What do they know of Orwell who only Animal Farm and 1984 know? As great as those books are, the essays and short non-fiction books are where he really shines. Most of these essays I was re-reading, although a couple were new to me. He is illuminating on the strengths of Kipling and Dickens, authors going out of fashion even as he wrote of them in the 1940's. His reminiscences of boarding school childhood in "Such, Such were the Joys" are savage, and he basically invents literary analysis of popular culture in "The Art of Donald McGill" and "Boy's Weeklies." A wealth of riches.

Gak perlu banyak cingcong, sebagai esais, George Orwell adalah jawaranya.

The first story, shooting an elephant, politics in the english language and reflections on Ghandi were my favorites.
Not the most gripping collection of essays but you can always be sure that George will write with an honesty that few writers I have read have.

Read this one in the car with Logan.

Since the Essay's are varied, it is difficult to write a single themed review. Rather I would point out the things that I got out of this marvelous collections of literary gems:

1. I have never read anything more logical and free flowing
2. Some of them are personal experiences of George Orwell and they are deeply moving and thought provoking (Shooting an Elephant, How the Poor Die etc.)
3. You will get to know the origins of 1984
4. Why you shouldn't work in a Bookshop (yeah, that happened!)
5. England, Politics, some more of England and some more of Politics
6. Difference between Socialism and Communism with great explanations
7. Get another point of view about India and its Independence Movement through the eyes of a British
8. Some very rational and great book reviews (Yeats, Dickens, Koestler etc.)
9. Improve your English (there is a separate essay for that!)

A large number of the Essay's are obsessed with Fascism/Totalitarianism and might become boring for some readers. But if you can bear them you will definitely enjoy the lucid writing style and clear arguments George Orwell makes.

Orwell's essay about killing an elephant is brilliant. It is so common for readers to encounter the Essayist as Hero, where the essayist prevails, has an epiphany, cleverly solves a problem. But in Orwell's essay, he makes some great points, without setting himself up as a hero. Just the opposite. He doesn't sugarcoat the actual incident or his true motivations; and that is what makes the essay so powerful.

My edition contained 51 essays and was 636 pages long. George Orwell (real name, Eric Arthur Blair) wrote some of the most perceptive, brilliant, honest, forthright essays that I've ever read, about every imaginable topic ranging from the homeless, bookshops, mining, the Spanish Civil War, socialism, Charles Dickens, Gandhi, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Kipling, Twain, poetry, antisemitism, sports, how to make a good cup of tea, and much more.

If you don't want to read a lot of essays about politics (totalitarianism, the failure of communism in Russia, Fascism in Spain and elsewhere) you must at least read the following stunning essays: "Why I Write," "Shooting an Elephant" (devastating in its subject and its honesty), "Such, Such were the Joys," (his heartbreaking memories of being a schoolboy at St Cyprian's preparatory school), "The Spike," (his experiences as a homeless person), and "How the Poor Die," (his frightful experiences as a patient in a French Hospital).

Flera korta essäer och krönikor. Flera väldigt bra. Andra lite tristar, exempelvis två om hur underbar den brittiska maten EGENTLIGEN är. Å andra sidan en underbar text om hur man EGENTLIGEN kokar bäst te.

Generellt känns det som att det måste ha varit jobbigt att heta George Orwell. Att ständigt va i opposition mot allt.

Orwell beszél irodalomról, politikáról, politikával szennyezett irodalomról, néha érdekesen, többször vontatottan, unalmasan. Maradjunk a regényeinél.

Pusing tapi seru tapi pusing. Ya gitu deh *mabok

George Orwell'ın çeşitli konularda yazdığı makalelerden oluşan Edebiyat Üzerine kitabı aslında edebiyat kadar siyasi, sosyolojik ve Stalin dahil birden fazla konuya değinmiş. Kitapların pahalı olmasından (ne kadar da tanıdık) şiirlere kadar çeşitli konular barındırıyor. Hayvan Çiftliği kitabının yayımlanma süreci hakkında da bilgi veren Orwell aynı zamanda sosyalist olmasına rağmen neden sosyalist sistemden hoşlanmadığını da anlatıyor. Aslında siyasi görüşü nedir sorusunun cevabı bu kitap olabilir. Orwell’ın fikirlerini ve görüşlerini merak edenler için kaçırılmaması gereken bir kitap. Toplam 33 makaleden oluşan kitabın bazı başlıklarını aşağıda yazdım.
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Romanı Savunmak
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Philip Henderson'ın The Novel To-Day'i Üzerine
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Martin Block'un Gypies'i Üzerine
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Yolculuk Notları
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Yeni Kelimeler
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Jack Hilton'ın English Ways'i Üzerine
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Edebiyat ve Sol
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Sosyalistler Mutlu Olabilir mi?
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Kitaplar Çok Mu Pahalı?
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Bayağılaşmadan Komik Olmak
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İstiridyeler ve Siyah Bira
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Şiir ve Mikrofon
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Bilimkurgu Üzerine Kişisel Notlar
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Basın Özgürlüğü( Hayvan Çiftliği)
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Yazmanın Bedeli
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Hayvan Çiftliği'nin Ukranya Baskısına Önsöz

Orwell’s essays show him at his best both in his writing and his social criticism. In all the topics he addresses, Orwell uses his clear, concise style to uncover some truth about being human. His is a view from the ground, but this perspective allows him see in great detail the things he critiques. Orwell‘s vision pierces through ideology and the hypocrisy of party lines, and this is part of what keeps him relevant today. While the topics of these essays are rooted in politics of his era, his approach to human motivation and the influence of ideology remains valuable in considering political issues of the 21st century. Orwell isn’t always right, but he rarely claims to be so; what he provides is merely his own best interpretation. His major shortcoming for a contemporary reader is probably that, while he criticizes many prejudices, he casually accepts homophobia. This should not be disregarded, but despite his flaws Orwell was capable of providing incredible clarity to difficult topics, and he was a master of the essay as a writing form. He takes on a great variety of subjects, and they are always handled with precision and care. I would certainly recommend these essays to someone looking for sociopolitical views on human thought and behavior, but even beyond that I would implore anyone simply interested in good writing to give these essays a try.

This was equal parts fascinating and soul-crushingly boring, so as with (it seems) all collections or bind-ups I read, I'm going for the middle ground and rating this three stars. ~Review to come~