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Why I read?
Because you were there to write Mister Orwell.
Because you were there to write Mister Orwell.
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Why I Write
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Whether puncturing the lies of politicians, wittily dissecting the English character or telling unpalatable truths about war, Orwell's timeless, uncompromising essays are more relevant, entertaining and essential than ever in today's era of spin.
Contents:
"Why I Write", first published 1946
"The Lion and the Unicorn", first published 1940
"A Hanging", first published 1931
"Politics and the English Language", first published 1946
Contents:
"Why I Write", first published 1946
"The Lion and the Unicorn", first published 1940
"A Hanging", first published 1931
"Politics and the English Language", first published 1946
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1946
This edition
- Format
-
120 pages, Paperback
- Published
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September 6, 2005 by Penguin Books
- ISBN
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9780143036357
- ASIN
-
0143036351
- Language
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English
About the author
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Eric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both authoritarian communism and fascism), and support of democratic socialism.
Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.
Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.
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A short collection of Orwell essays which really illuminate thoughts on his other works. If you’re a fan of ted talks, I would really recommend picking up the “great ideas” as they’re so easy to read & allow a real taster of some topics and also occasionally go in depth. I particularly enjoyed the first and last sections of the book as well as “hanging” which was immensely well written.
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جورج أورويل هو أحد الكتّاب المفضلين عندي، ودائماً ما أجد متعة خالصة في قراءة إنتاجه، سواء كان رواية أو مقال أو نقد أدبي. استثمرت الفترة الماضية في القراءة له، وهذا رابع كتاب أقرأه له على التوالي: رواية شيء من الهواء المنعش، الكتب مقابل السجائر (مقالات)، رواية ١٩٨٤ (قراءة ثانية)، ثم لماذا أكتب (مقالات).
في هذا الكتاب مقالات متنوعة مرتبة حسب تاريخ نشرها، يبدأ بمقالين أقرب للقصة القصيرة (واقعة شنق وصيد فيل) ثم ينتقل لمقالات ذات مواضيع مختلفة منها الشيّق الخفيف (كوب لطيف من الشاي، تراجع جريمة القتل الإنجليزية) ومنها النقد الأدبي (داخل الحوت، مارك توين، السياسة في مواجهة الأدب.. وغيرها).
أقدّر جداً الكتب التي تدلني على كتب أخرى، ومن هذا الكتاب خرجت بقائمة قصيرة لكتب أنوي قراءتها:
مدار السرطان - هنري ميللر
الملك لير - شكسبير
رحلات جوليفر - جوناثان سويفت
مغامرات توم سوير - مارك توين
في هذا الكتاب مقالات متنوعة مرتبة حسب تاريخ نشرها، يبدأ بمقالين أقرب للقصة القصيرة (واقعة شنق وصيد فيل) ثم ينتقل لمقالات ذات مواضيع مختلفة منها الشيّق الخفيف (كوب لطيف من الشاي، تراجع جريمة القتل الإنجليزية) ومنها النقد الأدبي (داخل الحوت، مارك توين، السياسة في مواجهة الأدب.. وغيرها).
أقدّر جداً الكتب التي تدلني على كتب أخرى، ومن هذا الكتاب خرجت بقائمة قصيرة لكتب أنوي قراءتها:
مدار السرطان - هنري ميللر
الملك لير - شكسبير
رحلات جوليفر - جوناثان سويفت
مغامرات توم سوير - مارك توين
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فخ العنوان المخادع وقعتُ به للأسف ، عنوان الكتاب لايُدل أبدًا على أن الكاتب جورج أورويل سيتحدث عن أعماله الأكثر شهرة ،فكل ما أجد هنا بعض المقالات الغير مفيدة والغير مهمة ،فقط الخمسة المقالات الأولى هي الجميلة والممتعة ،أما ما بعدها فقط أعجبني عدة مقالات والباقي ربما إن تخطيتها فلن يضررك أي شيء :
( كتب جيدة رديئة،كوب لطيف من شاي ،لير ،تولستوي ،البهلول ،تأملات حول غاندي )
ربما يعود الأمر إلى كون الكتاب ممل هو أن جورج أورويل لم يجمع المقالات بنفسه ، بل غيره قد جمعها ،فربما من جمعها وضع ما يظنه مفيدًا ..
شيء آخر جميل تنبأ به جورج أورويل في مقالته (الكتب جيدة رديئة) في نهايته ذكر بأن (جورج مور ، فرجينيا وولف ) لن تعيش أعمالهم الكاملة أطول من عيش رواية (كوخ العم توم ) لأنها تقع بكل بساطة ضمن (الكتب الجيدة السيئة ) والأصح بأن نقول بأنه هذه الكتب لم تعش كثيرًا بسبب أسلوبها أو الجمهور الذي تخاطبه .
على العموم كانت راحلة لطيفة مع جورج أورويل ولكن عندما يكون روائيًا أفضل من يكون كاتب مقالات .
( كتب جيدة رديئة،كوب لطيف من شاي ،لير ،تولستوي ،البهلول ،تأملات حول غاندي )
ربما يعود الأمر إلى كون الكتاب ممل هو أن جورج أورويل لم يجمع المقالات بنفسه ، بل غيره قد جمعها ،فربما من جمعها وضع ما يظنه مفيدًا ..
شيء آخر جميل تنبأ به جورج أورويل في مقالته (الكتب جيدة رديئة) في نهايته ذكر بأن (جورج مور ، فرجينيا وولف ) لن تعيش أعمالهم الكاملة أطول من عيش رواية (كوخ العم توم ) لأنها تقع بكل بساطة ضمن (الكتب الجيدة السيئة ) والأصح بأن نقول بأنه هذه الكتب لم تعش كثيرًا بسبب أسلوبها أو الجمهور الذي تخاطبه .
على العموم كانت راحلة لطيفة مع جورج أورويل ولكن عندما يكون روائيًا أفضل من يكون كاتب مقالات .
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Where the writer Orwell commands admiration with his fantastic novels, here it is the committed and uncompromising man who commands respect, with the added pleasure of hearing and feeling an extraordinary personality on these pages.
Through this compilation of five texts, we discover the author in so many admirable facets: that he witnesses state lies during the Spanish War, of media or literary mediocrity, that he denounces the sordid condition of indigent patients in a Parisian hospital with practices barely healthier than in the 19th century, the role of the writer or even that he reveals the artistic journey taken to construct his work. Orwell reveals himself as a man driven by a rare requirement both on a political and creative level, with a broad and lucid vision of totalitarianism, engaged with courage in the distraught times he lived through.
Through this compilation of five texts, we discover the author in so many admirable facets: that he witnesses state lies during the Spanish War, of media or literary mediocrity, that he denounces the sordid condition of indigent patients in a Parisian hospital with practices barely healthier than in the 19th century, the role of the writer or even that he reveals the artistic journey taken to construct his work. Orwell reveals himself as a man driven by a rare requirement both on a political and creative level, with a broad and lucid vision of totalitarianism, engaged with courage in the distraught times he lived through.
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"أكثر ما رغبت به طوال السنوات العشر الماضية هو أن أجعل من الكتابة السياسية فناً."
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عندما قرأت روايات: 1984، مزرعة الحيوان ومتشرداً في باريس ولندن، أنبهرت بالعقل الخارق والأفكار التنبؤية لجورج أورويل، وودت لو اقرأ جميع أعماله وبعدها اقرأ هذا الكتاب الذي اعتقدت بإنه يفسّر للقرّاء السبب الذي دفعه لإنتاج روائعه، لكن الوقت لم يسعفني.
يحتوي الكتاب على مجموعة من المقالات التي كتبها أورويل خلال وبعد الحرب العالمية الثانية، بعض من هذه المقالات سياسية؛ انتقد فيها الاستعمار والاستبداد ويتنبأ بما سيكون عليه العالم مستقبلاً في ظل تغيّر موازين القوى العالمية لتصبح بيد دولتين -أو عالمين مختلفين: الاتحاد السوفييتي والولايات المتحدة الأمريكية- وظهور القنابل النووية. والبعض من هذه المقالات أدبية انتقد فيها بعض الأعمال الأدبية والكُتّاب والشعراء في فترة العشرينات والثلاثينات وفترة الحرب وحال الأدب وتأثيره في التوجه السياسي.. استمتعت جداً بمقالة ذكريات محل بيع الكتب، كتب جيدة رديئة، كوب لطيف من الشاي، بعض الأفكار عن العلجوم الشائع وهكذا كانت المسرّات.
أما في مقالة لماذا أكتب فقد أحببت أورويل كثيراً وأحببت تقسيمه لأسباب الكتابة وهذا يزيد حماسي بأن اقرأ جميع أعماله
لا أنكر مدى الصعوبة التي واجهتني في قراءة المقالات النقدية الأدبية كوني لم اقرأ الكثير من الأعمال الأدبية والقصائد التي انتقدها أورويل كما في مقالة داخل الحوت!. وينطبق علي المثل الذي يقول (مثل الأطرش بالزّفة).. شعرت بأن أورويل -زوّد العيار شوي- في رده على نقد تولستوي لشيكسبير في مقالة لير، تولستوي والبهلول، لا أعرف لكن هذه المواضيع النقدية تستعصي على فهمي ومستواي الإدراكي. ولم أفهم أيضاً انتقاده للمهاتما غاندي وسياسته وبداية حياته! - ما ترك حدا من شرّه- ! لكن هذا لا ينفي مدى إعجابي بأورويل الناقد والصحفي الذكي صاحب هذا الأسلوب النقدي المُبهر .وأيضاً الترجمة لم تكن جيدة جداً فبعض الجمل تحتاج إلى إعادة قرائتها لتفهم ما هو المقصود. لكن ككل استمتعت بهذا الكتاب وزاد إعجابي وحُبّي لأورويل.. نعم نعم السيد جورج أورويل عبقري بلا شك ومن أعظم من كتب المقالات.
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في مقالتين أو ثلاثة ربما شعرت بأنني مثل المرحوم يونس شلبي في مسرحية العيال كبرت:
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This is a short little book containing a few of Orwell's writings. These are as follows: A Hanging (1931), The Lion and the Unicorn (1940), Politics and the English Language (1946), and Why I write (1946).
The Lion and the Unicorn is the longest essay by quite some distance, and deals with wartime Britain and how Orwell perceives the British "family," its politics, its weaknesses, flaws, and what the state of the nation is in itself, and what role Britain plays in the war. It begins, "As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me."
He writes that
"England is not the jewelled isle of Shakespeare's much-quoted message, nor the inferno depicted by Dr Goebbels. More than either it resembles a family, a rather stuffy victorian family, with not so many black sheep in it but with all its cupboards bursting with skeletons. It has rich relations who have to be kow-towed to and poor relations who are horribly sat upon, and there is a deep conspiracy of silence about the source of the family income. It is a family in which the young are generally thwarted and most of the power is in the hands of irresponsible uncles and bedridden aunts. Still, it is a family. [..] A family with the wrong members in control - that, perhaps, is as near as one can come to describing England in a phrase."
In general this is an interesting essay, especially for those interested in history, but it also outlines some ideas and thoughts that would be further developed in 1984 and Animal Farm and is well worth a read for that alone.
The remaining essays are also very interesting, and if it weren't for my laziness I would write more about those too. Just take my word for it: they are pretty short and very enjoyable to read, and they are all well worth your time. A Hanging is so short you can basically read it right now in 5 or 10 minutes, so go for it! Here's a link: http://www.online-literature.com/orwe...
I'd like to rephrase a quote by Pyotr Kroptkin to say something about Orwell. Kropotkin, talking about a poetry-loving friend wrote, “Sometimes he would advise me to read poetry, and would send me in his letters quantities of verses and whole poems, which he wrote from memory. 'Read poetry,' he wrote: 'poetry makes men better.' How often, in my later life, I realized the truth of this remark of his! Read poetry: it makes men better."
Read Orwell: it makes us better!
The Lion and the Unicorn is the longest essay by quite some distance, and deals with wartime Britain and how Orwell perceives the British "family," its politics, its weaknesses, flaws, and what the state of the nation is in itself, and what role Britain plays in the war. It begins, "As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me."
He writes that
"England is not the jewelled isle of Shakespeare's much-quoted message, nor the inferno depicted by Dr Goebbels. More than either it resembles a family, a rather stuffy victorian family, with not so many black sheep in it but with all its cupboards bursting with skeletons. It has rich relations who have to be kow-towed to and poor relations who are horribly sat upon, and there is a deep conspiracy of silence about the source of the family income. It is a family in which the young are generally thwarted and most of the power is in the hands of irresponsible uncles and bedridden aunts. Still, it is a family. [..] A family with the wrong members in control - that, perhaps, is as near as one can come to describing England in a phrase."
In general this is an interesting essay, especially for those interested in history, but it also outlines some ideas and thoughts that would be further developed in 1984 and Animal Farm and is well worth a read for that alone.
The remaining essays are also very interesting, and if it weren't for my laziness I would write more about those too. Just take my word for it: they are pretty short and very enjoyable to read, and they are all well worth your time. A Hanging is so short you can basically read it right now in 5 or 10 minutes, so go for it! Here's a link: http://www.online-literature.com/orwe...
I'd like to rephrase a quote by Pyotr Kroptkin to say something about Orwell. Kropotkin, talking about a poetry-loving friend wrote, “Sometimes he would advise me to read poetry, and would send me in his letters quantities of verses and whole poems, which he wrote from memory. 'Read poetry,' he wrote: 'poetry makes men better.' How often, in my later life, I realized the truth of this remark of his! Read poetry: it makes men better."
Read Orwell: it makes us better!
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A collection of essays from the guy invented 'doublespeak', 'groupthink', 'Big Brother', whose own name is immortalized into the English language ('Orwellian').
Roughly 80% of the book is about the English people and its political dynamics during WWII. Unless you have interest in the subject AND have the slightest familiarity with the histirical context, you will waste your time.
The last 20% of the book is actually rare gem. One is Orwell's eye-witness account of a hanging when he was posted in Burma. Here you will see his skill with evocative words. The last section is a critique at political euphemism in modern English language, full with jargons which serves nothing but obscuring the truth.
Example:
"The pre-emptive strike against the alleged terrorist-harboring country has the unwanted result of collateral damage"
which should actually be
"We invaded another country without evidence, and in the process killed innocent civiliants, women and babies"
Roughly 80% of the book is about the English people and its political dynamics during WWII. Unless you have interest in the subject AND have the slightest familiarity with the histirical context, you will waste your time.
The last 20% of the book is actually rare gem. One is Orwell's eye-witness account of a hanging when he was posted in Burma. Here you will see his skill with evocative words. The last section is a critique at political euphemism in modern English language, full with jargons which serves nothing but obscuring the truth.
Example:
"The pre-emptive strike against the alleged terrorist-harboring country has the unwanted result of collateral damage"
which should actually be
"We invaded another country without evidence, and in the process killed innocent civiliants, women and babies"
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