George Orwell
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'Adds enormously to our understanding of the man' Evening Standard
George Orwell was one of the greatest writers England produced in the last century. He left an enduring mark on our language and culture, with concepts such as 'Big Brother' and 'Room 101.' His reputation rests not only on his political shrewdness and his sharp satires (Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four) but also on his marvellously clear style and superb essays, which rank with the best ever written.
Gordon Bowker's new biography includes fascinating new material which brings Orwell'slife into unfamiliar focus. He writes revealingly about Orwell's family background; the lasting influence of Eton on his work and character; his superstitious streak and youthful flirtation with black magic; and his chaotic and reckless sex life, which included at least one homoerotic relationship. It highlights the strange circumstances of his first marriage and provides remarkable new evidence of his experiences in Spain and their nightmarish consequences. It also offers a fresh look at his peculiar deathbed marriage to a woman fifteen years his junior. All this has enabled Bowker to give Orwell's life a brilliantly fresh and distinctive interpretation.
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George Orwell entered the world as Eric Blair, a man whose eventual decision to hide behind a pseudonym created a double life between the private "Blair" and the public "Orwell." So theorizes Bowker in this detailed political and psychological portrait of the British writer whose most famous creation, 1984's "Big Brother," has become nearly synonymous with the inability to hide in modern society. Orwell took the pseudonym upon the 1933 publication of Down and Out in Paris and London, and cemented its use when producing broadcasts to India for the BBC Empire Service during World War II. This work would provide much of the inspiration for 1984's language of control and manipulation: the censorious BBC bureaucracy became "the Ministry of Truth," and the Nazi and Soviet propaganda transmissions the BBC monitored spawned "Newspeak" and "Doublethink." Bowker connects Orwell's experiences to nearly all of his writings, but he also focuses on lesser-known personal details, including frequent respiratory illness (later revealed as Tuberculosis) and the seduction of numerous women. But the side of Orwell that emerges most forcefully here is of the writer with "the kestrel-eye view of political systems" who felt the necessity to "point to the great threat of politics and science devoid of morality" and who related this view to the defining moments of the 20th Century: Communism, Hitler, World War II and the Cold War. While Bowker's book might enthrall only the most dedicated reader, the frequent appearances in today's news of the terms "Big Brother" and "Orwellian" makes his study a relevant read. Photos.
