GOOD BAD BOOKS

by George Orwell

"Collected Essays" by George Orwell is a collection of essays that reflect Orwell's thoughts on a wide range of topics, including politics, literature, and culture. The collection includes some of Orwell's most famous essays, such as "Politics and the English Language" and "Shooting an Elephant." These essays are known for their clarity of expression and their insightful critiques of political and social systems. Orwell's essays are characterized by his commitment to social justice and his belief in the power of language to shape our understanding of the world. He is critical of authoritarianism and totalitarianism, and his essays often address the ways in which language can be used to manipulate and control people. Overall, "Collected Essays" is a rich and thought-provoking collection that provides insight into Orwell's views on a wide range of topics. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in political and cultural criticism, as well as for fans of Orwell's writing.

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Published November 2, 1945

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

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The existence of good bad literature – the fact that one can be amused or excited or even moved by a book that one’s intellect simply refuses to take seriously – is a reminder that art is not the same thing as cerebration.

[Dezky Oka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection brings together several of Orwell’s most prominent essays. The compiler claims in the preface to reveal “another side” of Orwell, but ironically, it only made me admire him even more. I guess that’s how Orwell rolls—he’s like that artist you dig deeper into, only to discover you love them more than you initially thought you would.

My takes on some of the essay

— Good Bad Books


This is the only essay where Orwell sounds borderline pretentious. He argues that exhibitionism and self-pity are poisonous traits for any novelist. It’s like he’s saying, “Look, folks, if you’re busy wallowing in your own misery while writing, you might be doomed before you even start.”

— Why I Write

Here, Orwell shares his personal journey—how he became the writer we know today. The key message? Embrace who you are if you want to become a writer. It’s basically a “know thyself” pep talk, but with Orwell’s dry wit thrown in for good measure.

— Confessions of a Book Reviewer

Orwell shows how everyday mundaneness can stifle our creativity. It’s like he’s telling us to shield our artistic spark from the daily grind. In other words, get rid of those distractions or they’ll eat your muse for breakfast.

— The Prevention of Literature

Censorship is the ultimate villain for anyone who values freedom. The real plot twist? Sometimes, the gatekeepers of censorship are people you’d least expect. It’s a friendly reminder that you shouldn’t trust everyone with your favorite pen.

— The Freedom of the Press

Intellectual cowardice is the worst enemy for writers and journalists. If you’re afraid to speak the truth, Orwell suggests you might be better off not speaking at all. It’s harsh, but hey—so is reality.

— Politics and the English Language

I believe this essay gave birth to 1984. Orwell explains how language can be politicized and used as a weapon. Basically, if you control the dictionary, you can control the masses. It’s like an OG version of “fake news.”

— How the Poor Die

Possibly the origins of Room 101, this essay is unsettling, showing the bleak reality of hospitals for the poor. If you ever thought your last ER visit was bad, this will make you count your blessings.

— The Politics of Starvation

Food can be used as a political weapon. Everything goes downhill when starvation and misfortune collide. It’s a chilling reminder that when the fridge is empty, bad stuff happens—and it happens fast.

[ Final Takeaways ]

A wise person once said: “The more you know someone, the more you’ll either love them or hate them.” With Orwell, the more I read, the more I’m inclined to love him—or at least respect him. And yet, I still have this nagging desire to find that one angle that’ll make me hate him. Maybe I just like the challenge.

Until then, I’ll keep digging deeper into Orwell’s work, hoping to see the side of him that’s less appealing—if it even exists.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Bad Books by George Orwell is the twenty fourth of The Essays that are placed on the 917th spot on The Greatest Books of All Time site, where an algorithm changes the places of the compilation, I don’t know what data is used, but if it takes into account the ‘reading public’, then the chefs d’oeuvre will descend from the top spots, and the likes of The Da Vinci Code will dominate the front rows, and they will become the “GOAT” – nevertheless, you have more than five thousand reviews on books from the aforementioned site and others, with notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other lists waiting for you on my blog and YouTube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...



10 out of 10

The Essays of Geroge Orwell https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... have been mesmerizing, and what is more, I find that I agree with the author on most, if not all things, from his take on Dali to his defense of Wodehouse, and now he has a marvelous few lines on Good Bad Books aka:

“what Chesterton called the “good bad book”: that is, the kind of book that has no literary pretensions but which remains readable when more serious productions have perished’ - the first few books mentioned are unknown to me, expect for Tarkington https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
Then we have some other titles and then we read: “like Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy – gains something from the clumsy long-winded manner in which it is written; detail is piled on detail, with almost no attempt at selection, and in the process an effect of terrible, grinding cruelty is slowly built up”

Nevertheless, An American Tragedy is 183rd on The Greatest Books of All Time site, as high as sixteenth on The Modern Library Best 100 list, and what is even more important for the purpose of this note, paramount actually, I have read the book and enjoyed, even liked the film https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... based on the chef d’oeuvre
Perhaps I should not have gone so far and call it a magnum opus, still, I was even thinking of reading it again, now that Orwell speaks of detail piled on detail, and then we look at the size of it, it seems unlikely, at least for the moment to make a new start with what is an audiobook with more than twenty hours of listening

‘Exhibitionism and self-pity are the bane of the novelist, and yet if he is too frightened of them his creative gift may suffer. The existence of good bad literature – the fact that one can be amused or excited or even moved by a book that one’s intellect simply refuses to take seriously – is a reminder that art is not the same thing as cerebration.’ How excellent these statements are! And then there is so much more and splendid analysis:

“How about Sherlock Holmes, Vice Versa, Dracula, Helen’s Babies or King Solomon’s Mines? All of these are definitely absurd books, books which one is more inclined to laugh at than with, and which were hardly taken seriously even by their authors; yet they have survived, and will probably continue to do so. All one can say is that, while civilization remains such that one needs distraction from time to time, “light” literature has its appointed place; also, that there is such a thing as sheer skill, or native grace, which may have more survival value than erudition or intellectual power”
It is so fabulous to see that, again, I feel validated by George Orwell in that I also do not respect the above titles, even as we see them on various lists, one would be The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, Dracula is one book I have had enough of…

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…’

[Ke · Rating 2 out of 5]

阅读体验差的原因是文章提到的作者大多都不认识，还有很多课业要补。争取早日读完Uncle Tom's Cabin.

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5 stars*

In 1945, George Orwell was commissioned by a publisher to write an introduction for a reprint of a novel by Leonard Merrick.

He relates to the type of book which we hardly seem to produce in these days, but which flowered with great richness in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and what G.K. Chesterton called the "good bad book": which Chesterton defined as “the kind of book that has no literary pretensions, but which remains readable when more serious productions have perished”.

Orwell says his own supreme example of a “good bad book” is Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and goes on to say that (it is an unintentionally ludicrous book, full of preposterous melodramatic incidents; it is also deeply moving and essentially true; it is hard to say which quality outweighs the other).

For me, not one of Orwell’s better essays.