Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Collection of Essays on his life and writing
Review: For anyone who's thought how George Orwell thoughtand wrote, this is the book for you. In it he explainswhy he writes, the influence of politics in the English Language, and comments on Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling. This is excellent reading for anyone seriously considering to become a writer. Also included are essays about his early childhood, his career as a police officer for the British Empire in India, as well as reflections on Gandhi. His essay "Politics and the English Language" in the collection is probaly one of his most interesting. In it he shows how langauge can be manipulated in order to suit some persons agenda. He exposes common faults that people fall prey to, such as pretentios diction (Choosing words that have an implied connotation or are euphanisms designed to obscure meaning), dying metaphors ("no axe to grind"), and others. The collection is an excellent piece of work that's ideas still hold true today. As a writer, his essay on "Politics and the English Language" has been not only insightful, but helpful as well. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in George Orwell's life, or in writing. -Hans Chen
Rating:
Summary: Great with tea and obligatory biscuit
Review: George Orwell, writer of such great classics as "No Winston, two plus two is five" and "All animals are equal" truely outdid himself with this book. His essay, "Such, and Such Were the Joys," is worth the price of the book alone. The descriptions therein, in the vein of 1984, are detailed and vivid to the point where I almost feel as if I remember and understand Orwell's childhood better than my own. In this essay one also catches a glimpse of what made Orwell the writer he was: a poor, pessimistic, sickly lad whose talent could have created it's own entire cannon if he'd lived longer and enjoyed a more work conducive atmosphere. For every reader who breathes to read, this book is an oxygen tank. (like the one they have at the bottom of the slopes in Aspen.)
Rating:
Summary: Great with tea and obligatory biscuit
Review: George Orwell, writer of such great classics as "No Winston, two plus two is five" and "All animals are equal" truely outdid himself with this book. His essay, "Such, and Such Were the Joys," is worth the price of the book alone. The descriptions therein, in the vein of 1984, are detailed and vivid to the point where I almost feel as if I remember and understand Orwell's childhood better than my own. In this essay one also catches a glimpse of what made Orwell the writer he was: a poor, pessimistic, sickly lad whose talent could have created it's own entire cannon if he'd lived longer and enjoyed a more work conducive atmosphere. For every reader who breathes to read, this book is an oxygen tank. (like the one they have at the bottom of the slopes in Aspen.)
Rating: 
Summary: Good Stuff, Mostly
Review: Note that all the essays in this collection are available online, most of them at multiple sites. This sample of Orwell's essays is representative but perhaps a little too small. At least two other essays, "A Hanging" and "Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool" should have been included. "Such, Such Were the Joys" is a moving reminiscence of boarding school, where Orwell had a miserable time as a frail student on "reduced fees". "Charles Dickens" is a long piece of literary-social criticism. It is insightful on Dickens the man and his politics, and how they relate to his work. Orwell notes the class limitations on Dickens's outlook, but feels that in spite of them, Dickens is a "free intelligence". "Rudyard Kipling" is an essay in the same style. Orwell admits Kipling's faults but feels that despite them, he produced better poetry than most of his contemporaries. This is put down to his writing about/for a class with a sense of responsibility. "The Art of Donald McGill", "Raffles and Miss Blandish" and "Boys' Weeklies" are essays that analyse public sentiment through a survey of popular literature and art. These essays are the best in the genre, and definitely among Orwell's best essays. "Inside the Whale" is an essay about contemporary (1920-1940) serious literature. Parts I and III praise Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer; part II reviews literature between the wars. The image of a transparent whale (inside which Henry Miller sits) is arresting, but this essay is not otherwise a very good one. Orwell says several obvious or false things about 1920s writers, misrepresents the Auden group, and is somewhat hyperbolic about Henry Miller. "England your England" is an essay about the English national spirit, and is very revealing about Orwell's own patriotism. "Looking Back on the Spanish War" -- Orwell fought with a Trotskyist militia in Spain; his experiences are recounted in Homage to Catalonia. This is a brief reminiscence. Hopefully it will inspire you to read the book. "Politics and the English Language" has been very influential; its thesis is that the use of cliches and euphemisms leads to muddy thinking which makes totalitarianism bearable. It includes his six rules of good writing. Orwell also makes this point in the brilliant appendix to 1984. "Marrakech" and "Shooting an Elephant" are essays about colonialism. The latter describes it from much closer range; it describes an experience Orwell had as a colonial administrator in Burma and is one of his most famous essays. "Reflections on Gandhi" discusses Gandhi's personal ethics and political philosophy. Orwell's critique of Gandhi is memorable: "The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection, that one is sometimes willing to commit sins for the sake of loyalty, that one does not push asceticism to the point where it makes friendly intercourse impossible, and that one is prepared in the end to be defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of fastening one's love upon other human individuals. No doubt alcohol, tobacco, and so forth, are things that a saint must avoid, but sainthood is also a thing that human beings must avoid." "Why I Write" is an account of Orwell's development as a writer. Orwell claims that the political purpose was foremost in all his writing, and ends this essay with the famous aphorism that "good prose is like a windowpane."
Rating:
Summary: A great essayist and a lively read.
Review: Orwell is as likely to go down in history as an essayist as he is as a novelist. The clarity of his style is matched only by the clarity of his thought. Orwell's belief in using language correctly, in order to transmit ideas, rather than to obscure them, is as essential to his idea of freedom as is democracy. He thought that the English language was in a bad way and set about to correct it in `Politics & the English Language.' "The English language," says Orwell," becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.... Modern English is full of bad habits...If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration." Lazy language - pretentious diction, meaningless words, and cliché - was a mask for lazy thinking. He would have been aghast at the abundance of modern jargon or the `spin' put on news stories by politicians today, both of which is to either hide up the paucity of genuine ideas or to mislead the public. For Orwell, to speak, and just as importantly, to write, clearly are important for the political process. These ideas were, of course, to feed into his novel, 1984, with its use of Double Speak, to say one thing while thinking another. We recognise these words and phrases all too well: People's Democracies for Communist dictatorship; pacification for mass murder and terror; We, the people for We, the ruling elite; and Protecting democracy for Defending our financial interests. These essays, written in the 1930s and 40s, capture the era perfectly. His subject matter ranges widely and there is much here to chew over. It doesn't matter whether he is talking about the outdated jingoism of Rudyard Kipling, the true nature of British imperialism in India, the slightly obscene picture postcards of Donald McGill, the brutality and snobbishness of English Public schools, the lack of radicalism in Charles Dickens, or the horror of an execution that Orwell witnessed, all are brought vividly to life by the clarity of his writing, his keenness of intellect, and his eye for detail. Orwell will be remembered because he not only articulated the times in which he lived but also because he was a genuine literary artist.
Rating:
Summary: Why Orwell is so important
Review: Orwell is important as the writer and political thinker who had the courage to look at the most difficult and uncomfortable realities, and write about them honestly even when they involved himself and his own nation. This ability was displayed in the essay ' Shooting an Elephant' where he carries out the imperative of his colonial official task, and at the same time understands the wrong he is doing. It is displayed in his depicting the poverty and neglect in his own England. It is displayed in his seeing the Soviet totalitarian system for what it is, and his understanding the danger to all of mankind, from doublespeak,doublethink, thoughtcontrol. It is displayed in his looking at the idealistic Gandhi and seeing how a pretence of perfection can lead to a certain kind of inhumanity. It is daring in whatever he writes to write clearly the plain truth- and to work very hard to make sure his language communicates and does not obfuscate.
Orwell is important because he gives the example of the writer as courageous investigator of reality, and worker for the overall human good.
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Summary: Still as fresh and incisive as when they were written
Review: Orwell occupies a position of honor in American high schools enjoyed by few other writers besides Shakespeare: his name appears more than once on the required reading list. Thus if you're an American, you've all but certainly read _1984_ and _Animal_Farm_, and probably "Shooting an Elephant"; if you went to college, "Politics and the English Language" must also have come your way in a writing course. Don't stop there. The work of a mind of uncommon independence, all of Orwell's essays deserve to be read. They are some of the most memorable and thought-provoking pieces of prose in the language, and an example of the true power of the essay. Contrast them to the usual exercises in narcissism... found in most periodicals. Do not suspend your critical judgment, however. Orwell seems never to have let his guard down, so much so that occasionally he breaches the wall separating sober skepticism from jaded cynicism. There is little that is beautiful in Orwell's universe, little worthy of admiration or enjoyment for its own sake. His evaluation of Gandhi, for instance: it's a good piece and a necessary corrective, but, forgive me, the final sentence may be the unseemliest backhanded compliment I've ever read in an author I respect. Then there's his essay on Dickens. When Orwell offers as evidence of Dickens' "bourgeois" mind Pip's snobbish ingratitude to Magwitch, I have to believe--unless I'm misreading him or Dickens--he's simply wrong. Was his copy of _Great_Expectations_ missing the last hundred pages? Pip does come to repent of his having been an ungrateful prig. "For now my repugnance to [Magwitch] had all melted away....I only saw in him a much better man than I had been to Joe." But it's still a great and perceptive essay, like all those in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Political, but not in conventional ways.
Review: Orwell was anti-fascist as the last reviewer wrote, but he was also anti-communist,having seen it first hand in Spain. His life as an author was quite dymnamic. You can see a change in his politics from book to book. His early death leads you to wonder what Orwell would have written about the space age. This book is so well written that you will find enjoyment in subjects that you care nothing about. His Essays on Dickens and Kipling were more insightful than the semester in college I spent on 19th century English Literature. His reflections on Ghandi expose the flaws that most Ghandi fans ignore or hide. He then goes on to celebrate the man for his virtues. His look at Henry Miller was amazing. Orwell saw through the shock value of Miller's 1930s autobiography and recognized great writing when his contemporaries dismised the work as pornography. Orwell's easy language coupled with genius-level insight make this a book to read again and again.
Rating:
Summary: The end of all isms....
Review: Orwell was not only a keen observer of human nature and somebody who had the guts and foresight to condemn extremism from all corners he was also essentially a great humanitarian. The care he takes in using discriminating language and urging others to do so is a great legacy and one we are in dire need of today in this era of thoughtless engineering and sloganeering and aliteracy among the literate. His disemination of Gandhi and his sceptical stance towards hero worship is also badly in need of being reread and rejuvinated. All saints should be pronounced guilty until proven innocent would be a laudable addition to public life, or church for that matter. Orwell is without missionary zeal except when it comes to writing itself which he describes as a disease as well as a cure and a matter of seriousness for soul evaluation.
Anything penned by the man who gave us the following explanation for fascism is worth contemplating:
"The dog which performs his tricks because he is afraid of the whip is not yet well trained enough. The really well trained dog does his somersaults without being asked to perform."
Rating:
Summary: This has the effect that Burmese Days should have
Review: Overall, this collection of essays is truely a great read for anyone. "Shooting an Elephant" is a good example of what Burmese Days should have been and, although more symbolic, comunicates Orwell's message much more effectively. Many of the other essays in this book are also very good commentaries of the time that Orwell was reflecting on. Do yourself a favor and read this book!
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