The Non-Fiction of George Orwell

Book excerpt: The Non-Fiction of George Orwell includes three memoirs, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier, and Homage to Catalonia which provide an indispensable introduction to the thought and writing of George Orwell. Immediately after deciding to become a writer, the Eton-educated Orwell lived among the paupers and the poorest of working-class labourers in Paris and the East End of London, observing and recording. His first book Down and Out in Paris and London discusses not just the physical life of the poor, but also their inner life. "If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor. You can keep on with your books and your ideas. You just got to say to yourself, "I'm a free man in here" - he tapped his forehead - "and you're all right." ― George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London "People are wrong when they think that an unemployed man only worries about losing his wages; on the contrary, an illiterate man, with the work habit in his bones, needs work even more than he needs money. An educated man can put up with enforced idleness, which is one of the worst evils of poverty ... The man who really merits pity is the man who has been down from the start, and faces poverty with a blank, resourceless mind." ― George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London. The Road to Wigan Pier, a highly original and unorthodox political treatise, describes Orwell's experiences living among the destitute and unemployed miners of northern England, sharing, observing, and describing their lives. It concludes with a passionate description of socialism; a critique of the middle class, who, logically, should support it but are its most vociferous opponents; and a scathing critique of the socialist movements of the time. Robert McCrum describes the book's essential role in the evolution of "George Orwell" "The upshot of this uniquely strange book was a kind of creative liberation: Eric Blair, who was now unequivocally George Orwell, had found his voice and his identity. For the rest of his active life - barely 10 years - he would write as a British literary socialist. From this declaration of intent come his masterpieces: Homage to Catalonia, Animal Farm and, finally, Nineteen Eighty-Four. It's arguable that without The Road to Wigan Pier none of these would have been possible." Homage to Catalonia is Orwell's account of his experiences as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. It was a formative period for his political thought and his subsequent writing. He states in Why I Write "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for Democratic Socialism, as I understand it." Homage to Catalonia, "politically and as literature ... is a work of first-class importance, " Geoffrey Gorer. "It shows us the heart of innocence that lies in revolution; also, the miasma of lying that, far more than the cruelty, takes the heart out of it, " Philip Mairet. George Orwell (1903-1950) was a leading British writer of the twentieth century. After studying at Eton as a King's Scholar he joined the Indian Imperial Police until 1927 when, disgusted by imperialism, he resigned to pursue his boyhood dream of being a writer. Orwell was a prolific journalist, essayist, novelist and nonfiction writer. He is remembered for his prescient writing and his unwavering commitment to truth and clarity of expression. Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four have placed him at the very pinnacle of British literature.