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George Orwell went to Spain in late 1936, in his role as a journalist, but then, pretty inevitably, put down his pen and spent the next year fighting with the P.O.U.M (Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista) Militia against the Fascist forces under Francisco Franco. Homage to Catalonia, written immediately after his return and published in 1938, tells the story of his military service with the POUM, both against the Right and the Left, and, in quick succession, of his initial hopes for the classless society that he thought he had found on first arrival, then of his disappointment with the level of disorganization of the Leftist forces and finally of his disillusionment when pro-Stalinist "allies" began attacking Socialists and Anarchists who refused to toe the Soviet line. Orwell, who by then had nearly been killed when shot through the neck in battle, and his wife were ultimately forced to flee from Spain, to avoid Stalinist security forces, which had labeled him pro-fascist. The one thing, more than any other, that makes Orwell one of the great literary and cultural figures of the 20th Century, is that it was this last fact that truly galled him. Orwell was committed to the idea of revolutionary Socialism. As he says when the security forces attack POUM: I have no particular love for the idealized 'worker'
as he appears in the bourgeois Communist's
He was fueled by an animus towards the class system which is almost incomprehensible to us Americans, but which came naturally to young British intellectuals, particularly in the wake of the First World War. Accordingly, he was not unsympathetic to the Soviet decision that they had to take over the Left in Spain; in his revolutionary heart, he could understand that such a maneuver, however brutal might eventually serve the greater cause of the Workers. No, what he could not tolerate was that the perpetrators and their fellow travelers in the Press lied about it. It is the essence of the man that being purged was tolerable, but having his political beliefs portrayed incorrectly was intolerable. Orwell's concern for honest language is easy to discern in 1984 (see Orrin's review) and Animal Farm (see Orrin's review) once you know to look for it, but it is first evident here. He recognized early on that one of the ways in which dictators would attack freedom was to degrade the language and by cheapening the meaning of words, deaden the emotional reaction of the citizenry to events. Prescient in so many ways, Orwell was never more correct than when he made this connection between the integrity of language and the integrity of the men using it. One can only imagine a profile of Bill Clinton as written by Orwell. The Spanish Civil War is second only to the Hitler/Stalin pact as a dividing line between mere Left-Wingers and genuine Communists. It was here that the true nature of the Soviet Union first intruded itself upon the public consciousness to such a degree that its defenders truly had to be considered apologists, not simply naive do-gooders. Orwell, objective and honest as always, wrote only about what he saw, so his portrayal of events is necessarily incomplete and, writing while the conflict was still going on, he was not able to form the really harsh judgments that our historical perspective allows us to make. But it is to his great good credit that he wrote what he did and when he did. Many of his brethren on the Left refused to do so for fear of hurting "the cause". Orwell chose to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may; for that alone he should be celebrated. (Reviewed:) Grade: (A) Tweet Websites:See also:George Orwell (6 books reviewed)Conservative Thought Intercollegiate Studies Institute Fifty BEST Books of the Century Modern Library Top 100 Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century National Review's List of the Top 100 Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century -George Orwell (1903-1950) - pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair (kirjasto) -NET GUIDE: GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950) (The Guardian) -George Orwell Essays and Reviews (Gaslight) -ETEXT: 1984 -ETEXT: Animal Farm -EXCERPT: Barcelona, 1938 from Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell. -ETEXT: Articles by Orwell (Charles) -ETEXT: Shooting an Elephant -REVIEW: of Drums under the Windows by Sean O'Casey (George Orwell, 28 October 1945, The Observer) -ETEXT: Reflections on Gandhi (1949) -ETEXT: 'A Nice Cup of Tea' by George Orwell -ETEXT: Politics and the English Language BY George Orwell -ETEXT: The Prevention of Literature (1946) -ETEXT: You and the Atomic Bomb by George Orwell -ETEXT: Notes on Nationalism (May 1945) -ETEXT: Why I Write (1947) -LINKS: Charles' George Orwell Links -ARCHIVES : "orwell" (NY Review of Books) -George Orwell Links (K-1) -George Orwell (Essays, Biblio, etc.) -George Orwell (Chestnut Tree Cafe) -George Orwell (Spartacus Educational Home Page) -The Orwell Reader -the Internet Public Library: Online Literary Criticism Collection: George Orwell (1903 - 1950) -ARTICLE : ORWELL RADIO SCRIPTS AND LETTERS FOUND (JUSTINE DE LACY, June 12, 1984, NY Times) -ETEXT: George Orwell: A Life by Bernard Crick -TRIBUTE: A Seer's Blind Spots: On George Orwell's 100th, a Look at a Flawed and Fascinating Writer (Glenn Frankel, June 25, 2003, Washington Post) -ESSAY: Orwell Up Close: On the 100th anniversary of his birth, a clutch of new biographies explores the wintry genius of George Orwell - a hero claimed by left and right (DONALD MORRISON, June 30, 2003, TIME Europe) -ESSAY: Blacklisted writer says illness clouded Orwell's judgement: Survivor tells Guardian that author was 'losing his grip' (Fiachra Gibbons, June 24, 2003, The Guardian) -ESSAY: The Road to Oceania (WILLIAM GIBSON, June 25, 2003, NY Times) -ESSAY: Introduction to 1984: The road to 1984: George Orwell's final novel was seen as an anticommunist tract and many have claimed its grim vision of state control proved prophetic. But, argues Thomas Pynchon, Orwell - whose centenary is marked this year - had other targets in his sights and drew an unexpectedly optimistic conclusion (Thomas Pynchon) Why Orwell Matters: The world of Nineteen Eighty-Four may have ended in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall came down, but George Orwell's writing remains as relevant today as ever. (Timothy Garton Ash, Fall 2001, Hoover Digest) -ESSAY: The Man Who Saved Orwell: Harry Milton served with George Orwell in the Spanish Civil War. His papers recall the trauma of opposing Franco's forces on the battlefield-and of fleeing Stalin's forces in revolutionary Barcelona. (David Jacobs, Fall 2001, Hoover Digest) -ESSAY: Mencken and Orwell, Social Critics With Little (and Much) in Common (EDWARD ROTHSTEIN, October 26, 2002, NY Times) -ESSAY: George Orwell: A Study in Trans-Political Truth-Speaking (Michael R. Stevens, Religion & Liberty) -ARTICLE: In Latin America, the Cult of Revolution Wanes (LARRY ROHTER, May 18, 2003, NY Times) -ESSAY: George Orwell, devoted family man 50 years after death, his son remembers (The Daily Telegraph) -ESSAY: Words and Things On the 50th anniversary of George Orwell's essay, Politics and the English Language, Andrew Marr assesses the state of political English and finds it in robust good health. (Prospect) -ESSAY : On Shooting at Elephants (John Leonard, The Nation) -ESSAY: A Comparison of Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 -ESSAY: Orwell & Marx: Animalism vs. Marxism -ESSAY: Orwell and me (Margaret Atwood, June 16, 2003, The Guardian) -ESSAY: The big O: the reputation of George Orwell (Joseph Epstein, New Criterion) -DISCUSSION: the Journalism of George Orwell (radion national) -Senior Seminar: Professor Osborne War & Remembrance -ESSAY: WRITERS IN UNIFORM (Stephen Spender, NY Times Book Review) -ESSAY : George Orwell, Socialist, Anarchist or what...? On George Orwell's Political Development (Claus B. Storgaard) -ESSAY: Homage to Catalonia and The Spanish Civil War (Andrew Weiss) -ESSAY : THE MACHO MAKER OF NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR (Virginia Held, NY Times Book Review) -ESSAY : PUBLISHING: ORWELL'S SIMPLE SECRET (EDWIN McDOWELL, NY Times) -ESSAY : PUBLISHING: FROM BBC'S ORWELL FILE (EDWIN McDOWELL, NY Times) -ESSAY : THE VISION OF BOTH ORWELL AND KAFKA IS AS SHARP AS EVER (WALTER GOODMAN, December 30, 1983, NY Times) -ESSAY : Is Bad Writing Necessary?: Adorno and Orwell's competing legacies (James Miller, Lingua Franca, December 1999/January 2000) -ESSAY : IN SEARCH OF '1984' (LINDA McK. STEWART, NY Times) -Orwellian & Animal Farm Studies Resources From the Chico High School Library -READERS GUIDE: Animal Farm (Novel Guide.com) -ONLINE STUDYGUIDE: 1984 by George Orwell. (SparkNote by Brian Phillips) -SUMMARY: Nineteen Eighty-Four (Maros Kollar) -ONLINE STUDYGUIDE: Animal Farm by George Orwell (Rebecca Gaines, Spark Notes) -SUMMARY: Animal Farm (Maros Kollar) -DISCUSSION : orwell's "coming up for air" (George Orwell Campfire) -SUMMARY: The Road to Wigan Pier (Maros Kollar) -LINKS: George Orwell in Our Age -LINKS: George Orwell Resources -LINKS: Charles' George Orwell Links -ARCHIVES: "george orwell" (Find Articles) -ARCHIVES: "george orwell" (Mag Portal) -REVIEW: of Homage: George Orwell's Prelude in Spain (Granville Hicks, NY Times) -REVIEWS : of Coming Up for Air (Epinions) -REVIEW : of ORWELL The Lost Writings. By George Orwell (Will Watson, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of ORWELL The Lost Writings. By George Orwell (Walter Goodman, NY Times) -REVIEW : of GEORGE ORWELL The Authorized Biography. By Michael Shelden (Samuel Hynes, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of ORWELL: The Road to Airstrip One. By Ian Slater (Michiko Kakutani, NY Times) -REVIEW : of GEORGE ORWELL A Life. By Bernard Crick (John Leonard, NY Times) -REVIEW : of GEORGE ORWELL A Life. By Bernard Crick (Steven Marcus, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation By JEFFREY MEYERS (RICHARD BERNSTEIN, NY Times) -REVIEW : of ORWELL: Wintry Conscience of a Generation by Jeffrey Meyers ( JOHN CAREY, Sunday Times of London) -REVIEW : of Orwell by Jeffrey Myers (Paul Foot, The Spectator) -REVIEW : of Wintry Conscience of a Generation, by Jeffrey Meyers (Enda O'Doherty, Irish Times) -REVIEW : of "Orwell" The new biography glosses over the defiant, troubled life of the eerily prescient author of "Animal Farm" and "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (Benjamin Anastas, Salon) -REVIEW : of THE POLITICS OF LITERARY REPUTATION The Making and Claiming of 'St. George' Orwell. By John Rodden (Julian Symons, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of '1984' REVISTED Totalitarianism in Our Century Edited by Irving Howe (Arthur Schlesinger Jr, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of George Orwell By Gordon Bowker (The Economist) -REVIEW: of Orwell's Victory By Christopher Hitchens (The Economist) -REVIEW: of ORWELL: WINTRY CONSCIENCE OF A GENERATION By Jeffrey Meyers (The Economist) -REVIEW: of George Orwell by Gordon Bowker (Philip Hensher, The Spectator) FILMS : -FILMOGRAPHY : "george orwell" (Internet Movie Database) -ESSAY : DID THE HEART OF ORWELL'S '1984' GET LOST IN THE MOVIE? (Richard Grenier, NY Times) -FILM REVIEW: Animal Farm a TV movie review (Rick Norwood, SF Site) GENERAL : -ESSAY : The left's ace of clubs : It sold books, held dances, supported causes and promoted socialism. Paul Laity on the radical venture that engaged the political passions of the British middle classes in the 1930s (The Guardian, July 7, 2001) -REVIEW : of THE BLOODY CROSSROADS Where Literature and Politics Meet. By Norman Podhoretz (Cynthia Ozick, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of England, Their England Commentaries on English Language and Literature By Denis Donoghue (John Gross, NY Times) -REVIEW ESSAY: Such, Such Was Eric Blair: a review of Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays by George Orwell, compiled and with an introduction by George Packer; All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays by George Orwell, compiled by George Packer, with an introduction by Keith Gessen; and Why I Write by George Orwell (Julian Barnes, 3/12/09, NY Review of Books) Book-related and General Links: -George Orwell (1903-1950) - pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair (kirjasto) -ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA: Your search: "george orwell" -ARCHIVES : "orwell" (NY Review of Books) -The Political Writings of George Orwell -ETEXT: 1984 -ETEXT: Animal Farm -EXCERPT: Barcelona, 1938 from Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell. -ETEXT: Articles -ETEXT: Shooting an Elephant -ETEXT: Reflections on Gandhi (1949) -ETEXT: "George Gissing" (1948) -ETEXT: 'A Nice Cup of Tea' by George Orwell -ETEXT: Politics and the English Language BY George Orwell -ETEXT: The Prevention of Literature (1946) -ETEXT: Revenge is Sour -ETEXT: Shooting an Elephant BY George Orwell -ETEXT: You and the Atomic Bomb by George Orwell -ETEXT: Why Socialists Don't believe in Fun (1943) -ETEXT: Notes on Nationalism (May 1945) -ETEXT: Why I Write (1947) -George Orwell (Essays, Biblio, etc.) -George Orwell (Chestnut Tree Cafe) -George Orwell (Spartacus Educational Home Page) -The Orwell Reader -the Internet Public Library: Online Literary Criticism Collection: George Orwell (1903 - 1950) -ARTICLE : ORWELL RADIO SCRIPTS AND LETTERS FOUND (JUSTINE DE LACY, June 12, 1984, NY Times) -ESSAY: George Orwell, devoted family man 50 years after death, his son remembers (The Daily Telegraph) -ESSAY: Words and Things On the 50th anniversary of George Orwell's essay, Politics and the English Language, Andrew Marr assesses the state of political English and finds it in robust good health. (Prospect) -ESSAY : On Shooting at Elephants (John Leonard, The Nation) -ESSAY: A Comparison of Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 -ESSAY: Orwell & Marx: Animalism vs. Marxism -ESSAY: The big O: the reputation of George Orwell (Joseph Epstein, New Criterion) -DISCUSSION: the Journalism of George Orwell (radion national) -Senior Seminar: Professor Osborne War & Remembrance -ESSAY: WRITERS IN UNIFORM (Stephen Spender, NY Times Book Review) -ESSAY : George Orwell, Socialist, Anarchist or what...? On George Orwell's Political Development (Claus B. Storgaard) -ESSAY: Homage to Catalonia and The Spanish Civil War (Andrew Weiss) -ESSAY : THE MACHO MAKER OF NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR (Virginia Held, NY Times Book Review) -ESSAY : PUBLISHING: ORWELL'S SIMPLE SECRET (EDWIN McDOWELL, NY Times) -ESSAY : PUBLISHING: FROM BBC'S ORWELL FILE (EDWIN McDOWELL, NY Times) -ESSAY : THE VISION OF BOTH ORWELL AND KAFKA IS AS SHARP AS EVER (WALTER GOODMAN, December 30, 1983, NY Times) -ESSAY : Is Bad Writing Necessary?: Adorno and Orwell's competing legacies (James Miller, Lingua Franca, December 1999/January 2000) -ESSAY : IN SEARCH OF '1984' (LINDA McK. STEWART, NY Times) -ESSAY : Which is the book that has taught you most about what life is really like? Continuing our series, the novelist Jim Crace chooses Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (Jim Crace, booksonline uk) -Orwellian & Animal Farm Studies Resources From the Chico High School Library -READERS GUIDE: Animal Farm (Novel Guide.com) -ONLINE STUDYGUIDE: 1984 by George Orwell. (SparkNote by Brian Phillips) -SUMMARY: Nineteen Eighty-Four (Maros Kollar) -ONLINE STUDYGUIDE: Animal Farm by George Orwell (Rebecca Gaines, Spark Notes) -SUMMARY: Animal Farm (Maros Kollar) -DISCUSSION : orwell's "coming up for air" (George Orwell Campfire) -SUMMARY: The Road to Wigan Pier (Maros Kollar) -LINKS: George Orwell in Our Age -LINKS: George Orwell Resources -LINKS: Charles' George Orwell Links -REVIEW : of 1984 by George Orwell (Mark Schorer, NY Times, June 12, 1949) -REVIEW: of Homage: George Orwell's Prelude in Spain (Granville Hicks, NY Times) -REVIEWS : of Coming Up for Air (Epinions) -REVIEW : of ORWELL The Lost Writings. By George Orwell (Will Watson, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of ORWELL The Lost Writings. By George Orwell (Walter Goodman, NY Times) -REVIEW : of GEORGE ORWELL The Authorized Biography. By Michael Shelden (Samuel Hynes, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of ORWELL: The Road to Airstrip One. By Ian Slater (Michiko Kakutani, NY Times) -REVIEW : of GEORGE ORWELL A Life. By Bernard Crick (John Leonard, NY Times) -REVIEW : of GEORGE ORWELL A Life. By Bernard Crick (Steven Marcus, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation By JEFFREY MEYERS (RICHARD BERNSTEIN, NY Times) -REVIEW : of ORWELL: Wintry Conscience of a Generation by Jeffrey Meyers ( JOHN CAREY, Sunday Times of London) -REVIEW : of Orwell by Jeffrey Myers (Paul Foot, The Spectator) -REVIEW : of "Orwell" The new biography glosses over the defiant, troubled life of the eerily prescient author of "Animal Farm" and "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (Benjamin Anastas, Salon) -REVIEW : of THE POLITICS OF LITERARY REPUTATION The Making and Claiming of ''St. George'' Orwell. By John Rodden (Julian Symons, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of '1984' REVISTED Totalitarianism in Our Century Edited by Irving Howe (Arthur Schlesinger Jr, NY Times Book Review) FILMS :
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