Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays by George Orwell (EPUB)

Description

Essays by the author of 1984 on topics from “remembrances of working in a bookshop [to] recollections of fighting in the Spanish Civil War” (Publishers Weekly). George Orwell was first and foremost an essayist, producing throughout his life an extraordinary array of short nonfiction that reflected—and illuminated—the fraught times in which he lived. “As soon as he began to write something,” comments George Packer in his foreword, “it was as natural for Orwell to propose, generalize, qualify, argue, judge—in short, to think—as it was for Yeats to versify or Dickens to invent.” Facing Unpleasant Facts charts Orwell’s development as a master of the narrative-essay form and unites such classics as “Shooting an Elephant” with lesser-known journalism and passages from his wartime diary. Whether detailing the horrors of Orwell’s boyhood in an English boarding school or bringing to life the sights, sounds, and smells of the Spanish Civil War, these essays weave together the personal and the political in an unmistakable style that is at once plainspoken and brilliantly complex. “Best known for his late-career classics Animal Farm and 1984, George Orwell—who used his given name, Eric Blair, in the earliest pieces of this collection aimed at the aficionado as well as the general reader—was above all a polemicist of the first rank. Organized chronologically, from 1931 through the late 1940s, these in-your-face writings showcase the power of this literary form.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The observations of George Orwell, penned in the 1930s & 1940s, are as relevant now as they were then—-Orwell has a grasp of fundamental human tendencies and foibles that were true thousands of years ago, decades ago, and at present. In many of his observations he is able to see clearly the actions of dictators, power seekers, truth deniers, and politicians who are willing and eager to do anything for money and power. You could fill in Trump’s name in many of his essays written 70-80 years ago, and there would be little need to edit the text. He was, and remains, a clear-eyed visionary on what it takes to battle those who would oppress, steal, dictate, and cheat—unfortunately we need to share that ability now, and given the nature of mankind, for the foreseeable future. Read these essays.

⭐Orwell represents the epitome of essay writing. This book is a collection of his narrative rather than the analytical ones for which he may be better known. While these may not be on as weighty subjects as the analytical essays, these give a better insight into Orwell the man. All of them are interesting to read, even though the topics may be seventy to ninety years old. The most memorable of them is undoubtedly “Such, Such Were the Joys”, about his years as a boarding student at a pretentious preparatory school. This essay was controversial because Orwell really unloaded his pentup fury at the condescension he experienced as a scholarship student for a three or four year period beginning at age eight. All this is done with a light, sometimes humorous touch, which is immeasurably better than if he had used undiluted polemic. In other words, it demonstrates his superior talent as a short subject essay writer.

⭐Before reading this collection of George Orwell’s essays, I only knew of his oeuvre of writing through two novels Animal Farm and 1984. In reading this collection of essays I’ve come to appreciate a man of letters who explains everyday occurrences in a plain and direct manner which in reading will captivate the reader to want read further. His writing of a hanging which had taken place in a prison in colonial Burma in 1931 was not only descriptive but also explains the way the British ruled the colonials in their vast empire. The scenario was carried out in a matter of fact way in which Orwell describes the harsh realities of colonial life. Another of Orwell’s essays titled Shooting an Elephant which takes place in Burma in 1936 shows Orwell himself confronted with a situation which Orwell himself admits to be a very unpleasant task. Acting as a constable in an isolated Burma town in which he was to protect and instill Colonial order, Orwell was faced with the task of shooting a wild elephant. The essay goes deep into Orwell’s mind and what it took to confront an unpleasant task. The task peels more of the inner self of Orwell and shows to one and all the man who makes up this writer. The War-time Diary is the day by day descriptions of what it was to live in London during WWII. In many ways Orwell’s entries and thoughts of the war remind me of Victor Klemperer’s diary entries. You can follow Orwell’s thought process as he tries to make sense of what the war was all about. You can see his criticisms and see that many of his thoughts later turned to be incorrect or at least not well informed. His thoughts of the common people and their sacrifices are of importance in his diary entries. All through Orwell’s work we find that his writings have one common element and that is to tell it like it is. No punches are pulled and you get to know the author’s likes, dislikes and his political persuasion. His explanation of his youthful school days at St. Cyprian are straightforward and very descriptive in explaining all the fears, trepidations and joys as in fact it serves as a platform of how one’s youth was spent in pre WWI England. One would be hard pressed to find such an honest writer today. The only recent writer of such vintage would be Mike Royko.

⭐Orwell’s personal essays have never really been sufficiently accessible for American readers before this anthology. Facing Unpleasant Facts is the best possible introduction to Orwell, particularly for providing a balanced sense of his overall achievement. His most famous novel, 1984, is almost unreadably grim, but these essays are various; some of them are even quite funny for those who appreciate “black humor.” Also, Orwell is, probably correctly, widely regarded as an atheist saint, but these essays reveal a man who was very human – and quite likable.

⭐Nice collection of George Orwell’s essays. He may have been the most important commentator of the 20th century.

⭐It was great book. I suppose part of why I liked it so much was that there was a lot less red tape to life in general. I suppose it had a great deal of historical perspective but I enjoyed following along with the day to day activities of Mr. Orwell.

⭐The previous reviewer has given this book only 1 Star because they confused it with the 11th volume of the Complete Works of George Orwell edited by Peter Davison. Clearly that is their responsibility and not the book’s; none of Orwell’s works deserve only 1 Star!Personally, I can not see how you would make this mistake; the title clearly states “Narrative Essays”. The complete works is exactly that, it contains absolutely everything Orwell wrote. His books are covered by the first nine volumes; all other writings, diaries, letters, articles, essays and etc are covered chronologically in volumes 10 to 20. The title of each volume is taken from some aspect of Orwell’s work during the period covered. For example, in the Complete Works Volume 11 “Facing Unpleasant Facts” covers 1937-1939, in which the unpleasant fact that a war was approaching had to be faced.Orwell’s writings are as relevant today as they were 60 years ago because politicians & etc, are still not listening or facing facts, they’d rather put a spin on the facts to make them fit!A book like this is helpful in that you do not have to read the complete works to get to these essays, they are all here in one volume. there is a companion volume of critical essays –

⭐All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays

⭐No problem with the content. But the book itself is very cheap quality. Always hard to understand why publishers put out paperbacks that actually impede a persons reading. Pages are thin and the binding is buckled. Very frustrated.

⭐Brilliant!

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