![]() ![]() Down and Out in Paris and London, the debut book which turned the old Etonian and former colonial policeman Eric Blair into the radical journalist George Orwell, revealed the politically naïve 29-year-old’s compassion for the downtrodden and his appreciation for human eccentricity. In Orwell’s non-fiction, meanwhile, we can trace the evolution of a political philosophy in which social justice goes hand in hand with freedom of speech and a deep respect for the individual. In his first four novels, we see the recurring story of an unhappy individual who rebels against a stifling social orthodoxy – imperialism, religion, capitalism, suburbia – and winds up thoroughly defeated, albeit less violently than Winston Smith. Nineteen Eighty-Four, in particular, was a culmination of ideas he had been turning over in his mind throughout his working life. Orwell’s earlier work, however, is essential to understanding those books. In fact, most of his books and journalism would likely have fallen out of print if not for his two deathless late masterpieces about the psychology and practice of totalitarianism. ![]() Prior to the publication of Animal Farm in 1945, Orwell had published four novels and three works of non-fiction, but only The Road to Wigan Pier had sold in significant numbers and none had furnished him with enough royalties to survive as a full-time author. George Orwell’s career is unusual in that most people start at the end and work backwards. ![]()
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