Author George Orwell

George Orwell: 1903–1950

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
“It is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one’s own personality. Good prose is like a windowpane.”
“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.”

Early on, Orwell saw writing as a cure for his loneliness.
Orwell was sent to boarding school at the age of eight. During his years at school, he endured contempt from his headmaster and fellow students.
Following his graduation from prep school, Orwell attended Eton College, a prestigious secondary school. However, rather than completing class work, Orwell preferred to spend his time swimming or reading on his own.
In lieu of attending college, Orwell volunteered to join the Burma branch of the Indian Imperial Police. Orwell spent five years as a policeman in Burma, after which he resigned to take up writing full time. Orwell’s experiences in the oppressive society of colonial Burma greatly influenced his writings.
Orwell married his wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, in 1936. They settled into a small town in England where Orwell worked as the village grocer.
In 1937, Orwell worked alongside his wife as a member of the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unity (POUM) militia in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.
Following his stint in the POUM, Orwell and his wife returned to England.
During World War II, Orwell worked for the civil defense forces and produced radio programs for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Orwell greatly admired the work of Charles Dickens, another author who took on social issues and social disparity in his writings.
Other writers who influenced Orwell included William Thackeray, William Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, Jonathan Swift, and George Bernard Shaw.

Animal Farm

Burmese Days

Down and Out in Paris and London

Homage to Catalonia

Inside the Whale, and Other Essays

The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius

1984

The Road to Wigan Pier

Such, Such Were the Joys

Animal Farm was rejected by several British publishing companies for fear of upsetting their country’s World War II ally, the Soviet Union. Finally, a small left-leaning publishing firm opted to publish the book, which was an instant success.
Orwell was one of the first to use the term “Cold War” when describing the conflict between the Soviet Union and Western democracies.
In addition to the novels and short stories that he wrote, Orwell also wrote a number of articles and reviews under his given name (Eric Blair).
1984 was named one of the 21 best-loved novels in Great Britain by the British public in 2003; Animal Farm was voted into the top 100.
‘George Orwell Diaries,’ edited by Peter Davison

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