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Orwell meant well but his upbringing and his laziness within it insulated him from the subjects he sought to comment on. The constant undercurrent of Choice through "Down & Out in Paris in London" most clearly summarises the problems you'll have with his other work. "Four legs good, two legs BETTER" summarises his life's key insight for most people though: pseudo activists are not playing a different game simply because they've changed sides.
If you are interested in his usual topics, you will find these profound and worth your while:
"Tono-Bungay" by H.G. Wells.
"The Makers of War" by Jerome K. Jerome, which gently leads the reader through some common sense much more patiently than I can. (collected within "Sense and Nonsense" which is in the Barbican Library IIRC)
And for pungent back-story to all of Orwell: "Sketches by Boz" by Charles Dickens, which raises him from prolific writer to bald observer. A little too honest for most readers; but if you're willing to give up a few preconceptions, it is profoundly affecting AND informing.
(this collection is Dickens's equivalent of Bierce's "Devil's Dictionary", btw, both in motivation/commercial-context and in result) |
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