You are reading a single comment by @LeChef and its replies. Click here to read the full conversation.
  • I didn't care for The Road To Wigan Pier when I read it a couple of years ago, I found the writing style almost condescending or patronising to the people it's focusing on. I think it's probably just a result of the time when it was written rather than an intentional thing, knowing Orwell's politics. Maybe the style just hasn't aged that well, I found Down And Out In Paris And London to have similar issues.

  • I would imagine most people pick up on some of his glaring contradictions and sometimes snobbish hypocrisy. He does address it on a couple of occasions though to be fair to him. I found his writing style pretty maniacal in places, darting off on long winded tirades about the pitfalls of class structure despite being one of the ‘bourgeois’ himself and seemingly proud of it. I found some of his predictions interesting, especially about the rise of Hitler and the prospect of a Second World War in relation to the job crisis and given it was written in 38/39 a very accurate prediction. I think many of his critiques of socialism still hold true today though, especially the damage created to the movement from it being so closely linked and compared to communism. He comes across as a genuinely virtuous and honest character but pained that Britain is too broken to allow Socialism to save the day before the Fascists move on in. Having recently read A Brave New World proved to be timely too, given his numerous comments on it.

  • I would recommend The Lion and the Unicorn for some more bizarre political theorising from Orwell.

    Again it combines a lovely turn of phrase with a weird kind of elitist egalitarianism. I'm pretty sure that at some point he talks about "conservative socialism" as being the kind that could win over the British public (idea: have a socialist revolution but keep the monarchy).

    It's written during WW2 and based around how it coule potentially be a catalyst for real social change (which in a way, it was). Even though it's mainly interesting as a historical document it's quite perceptive about the English character at times:

    "In all countries the poor are more national than the rich, but the English working class are outstanding in their abhorrence of foreign habits. Even when they are obliged to live abroad for years they refuse either to accustom themselves to foreign food or to learn foreign languages. Nearly every Englishman of working-class origin considers it effeminate to pronounce a foreign word correctly."

About

Avatar for LeChef @LeChef started