George Orwell

George Orwell

George Orwell (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English writer. His real name was Eric Arthur Blair. He used the name George Orwell for his novels.

He was born in India during the British Empire's rule of India. He is best known for two novels that he wrote in the late 1940s, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. In those works, he said that totalitarianism, especially Stalinism, was very bad.

Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War with the antifascist troops. These troops were against the dictatorship of fascist governments.

Orwell died of tuberculosis in London.

Early life

Eric Arthur Blair was born on 25 June 1903, in India. His great-grandfather Charles Blair had been a rich gentleman who had married Lady Mary Fane, and he was supported by money from slave plantations in Jamaica. His grandfather, Thomas Richard Arthur Blair, was a clergyman. His father, Richard Walmesley Blair, worked in the Indian Civil Service. His mother, Ida Mabel Blair, grew up in Burma. Eric had two sisters. Marjorie, his first sister, was five years older than he was. Avril was five years younger. When Eric was one year old, Ida took him to England.

Eric grew up with his mother and sisters. Except for a short visit, he did not see his father again until 1912. The family moved to Shiplake before World War I. There, Eric became friends with the Buddicom family, especially Jacintha Buddicom. They read poetry and hoped to become famous writers. At this time, he also liked fishing and watching birds with Jacintha's brother and sister.

When he was five, Eric was sent to a convent school where Marjorie went to. It was a Catholic convent. His mother wanted him to go to public school, but his family was not rich enough to pay for it. Ida's brother, Charles Limouzin, was asked to help find the best school to help Eric prepare for better things. He suggested St Cyprian's School in Eastbourne, Sussex. Limouzin, who was a good golfer, came to know the school and its headmaster at the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club. The headmaster helped Blair win the scholarship to pay for his education. He also let Blair's parents pay only half the usual amount of money. However, Blair hated the school.

Bibliography

Novels

• Burmese Days (1934)
• A Clergyman's Daughter (1935)
• Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)
• Coming Up for Air (1939)
• Animal Farm (1945)
• Nineteen Eighty-Four (8 June 1949;)

Books based on his life

• Down and Out in Paris and London (1933)
• The Road to Wigan Pier (1937)
• Homage to Catalonia (1938)

Poems

• "Romance"
• "A Little Poem"
• "Awake! Young Men of England"
• "Kitchener"
• "Our Minds are Married, But we are Too Young"
• "The Pagan"
• "The Lesser Evil"
• "Poem From Burma"

References

• Anderson, Paul (ed). Orwell in Tribune: 'As I Please' and Other Writings. Methuen/Politico's 2006. ISBN 1-84275-155-7
• Bounds, Philip. Orwell and Marxism: The Political and Cultural Thinking of George Orwell. I.B. Tauris. 2009. ISBN 1-84511-807-3
• Bowker, Gordon. George Orwell. Little Brown. 2003. ISBN 0-316-86115-4
• Caute, David. Dr. Orwell and Mr. Blair, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-81438-9
• Crick, Bernard. George Orwell: A Life. Penguin. 1982. ISBN 0-14-005856-7
• Flynn, Nigel. George Orwell. The Rourke Corporation, Inc. 1990. ISBN 0-86593-018-X
• Hitchens, Christopher. Why Orwell Matters. Basic Books. 2003. ISBN 0-465-03049-1
• Hollis, Christopher. A Study of George Orwell: The Man and His Works. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co. 1956.
• Larkin, Emma. Secret Histories: Finding George Orwell in a Burmese Teashop. Penguin. 2005. ISBN 1-59420-052-1
• Lee, Robert A, Orwell's Fiction. University of Notre Dame Press, 1969. LC 74-75151
• Leif, Ruth Ann, Homage to Oceania. The Prophetic Vision of George Orwell. Ohio State U.P. [1969]
• Meyers, Jeffery. Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation. W.W.Norton. 2000. ISBN 0-393-32263-7
• Newsinger, John. Orwell's Politics. Macmillan. 1999. ISBN 0-333-68287-4
• Rodden, John (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell. Cambridge. 2007. ISBN 978-0-521-67507-9
• Shelden, Michael. Orwell: The Authorized Biography. HarperCollins. 1991. ISBN 0-06-016709-2
• Smith, D. & Mosher, M. Orwell for Beginners. 1984. London: Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative.
• Taylor, D. J. Orwell: The Life. Henry Holt and Company. 2003. ISBN 0-8050-7473-2
• West, W. J. The Larger Evils. Edinburgh: Canongate Press. 1992. ISBN 0-86241-382-6 (Nineteen Eighty-Four – The truth behind the satire.)
• West, W. J. (ed.) George Orwell: The Lost Writings. New York: Arbor House. 1984. ISBN 0-87795-745-2
• Williams, Raymond, Orwell, Fontana/Collins, 1971
• Woodcock, George. The Crystal Spirit. Little Brown. 1966. ISBN 1-55164-268-9
• Orwell's meeting with dos Passos in 1937 Barcelona referenced in Stephen Koch, “The Breaking Point: Hemingway, dos Passos, and the Murder of Jose Robles”