Continuing his masterful investigation of the ongoing reception and continual reinvention of George Orwell six decades after his death, Rodden delves into numerous aspects of Orwell’s legacy that ...have been surprisingly neglected.
The remarkable transformation of Orwell from journeyman writer to towering icon
Is George Orwell the most influential writer who ever lived? Yes, according to John Rodden’s provocative book about the ...transformation of a man into a myth. Rodden does not argue that Orwell was the most distinguished man of letters of the last century, nor even the leading novelist of his generation, let alone the greatest imaginative writer of English prose fiction. Yet his influence since his death at midcentury is incomparable. No other writer has aroused so much controversy or contributed so many incessantly quoted words and phrases to our cultural lexicon, from “Big Brother” and “doublethink” to “thoughtcrime” and “Newspeak.” Becoming George Orwell is a pathbreaking tour de force that charts the astonishing passage of a litterateur into a legend.
Rodden presents the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four in a new light, exploring how the man and writer Orwell, born Eric Arthur Blair, came to be overshadowed by the spectral figure associated with nightmare visions of our possible futures. Rodden opens with a discussion of the life and letters, chronicling Orwell’s eccentricities and emotional struggles, followed by an assessment of his chief literary achievements. The second half of the book examines the legend and legacy of Orwell, whom Rodden calls “England’s Prose Laureate,” looking at everything from cyberwarfare to “fake news.” The closing chapters address both Orwell’s enduring relevance to burning contemporary issues and the multiple ironies of his popular reputation, showing how he and his work have become confused with the very dreads and diseases that he fought against throughout his life.
First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Anthony Stewart is Assistant Professor in the English Department at Dalhousie University. His recent ...publications include "George Orwell's Elastic Politics" in English Studies in Canada and "Penn and Teller Magic: Self, Racial Devaluation, and the Canadian Academy" in Racism, Eh? , an anthology on race and racism in Canada.
Writers words have always been used by pundits and politicos in order to further their own agendas, but it is probable that no writers work has been used (and misused) as frequently and as ...effectively as George Orwells. Once the champion of Europes down-and-out and a self-proclaimed advocate of Socialism, Orwell was, understandably, embraced by many on the Left during his own lifetime. Following the publications of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four and the writers own death shortly.
There have been many studies of George Orwell, but nothing quite like this book by Alex Woloch—an exuberant, revisionary account of Orwell’s radical writing. Bearing down on the propulsive irony and ...formal restlessness intertwined with his plain-style, Woloch offers a new understanding of Orwell and a new way of thinking about writing and politics.
Since his death in 1950, George Orwell has been canonised as England's foremost political writer, and the standard-bearer of honesty and decency for the honourable 'Left'. In this controversial ...polemic, Scott Lucas argues that the exaltation of Orwell, far from upholding dissent against the State, has sought to quash such opposition. Indeed, Orwell has become the icon of those who, in the pose of the contrarian, try to silence public opposition to US and U K foreign policy in the 'War on Terror'. Lucas's lively and readable critique of public intellectuals including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Walzer, David Aaronovitch, and Johann Hari - who have all invoked Orwellian honesty and decency to shut down dissent - will appeal to anyone disillusioned with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
