌺❤
هوَ حُلمٌ سعيدٌ تحقّقَ بترجمتي رسائِلَ كاتِبٍ عظيمٍ ومُلهِمٍ أولِعتُ بهِ زمنًا (وما زِلت)، ومَعَهُ ذِكرياتٌ كثيرةٌ تفيضُ في كُلِّ صفحةٍ، وكُلّ سطرٍ وكُلّ كلمة، بل وكُلّ علامة ترقيمٍ وتشكيل، حتّى صارَ الكِتابُ كيانًا مستقلًّا جسدًا وروحًا.
فقد كانَ هذا العَمَلُ عُصارةَ جُهدٍ مُشترَك، عاضدَتني فيهِ رفيقةُ العُمر (ريما) وأثرَتهُ بمُلاحظاتٍ وإضافاتٍ كانَ الكِتابُ سيكونُ باهِتًا وناقِصًا بدونِها. فضلًا عن الرّوح الحيَّةِ التي بثَّتها فيّ، والاطمئنانِ الجميلِ الذي ألهمَتنيه، حتّى تمّت التّرجمَةُ بأبهى حُلّة.
ها قد وصَلَ الكِتابُ اليوم، ووصلَ معهُ ابتهاجٌ جميلٌ ورِضا.
فشُكرًا لكُلّ من جمَّلَهُ وأخرجَهُ للحياة: رفيقتي ريما،
و جورج أورويل،
ودار المدى
كُلّ الحُبّ.
🌺❤
June 9, 2019
I love this collection of letters, I just wish I could find my copy to finish it.
Found it and finished! That only took 3.5 years in all. Might be a record for a book I’ve been actively reading.
Found it and finished! That only took 3.5 years in all. Might be a record for a book I’ve been actively reading.
November 19, 2014
Orwell led a difficult life after the Spanish Civil War. Wounded in the throat in Barcelona, he was already struggling with the tuberculosis which would kill him in 1950. His first wife died in 1944 leaving him to care for their infant son alone. Four years later he himself was hospitalized. He spent most of his last 2 years in hospital. These letters deal with how Orwell coped with these misfortunes. Bravely, I think, and also hopefully right up to the end. The personal letters describe matter-of-factly and uncomplainingly the difficulties of health and raising a toddler in ration-plagued postwar Britain. He made the best of it. If he never wrote figuratively or poetically, he never wrote angrily or dejectedly, either.
What Orwell didn't struggle with was his writing. He wrote quickly and with ease when he was healthy enough to work, and he was lucky in being able to place whatever rolled from his typewriter. Publishers waited eagerly for his novels, but finding someone to print essays and reviews was easy, too. His book deals were good to him; book clubs provided huge print runs and large sales. Partly because of all this his letters reveal little friction with publishers and editors. With peers, either, though there are few letters to fellow writers. Arthur Koestler and Anthony Powell were his closest writer friends. For all these reasons the letters are generally peaceful, contented. The turmoil in Orwell's life was with his health.
What Orwell didn't struggle with was his writing. He wrote quickly and with ease when he was healthy enough to work, and he was lucky in being able to place whatever rolled from his typewriter. Publishers waited eagerly for his novels, but finding someone to print essays and reviews was easy, too. His book deals were good to him; book clubs provided huge print runs and large sales. Partly because of all this his letters reveal little friction with publishers and editors. With peers, either, though there are few letters to fellow writers. Arthur Koestler and Anthony Powell were his closest writer friends. For all these reasons the letters are generally peaceful, contented. The turmoil in Orwell's life was with his health.
March 2, 2018
Born at the start of the 20th century, George Orwell was a complex character who lived through tumultuous times. He was foremost among the great intellectual writers and thinkers of his day, renowned for tackling issues like poverty, totalitarianism and the surveillance state, and is today most widely remembered for his novels:
Animal Farm
and Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Throughout his life Orwell was a great letter writer. Fortunately for us, many recipients saved his correspondence, thus enabling Professor Peter Davison, an ex-president of the Bibliographical Society, to select and annotate an extensive assortment from private collections.
Orwell didn't write an autobiography, and he wasn't at all keen on the thought of a biographer poking around in his life, so this volume from Penguin Modern Classics, along with The Orwell Diaries (published in 2009), has been of great significance to Orwellian scholars and historians of the period.
As a correspondent he was inclined to be formal, even when writing to friends, and he went to great trouble always to reply to everyone, even during times of ill health - often composing complicated missives to people he barely knew.
Some of his comments seem eerily pertinent to modern anxieties, such as those over fake news and unprincipled media magnates:
Orwell lost his long-running battle with tuberculosis on 21st January 1950. However, his insightful essays, polemical journalism and often controversial fiction has continued to stimulate debate and enthral each fresh generation up to the present day. This collection of his letters offers an absorbing insight into the thoughts of an intensely private man.
Throughout his life Orwell was a great letter writer. Fortunately for us, many recipients saved his correspondence, thus enabling Professor Peter Davison, an ex-president of the Bibliographical Society, to select and annotate an extensive assortment from private collections.
Orwell didn't write an autobiography, and he wasn't at all keen on the thought of a biographer poking around in his life, so this volume from Penguin Modern Classics, along with The Orwell Diaries (published in 2009), has been of great significance to Orwellian scholars and historians of the period.
As a correspondent he was inclined to be formal, even when writing to friends, and he went to great trouble always to reply to everyone, even during times of ill health - often composing complicated missives to people he barely knew.
Some of his comments seem eerily pertinent to modern anxieties, such as those over fake news and unprincipled media magnates:
“...the most elementary respect for truthfulness is breaking down, not merely in the Communist and Fascist press, but in the bourgeois liberal press which still pays lip-service to the old traditions of journalism. It gives one the feeling that our civilization is going down into a sort of mist of lies where it will be impossible ever to find out the truth about anything.”While this collection is undoubtedly compelling to Orwell enthusiasts (myself included), it will perhaps be less fascinating to those with only a passing interest in the man and his works. If you count yourself among the latter, I would suggest you read Jeffrey Meyers' authoritative 2001 biography, Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation, which is both readable and well-researched. After which, you may well decide to move on to the Letters and Diaries.
Letter to Charles Doran, 26th November 1938
Orwell lost his long-running battle with tuberculosis on 21st January 1950. However, his insightful essays, polemical journalism and often controversial fiction has continued to stimulate debate and enthral each fresh generation up to the present day. This collection of his letters offers an absorbing insight into the thoughts of an intensely private man.
“I always disagree […] when people end by saying that we can only combat Communism, Fascism or what-not if we develop an equal fanaticism. It appears to me that one defeats the fanatic precisely by not being a fanatic oneself, but on the contrary by using one's intelligence.”You can read more of my reviews at Book Jotter >>
Letter to Sir Richard Rees, 3rd March 1949
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November 26, 2016There's not much here that isn't in the Collected Letters, Essays and Journalism, but enough that I'm glad I read it. Dear Orwell, always a joy to spend some time with him.
August 27, 2022
اقل شي نقدمه للكاتب الذي احبنناه ان نقراء له ابسط الاشياء ، ممنون للكاتب لن اضاف لوجودي الكثير ،
وشكرا على المجهود للترجمة والنشر كانت جدا قيمة
وشكرا على المجهود للترجمة والنشر كانت جدا قيمة
March 9, 2011
Am I a member of the youngest generation still to think of Orwell as the ideal person to be? I don't hear it from anyone younger. And now this wonderful gives me more reason to idealize him - he's so much what I just miss being. He is the the man who could write to a girl who was engaged to a friend: "Dear Eleanor, it was so nice of you to say that you looked back to your days with me with pleasure. I hope you will let me make love to you again some time, but if you don't it doesn't matter." That's so me!
And his first wife, who is explaining to a girlfriend her relationship with Orwell's C.O. in Spain, "Georges," who had had an awfully big crush on her. It was really awkward: "The last time I saw him he was in jail waiting, as we were both confident, to be shot [by the Commmies], and I simply couldn't explain to him again as a kind of farewell that he could never be a rival to George. So he has rotted in a filthy prison for more than six months with nothing to do but remember me in my most pliant moments." That's so Elizabeth!
And has anyone ever said this so clearly: "What sickens me about left-wing people, especially the intellectuals, is their utter ignorance of the way things actually happen."
This is the kind of book I have to slow myself down in reading - I know it will be over all too soon.
And his first wife, who is explaining to a girlfriend her relationship with Orwell's C.O. in Spain, "Georges," who had had an awfully big crush on her. It was really awkward: "The last time I saw him he was in jail waiting, as we were both confident, to be shot [by the Commmies], and I simply couldn't explain to him again as a kind of farewell that he could never be a rival to George. So he has rotted in a filthy prison for more than six months with nothing to do but remember me in my most pliant moments." That's so Elizabeth!
And has anyone ever said this so clearly: "What sickens me about left-wing people, especially the intellectuals, is their utter ignorance of the way things actually happen."
This is the kind of book I have to slow myself down in reading - I know it will be over all too soon.
July 10, 2021
This is an excellent collection of Orwell's letters and is absolutely necessary for those of us who can either not find or afford the 20 volume Complete Orwell, which was in print in the US very fleetingly 20 years ago and which now commands insane prices in the used book market, when the volumes can be found at all. Peter Davison, editor of the complete works, has done a great job selecting letters from the 1700 that are known to exist and surrounding them with useful information, including short bios of many of the people Orwell was corresponding with or mentioning. Best of all, there are a number of letters from Orwell's wife Eileen. Eileen is often a remarkably shadowy figure in the many biographies of her husband, but here she has a chance to speak for herself, and it's fascinating.
A must-have for those interested in this wonderful and often contradictory man.
A must-have for those interested in this wonderful and often contradictory man.
November 26, 2017
Letters are so great. Too bad that for the most part they are a thing of the past.
March 8, 2020
Fascinating account of the day to day matters concerning his life during numerous conflicts of the first half of the 20th Century.
January 18, 2020
"I have very little physical jealousy. I don’t much care who sleeps with whom, it seems to me what matters is being faithful in an
emotional and intellectual sense."
-- George Orwell (1903 - 1950), in a letter to Anne Popham
18 April 1946
"I wonder who your young man is now ?
I have thought of you so often—have you thought about me, I wonder ? I know it’s indiscreet to write such things in letters, but you’ll be clever & burn this, won’t you ?"
-- George Orwell (1903 - 1950), in a letter to Lydia Jackson
1 March 1939
"You asked me what attracted me to you in the first place. You are very beautiful, as no doubt you well know, but that wasn’t quite all. I do so want someone who will share what is left of my life, and my work. It isn’t so much a question of someone to sleep with, though of course I want that too, sometimes "
-- George Orwell (1903 - 1950), in a letter to Anne Popham
18 April 1946
emotional and intellectual sense."
-- George Orwell (1903 - 1950), in a letter to Anne Popham
18 April 1946
"I wonder who your young man is now ?
I have thought of you so often—have you thought about me, I wonder ? I know it’s indiscreet to write such things in letters, but you’ll be clever & burn this, won’t you ?"
-- George Orwell (1903 - 1950), in a letter to Lydia Jackson
1 March 1939
"You asked me what attracted me to you in the first place. You are very beautiful, as no doubt you well know, but that wasn’t quite all. I do so want someone who will share what is left of my life, and my work. It isn’t so much a question of someone to sleep with, though of course I want that too, sometimes "
-- George Orwell (1903 - 1950), in a letter to Anne Popham
18 April 1946
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April 16, 2014"In distilling the 1,700 letters written by Orwell, Davison set himself two goals: the letters should illustrate his life and hopes, and “each should be of interest in its own right.” This volume admirably fulfills this twofold mission; it is a tribute to Davison’s decades-long scholarship on Orwell’s life." - Daniel P. King, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
This book was reviewed in the March 2014 issue of World Literature Today. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/1npip3G
This book was reviewed in the March 2014 issue of World Literature Today. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/1npip3G
November 18, 2013
"Quanto a comer em restaurantes, é o hábito mais bárbaro e só tolerável, muito ocasionalmente, quando se bebe o suficiente para apreciar a barbárie. E não consigo beber cerveja suficiente". (Página 272)
February 18, 2018
a wonderful book
August 22, 2024
الكتاب موجه الى محبين ادب الرسائل والمهتمين بحياة الكاتب والروائي جورج اورويل ولمعرفة حياته الشخصية المختلفة عن الروايات، ولمعرفة البيئة التي كُتب فيها احد اعظم الروايات
October 16, 2017
George Orwell fora um p*ta escritor!
E Vida em Cartas só comprova isto; já que mesmo as suas pequenas cartas, conseguem mostrar um domínio da escrita e da literatura, que não é qualquer escritor que possui.
Além de acompanhar uma grande parte da vida de Orwell, e ver cada problema pelo quais passara durante a vida, também vemos como ele era a representação de uma pessoa boa, e olhe que não compartilho de quase nenhuma visão dele.
Este livro é recomendado à todos pelo conjunto de fatores que o abrange!
E Vida em Cartas só comprova isto; já que mesmo as suas pequenas cartas, conseguem mostrar um domínio da escrita e da literatura, que não é qualquer escritor que possui.
Além de acompanhar uma grande parte da vida de Orwell, e ver cada problema pelo quais passara durante a vida, também vemos como ele era a representação de uma pessoa boa, e olhe que não compartilho de quase nenhuma visão dele.
Este livro é recomendado à todos pelo conjunto de fatores que o abrange!
June 3, 2017
A strange book to read in many ways because it is so different from the Orwell we know. It's really a life in letters of Eric Blair.
October 14, 2016
For a long time while I read this I was considering saying in my inevitable detailed review that it should have been named 'George Orwell: How Nineteen Eighty-Four was Inspired' and honestly - while I do still think that's true, it is a little unfair, and I can admit that. This is a very interesting book, especially for a big Orwell fan. Which is good, because only a big Orwell fan would bother reading this at all. I mean, honestly, what casual reader reads a collection of letters?
On the Amazon page for this book there is the quote "In distilling the 1,700 letters written by Orwell, Davison set himself two goals: the letters should illustrate his life and hopes, and “each should be of interest in its own right.” This volume admirably fulfills this twofold mission; ..." - Daniel P. King. I don't know who Daniel P King is, so I don't exactly mind disagreeing with him that this book 'admirably fufills' being both illustrative of his life and hopes and should be interesting. Some letters on this book are not interesting, and I really wonder why they were included. Especially toward the end of Orwell's life, the potato patch at his house in Jura, and then his illness as he was dying at the sanatorium, and that Richard (Orwell's son) was 'backward' in speech are gone over in letter after letter in some bits of the book. Honestly, they are quite boring, and I found myself skimming the letters written to Orwell, or about Orwell written by other people. Maybe because Orwell himself and his political and literary comments were the reason I picked it up, but I couldn't find much patience for letters from friends to other friends saying 'Oh, saw Orwell today and he looked sick' - I know. Orwell himself has already said that, the point did not need to be illustrated more.
I'm honestly not even sure why some of those letters are even there. Saying that though, some of them help along the 'narrative' of Orwell's life. Others are also very interesting. I paid very close attention to the last letter Eileen Blair wrote as she was dying. That was heart breaking, and showed both her and Orwell's turbulent but also loving relationship as it is in rather uncompromising terms. It was hard to read at times.
Also hard to read are some of the letters in which Orwell lays his faults as a human being bare. Including the confession (shocking to me I must admit) that he cheated on his wife and that there were times they were 'bad' as a couple. There is also the revelation that Orwell attempted to sexually impose himself on one of his childhood friends, Jacintha. Also these letters make it very clear how much of a ... bloody weirdo Orwell actually was. I mean, the story about when he slept in a farmer's field because he got off a bus not knowing how he'd go the rest of the way with the money he had? What the heck was that!?
But those are just side things. The Orwell fan isn't going to learn a lot from this book about Orwell's novels (other than Nineteen Eighty-Four) they didn't know already. The writing of most of his books before Coming Up for Air are basically just glossed over, while Orwell seemed quite fond of Burmese Days later in life. The writing of A Clergyman's Daughter gets only a page or two, and it and Keep the Aspidistra Flying (a novel I actually really like) Orwell trashes.
The focus of this book is on Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, and I suppose that makes sense since they are the really famous ones. About those books, this book is practically indispensable. I feel like an idiot for not connecting the pigs taking the apple reserves with the strikes at Kronstadt - it makes perfect sense now, but before this book I just did not think of it. I'm an idiot. Also interesting are details about what inspired the borders of the Superstates in Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the April I think inspired the first line of that most famous novel. If you want a deeper understanding of Nineteen Eighty-Four, this is the book for you.
Orwell said in one of his essays that you should never trust an autobiography if it does not reveal something shocking or scandalous. This book certainly did. And for a man so interested and passionate about defending free expression and free thought, Orwell compiled a list of people who he thought were sympathetic to the Soviet Union - that and his thoughts on pacifism which I personally agree with are more than a little combative. I know why he did and said both these things, and it reveals he was a much more complex person than some of his fans and enemies would like to think he was.
If you are interested in Nineteen Eighty-Four you should buy this book immediately. If you are interested in Orwell you should get this book. If you are interested in neither, why are you reading this review?
On the Amazon page for this book there is the quote "In distilling the 1,700 letters written by Orwell, Davison set himself two goals: the letters should illustrate his life and hopes, and “each should be of interest in its own right.” This volume admirably fulfills this twofold mission; ..." - Daniel P. King. I don't know who Daniel P King is, so I don't exactly mind disagreeing with him that this book 'admirably fufills' being both illustrative of his life and hopes and should be interesting. Some letters on this book are not interesting, and I really wonder why they were included. Especially toward the end of Orwell's life, the potato patch at his house in Jura, and then his illness as he was dying at the sanatorium, and that Richard (Orwell's son) was 'backward' in speech are gone over in letter after letter in some bits of the book. Honestly, they are quite boring, and I found myself skimming the letters written to Orwell, or about Orwell written by other people. Maybe because Orwell himself and his political and literary comments were the reason I picked it up, but I couldn't find much patience for letters from friends to other friends saying 'Oh, saw Orwell today and he looked sick' - I know. Orwell himself has already said that, the point did not need to be illustrated more.
I'm honestly not even sure why some of those letters are even there. Saying that though, some of them help along the 'narrative' of Orwell's life. Others are also very interesting. I paid very close attention to the last letter Eileen Blair wrote as she was dying. That was heart breaking, and showed both her and Orwell's turbulent but also loving relationship as it is in rather uncompromising terms. It was hard to read at times.
Also hard to read are some of the letters in which Orwell lays his faults as a human being bare. Including the confession (shocking to me I must admit) that he cheated on his wife and that there were times they were 'bad' as a couple. There is also the revelation that Orwell attempted to sexually impose himself on one of his childhood friends, Jacintha. Also these letters make it very clear how much of a ... bloody weirdo Orwell actually was. I mean, the story about when he slept in a farmer's field because he got off a bus not knowing how he'd go the rest of the way with the money he had? What the heck was that!?
But those are just side things. The Orwell fan isn't going to learn a lot from this book about Orwell's novels (other than Nineteen Eighty-Four) they didn't know already. The writing of most of his books before Coming Up for Air are basically just glossed over, while Orwell seemed quite fond of Burmese Days later in life. The writing of A Clergyman's Daughter gets only a page or two, and it and Keep the Aspidistra Flying (a novel I actually really like) Orwell trashes.
The focus of this book is on Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, and I suppose that makes sense since they are the really famous ones. About those books, this book is practically indispensable. I feel like an idiot for not connecting the pigs taking the apple reserves with the strikes at Kronstadt - it makes perfect sense now, but before this book I just did not think of it. I'm an idiot. Also interesting are details about what inspired the borders of the Superstates in Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the April I think inspired the first line of that most famous novel. If you want a deeper understanding of Nineteen Eighty-Four, this is the book for you.
Orwell said in one of his essays that you should never trust an autobiography if it does not reveal something shocking or scandalous. This book certainly did. And for a man so interested and passionate about defending free expression and free thought, Orwell compiled a list of people who he thought were sympathetic to the Soviet Union - that and his thoughts on pacifism which I personally agree with are more than a little combative. I know why he did and said both these things, and it reveals he was a much more complex person than some of his fans and enemies would like to think he was.
If you are interested in Nineteen Eighty-Four you should buy this book immediately. If you are interested in Orwell you should get this book. If you are interested in neither, why are you reading this review?
February 15, 2014
A remarkable book that sits alongside Ray Monk's "Wittgenstein" as one of the best biographical books I've ever read, even though this isn't a biography, but an edited anthology of letters. Perhaps it's indicative of Orwell, the writer, that his letters are able to express so much about himself and his period and it's not just him, there are plenty of letters written by others, most remarkable perhaps those of his first wife Eileen O'Shaughnessy. I guess a good deal of credit should go to the editor, Peter Davison, for establishing the narrative through his choice of letters and his descriptive notes.
August 22, 2015
This is an absolutely absorbing book. The selection of letters is wonderful, giving a vivid picture of Orwell's life, in his own words. In certain ways, this is the complete autobiography of Mr. Blair we never got. This is an important book for any fan of Orwell's life and work.
August 15, 2015
An excellent and intimate look at one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century. This diary chronicles Orwell's letters from his earlier years all the way on up to when he revealed to his estranged family that he was George Orwell (Eric never revealed to his family this until later).
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