Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative EssaysEssays by the author of 1984 on topics from “remembrances of working in a bookshop [to] recollections of fighting in the Spanish Civil War” (Publishers Weekly). George Orwell was first and foremost an essayist, producing throughout his life an extraordinary array of short nonfiction that reflected—and illuminated—the fraught times in which he lived. “As soon as he began to write something,” comments George Packer in his foreword, “it was as natural for Orwell to propose, generalize, qualify, argue, judge—in short, to think—as it was for Yeats to versify or Dickens to invent.” Facing Unpleasant Facts charts Orwell’s development as a master of the narrative-essay form and unites such classics as “Shooting an Elephant” with lesser-known journalism and passages from his wartime diary. Whether detailing the horrors of Orwell’s boyhood in an English boarding school or bringing to life the sights, sounds, and smells of the Spanish Civil War, these essays weave together the personal and the political in an unmistakable style that is at once plainspoken and brilliantly complex. “Best known for his late-career classics Animal Farm and 1984, George Orwell—who used his given name, Eric Blair, in the earliest pieces of this collection aimed at the aficionado as well as the general reader—was above all a polemicist of the first rank. Organized chronologically, from 1931 through the late 1940s, these in-your-face writings showcase the power of this literary form.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 21
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... Packer • [>] The Spike •[>] Clink • [>] A Hanging• [>] Shooting an Elephant • [>] Bookshop Memories • [>] Marrakech • [>] My Country Right or Left • [>] War-time Diary • [>] England Your England • [>] Dear CONTENTS ...
... Packer • [>] The Spike •[>] Clink • [>] A Hanging• [>] Shooting an Elephant • [>] Bookshop Memories • [>] Marrakech • [>] My Country Right or Left • [>] War-time Diary • [>] England Your England • [>] Dear CONTENTS ...
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... Shooting an Elephant," none of his essays are widely read, and some of the best remain almost unknown. Those American readers who have read the essays are likely to have encountered only the single-volume A Collection of Essays, which ...
... Shooting an Elephant," none of his essays are widely read, and some of the best remain almost unknown. Those American readers who have read the essays are likely to have encountered only the single-volume A Collection of Essays, which ...
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... Shooting an Elephant," and about the way close reading in a critical essay can open up literary and philosophical commentary from "T. S. Eliot." Orwell's essays demonstrate how to be interesting line after line. The emphasis in these ...
... Shooting an Elephant," and about the way close reading in a critical essay can open up literary and philosophical commentary from "T. S. Eliot." Orwell's essays demonstrate how to be interesting line after line. The emphasis in these ...
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... Shooting an Elephant": "I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys." A version of it precedes an anecdote from "Looking Back on the Spanish War," about the unexpected aftermath ...
... Shooting an Elephant": "I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys." A version of it precedes an anecdote from "Looking Back on the Spanish War," about the unexpected aftermath ...
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... shooting of an elephant!" As it turned out, there was. "Shooting an Elephant" is probably Orwell's most perfect essay, and a crucial advance beyond "A Hanging." This time, the narrative and reflective elements are woven together, and ...
... shooting of an elephant!" As it turned out, there was. "Shooting an Elephant" is probably Orwell's most perfect essay, and a crucial advance beyond "A Hanging." This time, the narrative and reflective elements are woven together, and ...
Contents
Section 25 | |
Section 26 | |
Section 27 | |
Section 28 | |
Section 29 | |
Section 30 | |
Section 31 | |
Section 32 | |
Section 17 | |
Section 18 | |
Section 19 | |
Section 20 | |
Section 21 | |
Section 22 | |
Section 23 | |
Section 24 | |
Section 33 | |
Section 34 | |
Section 35 | |
Section 36 | |
Section 37 | |
Section 38 | |
Section 39 | |
Section 40 | |
Section 41 | |
Section 42 | |
Section 43 | |
Section 44 | |
Section 45 | |
Section 46 | |
Section 47 | |
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Common terms and phrases
actually American appeared army believe better bombs British called child comes course doubt early elephant England English essays exist eyes face fact feeling fight fire five force French German give half hand happened hundred instance interest Italy killed kind later less live London look March matter means memory merely mind morning natural never night notice once one's Orwell Orwell's party past perhaps person political possible prison probably question raids reason remember round ruling Russian Sambo seemed side simply sort sound Spain Spanish stories suppose taken talk tell thing thought took tramps true turned usual week whole writing