Review: 'Why I Write' by George Orwell
- Caroline Selby
- Sep 23, 2020
- 2 min read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Why I Write by George Orwell is a book containing four essays written at various times in the author’s life. The essays are Why I Write, The Lion and the Unicorn, A Hanging, and Politics and the English Language. In Why I Write, the first essay, Orwell describes his road to becoming a writer, which started in his childhood. The Lion and the Unicorn details Orwell’s opinion on the situation in Britain during WWII, and the author advocates for socialism. A Hanging is a short story describing the hanging of a criminal that Orwell witnessed when in Burma as a member of the British Imperial Police. Lastly, in Politics and the English Language, Orwell criticizes the written English of his time, which he finds “ugly and inaccurate,” and explores the connection between political beliefs and the degradation of language.
I loved this little book. I have read most of Orwell’s books, and it was very interesting to read these four essays. I particularly loved reading the first essay, Why I Write, because I always find it intriguing to hear what inspires authors to write in the first place. Orwell says he knew early on that writing was his calling, beginning the essay with, “from a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer.” I also really enjoyed reading more of Orwell’s thoughts on politics, and I found it interesting that although these essays were written in the 30s and 40s, a lot of his opinions are still very relevant. He was an advocate of socialism, and even outlined steps as to how he thought Britain could become socialist, which I loved. Every page in this book has something interesting to say, and I would recommend it to any Orwell fan!
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