7 ms·
I say, damn it, where are the beds? New books on Orwell
- toss1941 10y agoPropaganda piece.
- hereiam123 10y agoThe irony of this piece is overwhelming.
- skylan_q 10y agoPolitical correctness isn't language control... attacking it is!!
- reptation 10y agoThe Road to Wigan Pier should be in this. Orwell lived with coal miners' families in Northern Britain for months. I particularly was struck by his descriptions of the way social-welfare policies were used to weaken family structures of the poor.
- thorin 10y agoIf you were affected by it I'd strongly recommend you read the ragged trousered philanthropists. Unfortunately it seems like not much has changed in the 100 years since it was written.
- lfam 10y agoMarilynne Robinson's book 'Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State, and Nuclear Pollution' talks extensively about the history of Britian's social welfare system and its degrading effect on the people it ostensibly serves. I recommend it highly if you are interested in the relationship between people and states of the British colonial diaspora, including the USA.
- pjc50 10y ago> social-welfare policies were used to weaken family structures of the poor How on earth do you get that message out of Orwell? He argued in places that the various relief organisations were often patronising and under-informed, but the "weaken family structures" is a distinctly modern code phrase.
- tinotopia 10y agoIn Chapter Five, he writes: >“The most cruel and evil effect of the Means Test is the way in which it breaks up families. Old people, sometimes bedridden, are driven out of their homes by it. An old age pensioner, for instance, if a widower, would normally live with one or other of his children; his weekly ten shillings goes towards the household expenses, and probably he is not badly cared for. Under the Means Test, however, he counts as a ‘lodger’ and if he stays at home his children’s dole will be docked. So, perhaps at seventy or seventy-five years of age, he has to turn out into lodgings, handing his pension over to the lodging-house keeper and existing on the verge of starvation. I have seen several cases of this myself. It is happening all over England at this moment, thanks to the Means Test.”
- lacampbell 10y agoWhat's a "code phrase"?
- djeikyb 10y agosee: shibboleth
- lacampbell 10y agoI guess I was wanting the person that wrote it to explain what they meant, rather than using weasel words.
- lb1lf 10y agoSay what you want about Orwell (Well, Blair, if you like), but he was a shrewd observer of human nature. 1984 and Animal Farm are probably his best known works, but his 'Down and out in Paris and London' describes being poor and how it affects both your body and mind like no other account I've ever read (and I read quite a lot!) I love his writing - and, before anyone suggest I have a rosy view of him because of his politics, I am a (mild) libertarian of the Viennese mold...
- CalChris 10y agoHis essays Shooting An Elephant and Politics and the English Language have always stuck with me. We have the 4 volume collection in the family. It's at an arm's distance right now. I read Animal Farm when I was 12 and 1984 a few years later. And I've re-read them a few times since. In college, I read Down and Out. Traveling through Europe I read Homage to Catalonia. Orwell is my favorite writer and 1984 is my favorite book.
- Finnucane 10y ago"Politics and the English Language" is unquestionably one of Orwell's most important essays. Kind of amazing that this post overlooks it.
- iak8god 10y agoThe post quotes it, but does not mention it.
- visakanv 10y agoI loved it so much that I once tried to do a 'modern update' of it, with headers and bullet points and so on. It's meant to be a supplement to the original essay, not a replacement: http://visakanv.com/blog/politics-and-the-english-language http://visakanv.com/blog/politics-and-the-english-language
- Finnucane 10y agoI would be willing to bet money that Orwell would have hated bullet points. Also, PowerPoint.
- visakanv 10y agoI didn't remove anything that he said; I just presented his multiple lists of examples in a easier-to-read format. The original essay probably was formatted a particular way on the printed page, but it's turned into a tedious wall of text in the orwell.ru version. I have a link to the predecessor in opening; so you can open both copies in separate tabs and compare them for yourself.
- wz1000 10y agoHomage to Catalonia deserves a mention here. https://libcom.org/files/Homage%20to%20Catalonia%20-%20George%20Orwell.pdf https://libcom.org/files/Homage%20to%20Catalonia%20-%20Georg...
- dang 10y agoThat was the book he talked about having sacrificed his art to write.
- conistonwater 10y agoThings like http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/01/27/honest-decent-wrong http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/01/27/honest-decent-w... are worth reading too.
- iak8god 10y agoThis is such a strangely sparse comment. Can you say something about why you recommend this article?
- iak8god 10y agoWould it have killed the author of this post to name the essays he's quoting? "... good prose is like a windowpane." - Why I write, 1946 "Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." - Politics and the English Language, 1946 Etc
- AlexCoventry 10y agoOrwell's book reviews are a treasure.
- vittore 10y agoBenefit of Clergy is a marvelous gem!
- cgriswald 10y agoOrwell is great. This article is questionable. > To the surprise of absolutely no one, George Orwell is everywhere these days. His seven-decade-old dystopian classic, 1984, recently made waves by topping a bunch of bestseller lists. Orwell’s earlier (and arguably greater) allegory, Animal Farm, is also getting its due. That both novels are suddenly on the radar of people who probably haven’t given Orwell a second thought in years is hardly surprising at a time when war refugees are painted as national security threats, white nationalists hold positions of power in the White House and an American president is openly involved in an abusive relationship with the English language. It isn't surprising. What is surprising is to see anyone lay this at the feet of Trump. So here is what actually happened: In the wake of 9/11, Bush started legitimizing a strong surveillance state (that to some degree has been with us since WW II). With few exceptions, primarily from 'crazy libertarians' and some liberals, both liberals and conservatives went along with it. Of course, this didn't stop liberals from using it as justification to try to get Republicans out of office later on. Obama was elected. Since Obama was "their guy", liberals grew mostly silent on the subject (although with a lot more exceptions than before) and conservatives suddenly changed their tune, at least in public: surveillance is bad (but Snowden is still a traitor). Those liberals who were cool with whatever Obama was doing believed in the myth of "the right people". Meaning, governance isn't a question of political power, sound policies, principled problem solving or anything along those lines. It's just a question of having "the right people" in charge. So whatever powers "the right people" say they need to do their job, since they are "the right people" it must be true and we should give them those powers to Get Things Done. (Note: there are conservative factions that believe this as well.) Now, those very same liberals are in a panic because (surprise, surprise) Trump (i.e., the wrong person) is in charge and has all those powers that were previously given to "the right people". Of course, the problem isn't the granting of those powers. It's just that the wrong person was voted in by an ignorant public. So now, in a panic, largely induced by a media which finds itself incapable of straight truth or depth, they flock to buy 1984 so they can 'legitimately' talk and write about this book they've never previously read in order to make tenuous comparisons to Trump's brand new presidency. And they, like conservatives during the Obama years, will cry out against the very same surveillance state that was no problem at all when their guy was in charge.
- 10y ago
- dang 10y agoAmong everything else, Orwell is a master of English. This can be hard to see because his mastery never calls attention to itself. His focus is always the point.
- CalChris 10y agoStrangely to me, Politics and the English Language was never assigned in any of the classes I took at Berkeley. 1984 was by popular acclamation The Book. But it seemed that PATEL was ranked too high for undergrads. It should've been required English 1A reading.
- vittore 10y agoI am so glad it is on front page. I LOVE his essays. Such a good read. And I totally agree that they'll give you more than Animal Farm and 1984.
- clydethefrog 10y agoThis article seems like a lazy rewrite of an article about Orwell: Writing and Democratic Socialism by Alex Woloch in the latest London Review of Books. See the section after the *. https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n04/david-trotter/i-say-damn-it-where-are-the-beds https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n04/david-trotter/i-say-damn-it-wh... It's a better read anyway.
- dang 10y agoOk, in honor of better reads, let's try changing the URL to that from https://theawl.com/forget-1984-today-orwell-s-essays-matter-more-52df0a4087e2 https://theawl.com/forget-1984-today-orwell-s-essays-matter-.... All: Sorry for the confusion but lots of people were complaining about that other article and I don't see why Orwell should suffer for it.
- vincvinc 10y agoCan I respectfully disagree with Dang's changing the featured link? As someone who is not informed on Orwell, the previously featured article actually helps me understand what it is trying to say. It also gives me crucial basic information (e.g. Blair = Orwell) which is missing from the London Review of Books article. Reading both would be best of course, but I know which link I'm sending to friends first.
- clydethefrog 10y agoI agree with you as well. I never intended for this link to be the original link. It was just intended for the audience of HN that is already a fan and familiar with Orwell's work. I couldn't reply to dang comment unfortunately to say that.