Author: George Orwell
Translator: Kyeong-seo Park
Publisher: Shilcheon Munhaksa
310 pages
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| >>>This book is written in Korean only. |
About This Book
Collection of 25 essays by George Orwell.
Imagine any of today's writers of "creative nonfiction" dispatching a rogue
elephant before an audience of several thousand. Now, imagine the essay that
would result. Can we say "narcissism"? As part of the Imperial Police in Burma,
George Orwell actually found himself aiming the gun, and his record--first
published in 1936--comprises eight of the highest voltage pages of English prose
you'll ever read. In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell illumines the shoddy
recesses of his own character, illustrates the morally corrupting nature of
imperialism, and indicts you, the reader, in the creature's death, a process so
vividly reported it's likely to show up in your nightmares ever after. "The
owner was furious, but he was only an Indian and could do nothing.... Among the
Europeans opinion was divided. The older men said I was right, the younger men
said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an
elephant was worth much more than any damn Coringhee coolie."
This essay alone would be worth the cover price, and the dozen other pieces
collected here prove that, given the right thinker/writer, today's journalism
actually can become tomorrow's literature. "The Art of Donald McGill,"
ostensibly an appreciation of the jokey, vaguely obscene illustrated postcards
beloved of the working classes, uses the lens of popular culture to examine the
battle lines and rules of engagement in the war of the sexes, circa 1941.
"Politics and the English Language" is a prose working-out of Orwell's
perceptions about the slippery relationship of word and thought that becomes a
key premise of 1984. "Looking Back on the Spanish War" is as clear-eyed a
veteran's memoir of the nature of war as you're likely to find, and Orwell's
long ruminations on the wildly popular "good bad" writers Charles Dickens and
Rudyard Kipling showcase his singular virtues--searing honesty and independent
thinking. From English boarding schools to Gandhi's
character to an early appreciation of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, these
pieces give an idiosyncratic tour of the first half of the passing century in
the company of an articulate and engaged guide. Don't let the idea that Orwell
is an "important" writer put you off reading him. He's really too good, and too
human, to miss. --Joyce Thompson
Availability: No longer available
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