George Orwell Matters! discussion

Which essays by George Orwell have you read? And which would you like us to read as a group?

Please tell us your suggestions here, and do say if you would like to lead a future discussion of your choice :)

One of our members, Ian, has described the essays perfectly. He says:

"Orwell’s essays have really captured me, so authentic, insightful and illuminating, the mark of a great humane writer."

So which essay would you like to follow up Bookshop Memories: 1936 with?

I've just picked up and started Orwell on truth and I can't stop reading it Jean. I know I said it would be January before I got back to my usual reads however this was too tempting. Shussshhh "don't sprag me up" lol.
Sprag: To "sprag" on someone means to tell someone of higher authority that they did something bad.

I have not read any of Orwell's essays yet, so I am wholly planning to be pleasantly surprised by what people are picking :-)

I’ve read George Orwell: Essays

He’s a beautiful writer and I think I could read him writing about anything. So I will happily reread all of them!

Bionic Jean wrote: "One of our members, Ian, has described the essays perfectly. He says:

"Orwell’s essays have really captured me, so authentic, insightful and illuminating, the mark of a great humane writer."

So ..."

I'd love to re-read and then discuss his great essay - 'How the Poor Die'

would anybody else be interested?

I've read The War Commentaries and the four volume My Country Right or Left: 1940-1943,As I Please: 1943-1945, In Front of Your Nose: 1945-1950, An Age Like This: 1920-1940.

Wow lots here to go at Rosemarie! I've downloaded several "Selected Essays" collections to my kindle, so some are duplicated, but all cost only pennies.

Tracey - I've just learnt a new word now ;) Yes, I think George Orwell "speaks" so eloquently, and yet with great precision.

Tom - I'm hoping people will share their favourite individual essay titles here, as you have, so we can dip into them a month at a time :) But you could always start your own thread to discuss it, if it's in your mind right now.

Jantine and Janelle - Your enthusiasm is fantastic :)

So anyone, which is/are your personal favourite(s)? And which do you think everyone would enjoy reading?

I haven't read any of his essays and am looking forward to any that are suggested here. I have an very old, 4-volume set of his essays on my bookshelf. I've already dusted off Vol. 1 and have Bookshop Memories waiting for us to start in September.

I've read some of Orwell's early social conditions pieces; The Spike, Clink and Common Lodging Houses, plus a smattering of his well-known ones; Shooting an Elephant, A Nice Cup of Tea, and Confessions of a Book Reviewer. Plus some of his reviews, notably, Review of The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. My suggestion for a group read? In Defence of English Cooking, written in 1945, and therefore particular to the tastes and circumstances of the time, but suitable, I think, for a discussion among people from so many different parts of the globe.

Thanks Ian. That's not one I know :)

Petra - some remain as relevant as ever!

Jean, I'm looking forward to my first essay in September.

I just recently read the shooting the elephant one. It was hard, strong and disturbing. I’ve also read his Politics and the English Language which I remember as being rather fun. - )

Yes, perhaps that one should be left for a while! Your second might be a good early read for the group though, thanks Mark :)

I was having difficulty locating Orwell's essays without purchasing them until I found "The Orwell Foundation" website. His essays and other writings can be obtained here:

LINK: https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-...

You can click on each essay and read online or print them off to read another time.

AND, especially for you, Jean, and other Dickens lovers -
He wrote a very long essay, "Charles Dickens," published in 1940 in Inside the Whale and Other Essays. This essay can also be selected to be read in the above link.

I use that one too, Elizabeth A.G. - )

Thanks Elizabeth, yes as Mark says it's a useful site. In fact it's the safest, as the essays are still under copyright, but this site is approved. In fact I had linked to it for this month's essay :)

I had planned on selecting the Dickens essay for December, as it seems appropriate, and I'd put it on our shelves. But in retrospect, it feels a bit too specialised, so perhaps not so good as a group read here.

Do say if there are others you fancy!

(Edited)

Does anyone have a collection of Orwell's essays they can recommend to start with? I've really enjoyed the two group reads (plus the November one looks just my cup of tea if you'll excuse the pun!), and am keen to read more. I was looking at them on Amazon, but it was a bit confusing as there were several different editions, and in at least one case the hardback and paperback versions were completely different even though they had the same listing and all the reviews were mixed up!

An Age Like This: 1920-1940, My Country Right or Left: 1940-1943, As I Please: 1943-1945, and In Front of Your Nose: 1945-1950 is the collection of Orwell's essays, journalism and letters which is the most comprehensive. I enjoyed them all.

I went through several on kindle and found the same thing Steve! I ended up getting a few samples and then buying a cheapish one called Fifty Orwell Essays at £2.89 (this is the actual edition).

There also quite a few essays on the George Orwell website, linked to before. I don't have a hard copy, except of the novels.

Other may have their favourite editions too :)

I have the same collection as Rosemarie has. They seem very inclusive. The essays are listed by year, so the essays are easy to find because Jean lets us know the original publication date.

Thanks for all the recommendations, much appreciated!

I can see there are a number of very good ways to read George's essays. My source is the Everyman edition (#242) Essays, edited and introduced (eloquently) by John Carey. I haven't done an exact count, but there are upwards of 220 essays from 1928 to 1949, over 1361 pages. It is also just a beautifully produced volume.

Would anyone like to recommend an essay they've particularly enjoyed?

'How the poor die' 1946 - bleak but brilliant.

Thanks Tom! 1946 seems to have been a particularly good year for his writing.

Any more favourites?

Please say if there is an essay you think would make a good group read. Or talk here about another one. Thanks

“Politics and the English Language” 🙃

Yes! It fits so well with Why I Write, that it was in my mind to slate it for a couple of months after the serious one in January. Trying to alternate "moods", so that those with more depth of substance are interwoven with the more whimsical.

Thanks Mark!

Do you have a favourite essay to suggest we read with the group? Or just one you'd like to talk about here?

it's not an essay but I love Down and Out in Paris and London. Even just reading a chapter of that is so insightful.

Some of the chapters are published as essays too :) According to the George Orwell website, our current read of How the Poor Die was probably written at the same time. It does make sense, because it is set in a French hospital.

Can you pick out any chapters in particular, Laura, and we can see if they are on GR as separate texts :)

Down and Out in Paris and London sounds like such an interesting read.

will have a look at different chapters and recommend some!

Nothing recently. I hope to read some before too long.

Thanks!

We've had several essays for group reads now. I'm sure some friends will have been tempted to read "the next one" too.

So which have you read? And which did you enjoy best?

Come and tell us about them here :)

Down and Out is more substantial than the essays, but is more revealing in many ways - and may have been at the heart of Blair's later bad health.

I don't know how you could love it, as the whole is so sad and distressing.

Ken wrote: "Down and Out is more substantial than the essays, but is more revealing in many ways - and may have been at the heart of Blair's later bad health.

I don't know how you could love it, as the whole..."

This is very true Ken, in one way, but then I see that you have read it 3 times. Sometimes a work can move us so much that we can hardly bear it, and yet we can recognise its greatness. I think the work you mention hit me in a similar way when I first read it, (listened to it, actually). It was quite a while ago, and I was suddenly hit with the thought that this was not just "an author of great dystopian fiction"!

Have you read last month's essay, How the Poor Die, Ken? That has a similar feeling and was written at the same time, although published on its own later.

None in quite some time. Some time ago I and others talked about works of George Orwell.

Let's have some suggestions for a future essay to read :) Or one you really like, to talk about.

I remember Politics and the English Language being fun. - )

I agree, and it's pencilled in, Mark :) Do you have another suggestion too?

While looking through the Table of Contents of a volume of essays, I noticed the title Nonsense Poetry, which intrigued me.

I know nothing about the essay but would be interested in reading it with the group. My mind immediately goes to Edward Lear and Ogden Nash.

Petra - thanks for this! I read it, and it would be a good one. The problem is that it isn't printed as a stand-alone, so I can't get an automatic message out to everyone, only a "group message". I'll keep looking to see if it's a title essay in any collection though :)

Any more suggestions? Anyone?

Oh....Okay, Jean. I'll look for one, too.
If not, that's okay. We'll find another essay to read together.

I haven't read this one yet, but I'd like to (surprise, surprise):
Charles Dickens

It's on the long side, but available here:
https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-...

LOL Petra - someone mentioned that, but it's so l.o.n.g that it might be best approached by a different group who specialise in Charles Dickens ...

He admires Charles Dickens, but not as much as we do ;)

George Orwell wrote several essays on different authors - but I'm not sure how much appeal each one would have. It's certainly on my radar though, thanks!

How about Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool? I have not read it, but the title sounds intriguing. - )

Well it's on the GR database as a single: Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool so it's a possibility, Mark!

It seems to be a discourse on Leo Tolstoy's attack on William Shakespeare. Do you think this would have broad appeal?

I'll read it anyway :)