These essays demonstrate that Orwell was probably the greatest prose stylist in modern English literature. Highest rating.

I wish we had more journalists of Orwell's caliber writing today. It's difficult to map his views and insights to the world we have today except in the general sense of power and oppressed peoples.

Preface-review does not start here.

I was introduced to George Orwell almost three years ago when I was at the gym with my buddy. We were talking about literature(we always talk literature when lifting weights, it helps get us in the mood), and that's when my friend brought up the novel 1984. So, here I am, not knowing a damn thing about this book. My friend was literally flabbergasted when I mentioned that I did not who George Orwell was. That's when he recommended reading 1984, as he claimed this was a popular book and a fantastic read.

And so I did. That week I went to the local bookshop and picked it up. I started reading it, then just like the person I am, left it on the shelve for the remainder of its life. It sat there for about two years before I picked it back up and started to read it. Of course I started from the beginning. That's when I became hooked, and finished the book in less than four days. I literally fell in love with Orwell and then immediately picked up Animal Farm, then finished that in 2 days. Then that's when I picked up this book, The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage.

REAL REVIEW STARTS HERE!

This book is truly amazing. Here you will read Orewll's truest thoughts, ideas and views. This book contains some of the greatest essays that were ever written, such as Shooting and Elephant and Politics and the English Language, essays that you can read over and over again.

I am disappointed that I have not taken advantage of this before. Orwell's deepest feelings are attached with his essays. These collection of essays doesn't just tell you who George Orwell is, but Eric Arthur Blair, the man before George Orwell.

Just like 1984 and Animal Farm, George shows how strongly he feels about politics, and from his Burmese days.

I really don't know any other way to explain the wonders in George's essays. If you're into real English literature, this book is for you.

100% "meh."

Some most excellent stuff within this one which includes his trenchant "Politics and the English Language"; "Shooting an Elephant"; "Rudyard Kipling"; ""Tolstoy and Shakespeare"; and a bunch of other ones. Orwell is one whose writing becomes ever more relevant to today's world, as he managed to see clear through early on the processes through which language is perverted to serve the needs of the totalitarian state. You will never know your enemy better than by reading Orwell first.

Orwell's writings are truly wonderful. I especially liked "the shooting of an elephant" because it seemed so unordinary. A good read, one that any history major interested in British Foreign Policy and Imperialist views should read.

I loved this collection. I do not like Orwell’s fiction, but his nonfiction eats.

“Such, Such Were the Joys…” is one of my favorite essays now.

Some great essay selections I hadn't found elsewhere; but first read 1984.

Blah Blah, 1984, blah blah, Animal Farm... read his essays! Really his best work. If you don't think you'll tackle them all, then at least read the biggies- Politics and the English Language, The Hanging, Shooting an Elephant. And I remember liking something about Rudyard Kipling, although I can't say I anymore remember why.

Several stories in this book stick forever. For example the description about the dance performed by an Indian girl. The interesting detail is that the description comes from the eyes of a person that strongly dislikes the scene. The miracle is that although the words are of disgust; the beauty of the dance is still intact in the story. I don't know how he does it; but he does.

A hanging Wonderful history on how they executed a prisoner and then went on with their lives.

An article about his experiences when he was poor in Paris. About the horrors of being poor; hungry and cold; but also the comfort of not having any worries at all; because you have nothing to lose. That was incredible.

Also I read that famous article that he wrote while the planes were bombarding him in London during a war. I wonder how somebody can write with so much clarity while bombs are falling all around; but he managed to do it. He is admirable!

Orwell is so much more than 1984 and Animal Farm. And I always knew this, but this collection of his works does an incredible job of painting a picture of his life. I will read this again one day; I've gleaned much this time around and would only gain from another reading

This is just a necessary...excellent...always-useful book to have. Orwell is a fine corrective (not to say tonic) for one's mind and moral imagination.

This greatest-hits collection pretty much has it all. Excerpts from his fiction (including his sparkling but lesser-read works, like "Wigan Pier" and "Down and Out...") mixed with his journalism and essays ("Catalonia" and "Shooting An Elephant", both absolutely essential texts for getting a grip on the 20th Century) and his assessments of Kipling, Swift, Tolstoy, Wodehouse and pulp mysteries.

Also, don't by any means forget his "Why I Write", which is not only a statement of purpose but also an essential apologia pro vita sua for one of the decent, articulate, self-critical, humane voices of the 20th Century...

What I have most wanted to do throughout the past ten years is to make political writing into an art. My starting point is always a feeling of partisanship, a sense of injustice. When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, 'I am going to produce a work of art.' I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience. Anyone who cares to examine my work will see that even when it is downright propaganda it contains much that a full-time politician would consider irrelevant. I am not able, and I do not want, completely to abandon the world view that I acquired in childhood. So long as I remain alive and well I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the earth, and to take a pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information. It is no use trying to suppress this side of myself. The job is to reconcile my ingrained likes and dislikes with the essentially public, non-individual activities this age forces on all of us.