Book Review: Why Orwell Matters

I am a massive fan of George Orwell both as a writer and a socialist/humanist so I may be somewhat bias with any book about him, especially as I am also a huge fan of the writings of Hitchens too. This is quite a short, light read, perfect for anyone who has not experienced Orwell before but would also be great as a starting point for new students of the author.

Hitchens does have a certain literary style which you will experience in his writings here, especially if you are familiar with his other works (my favorite being God is not great) The subject of the book is of course Orwell, Born Eric Arthur Blair, George Orwell created some of the sharpest satirical fiction of the 20th century with such works as Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four (which you can also read about in a previous post of my blog). He was a man of strong opinions who addressed some of the major political movements of his times, including imperialism, fascism and communism. Orwell is best known for two novels, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, both of which were published toward the end of his life. Animal Farm (1945) was an anti-Soviet satire in a pastoral setting featuring two pigs as its main protagonists. These pigs were said to represent Josef Stalin and Leon Trotsky. The novel brought Orwell great acclaim and financial rewards. In 1949, Orwell published another masterwork, Nineteen Eighty-Four (or 1984 in later editions). This bleak vision of the world divided into three oppressive nations stirred up controversy among reviewers, who found this fictional future too despairing. In the novel, Orwell gave readers a glimpse into what would happen if the government controlled every detail of a person's life, down to their own private thoughts. Doe’s Orwell Matter? Well I agree with Hitchens that he does. Hitchens does a good job in showing how Orwell's uncompromising belief in liberty and equality (expressed very clearly in "Animal Farm" and "Nineteen Eighty-four") offended those on the left who refused to accept that Stalin's USSR violated those ideals big-time. And he also shows that while right-wing thinkers endorsed (some of) Orwell's principles, they could not claim him as one of their own. Orwell remains a towering figure on the libertarian left, despite some odd foibles such as his slightly questionable attitude towards Jews and gays. Its an enjoyable enlightening read and at 200 pages its not too taxing, I certainly recommend it to everyone. To quote a sentence from the back of the book by Hitchens “I sometimes feel as if George Orwell requires extracted from under a pile of saccharine tablets and moist hankies” and its my opinion Hitchens does exactly this in his book.