George Orwell

Born

in Motihari, Bihar, India

June 25, 1903

Died

January 21, 1950

Website

http://www.george-orwell.org/

Genre

Fiction, Politics, Journalism

Influences

Charles Dickens, Jonathan Swift, Charles Reade, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Gust ...more

edit data

Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language, and a belief in democratic socialism.

In addition to his literary career Orwell served as a police officer with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922-1927 and fought with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1937. Orwell was severely wounded when he was shot through his throat. Later the organization that he had joined when he joined the Republican cause, The Workers Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), was painted by the pro-Soviet Communists as a Trotsky Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language, and a belief in democratic socialism.

In addition to his literary career Orwell served as a police officer with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922-1927 and fought with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1937. Orwell was severely wounded when he was shot through his throat. Later the organization that he had joined when he joined the Republican cause, The Workers Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), was painted by the pro-Soviet Communists as a Trotskyist organization (Trotsky was Joseph Stalin's enemy) and disbanded. Orwell and his wife were accused of "rabid Trotskyism" and tried in absentia in Barcelona, along with other leaders of the POUM, in 1938. However by then they had escaped from Spain and returned to England.

Between 1941 and 1943, Orwell worked on propaganda for the BBC. In 1943, he became literary editor of the Tribune, a weekly left-wing magazine. He was a prolific polemical journalist, article writer, literary critic, reviewer, poet, and writer of fiction, and, considered perhaps the twentieth century's best chronicler of English culture.

Orwell is best known for the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (published in 1949) and the satirical novella Animal Farm (1945) — they have together sold more copies than any two books by any other twentieth-century author. His 1938 book Homage to Catalonia, an account of his experiences as a volunteer on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War, together with numerous essays on politics, literature, language, and culture, have been widely acclaimed.

Orwell's influence on contemporary culture, popular and political, continues decades after his death. Several of his neologisms, along with the term "Orwellian" — now a byword for any oppressive or manipulative social phenomenon opposed to a free society — have entered the vernacular. ...more

Combine Editions
George Orwell’s books

Average rating: 4.09 · 6,924,537 ratings · 164,020 reviews · 609 distinct works • Similar authors

	1984 4.19 avg rating — 3,462,556 ratings — published 1949 — 2234 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Animal Farm by George Orwell, Russell Baker (Preface), C.M. Woodhouse (Introduction) 3.96 avg rating — 2,991,082 ratings — published 1945 — 2699 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell, Christopher Hitchens (Introduction) 4.30 avg rating — 173,176 ratings — published 1958 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Down and Out in Paris and London 4.07 avg rating — 71,348 ratings — published 1933 — 332 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, Lionel Trilling (Introduction) 4.07 avg rating — 49,791 ratings — published 1938 — 435 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Burmese Days 3.86 avg rating — 22,904 ratings — published 1934 — 303 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell, Richard Hoggart (Introduction) 3.92 avg rating — 17,697 ratings — published 1937 — 332 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Keep the Aspidistra Flying 3.89 avg rating — 17,109 ratings — published 1936 — 239 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Coming Up for Air 3.79 avg rating — 13,226 ratings — published 1939 — 91 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shooting an Elephant 4.12 avg rating — 8,101 ratings — published 1936 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by George Orwell…

Series by George Orwell

The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters (4 books)
by

George Orwell,

Ian Angus (Editor),

Sonia Orwell (Editor)

4.36 avg rating — 1,513 ratings

Pulitzer Prize–winning literary critic Michiko Kakutani, the former chief book critic of The New York Times, is the author of the newly...

Quotes by George Orwell

“Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.”
― George Orwell, 1984

tags: truth

14179 likes

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
― George Orwell, 1984

tags: inspirational

9406 likes

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
― George Orwell

tags: truth

7812 likes

See all George Orwell's quotes »

Polls

January 2016 Banned Books is the theme this month.

Poll will be open from 11/29/5 to 12/12/15.

I used the lists below for Banned Books research:
• American Library Association Banned Books Lists
• Top 10 Banned Books of All Time
• Top 10 Controversial Titles of the 20th Century

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Why is it banned? Violence, glorifying murderous & psychotic behavior, etc. Germany deemed it harmful to minors. It was banned in Canada until very recently, and it’s banned in the Australian state of Queensland and is restricted to over 18s only in all other states. In Canada, the book generated renewed controversy during the trial of serial killer Paul Bernardo after it was discovered that Bernardo owned a copy of the book and had "read it as his 'bible'

3 votes, 33.3%

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Why was it banned? Many in the Islamic community saw Rushdie’s take on Islam to be blasphemous. In Venezuela, you would be imprisoned for 15 months if caught reading the book, while Japan issued fines for people who sold the English-language edition. Even in the US, two major bookshops refused to sell the book after death threats were received.

2 votes, 22.2%

Dude,.. I don't care.

1 vote, 11.1%

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Why was it banned? Theme isn't dissimilar to 1984. Initially, Ireland pulled it off the shelves for its controversial themes on child birth, before several states in the US tried to have it removed from school curriculums due to its “themes on negativity.”

1 vote, 11.1%

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This story about banning books was itself banned in several American states, which cited offensive language and content. The striking cover art by Joe Pernaciaro and Joseph Mugnaini has become one of the most powerful and iconic images of 20th-century literature. The distraught figure that graces the cover is comprised of book pages and stands over a pile of burning books—a haunting, and powerful image that personifies the demise of independent thought and the freedom to read.

1 vote, 11.1%

Animal Farm by George Orwell
Although it will come as no surprise that Orwell’s thinly veiled satire of the brutalities of communism was banned in the Stalinist USSR, its status as a banned book has lasted well past the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is still banned in Cuba and North Korea (for the same reasons as it was banned by the Soviets), and has also been prohibited in Kenya for its criticism of corruption and, more bizarrely by UAE schools for its depiction of a talking pig which was deemed as contrary to Muslim values.

1 vote, 11.1%

9 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Book Challenge: Michelle Kay's Reads 2009	4	1117	Apr 17, 2009 12:42AM
The Next Best Boo...: Joy's Personal Reading Goals	15	269	Jun 04, 2009 08:57AM
Challenge: 50 Books: Jessica's 50 for 2009	46	575	Aug 12, 2009 12:33PM
Challenge: 50 Books: Evan's 50 for 2009	42	668	Sep 08, 2009 11:24AM
The Next Best Boo...: Favourite Authors from your native country	44	548	Sep 20, 2009 10:54AM
The Seasonal Read...: Math Tasks	77	389	Oct 02, 2009 04:19PM

More…

George Orwell’s Followers (36,577)

Add New
Videos

George Orwell

Combine Editions
George Orwell’s books

Series by George Orwell

Related News

Quotes by George Orwell

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

George Orwell’s Followers (36,577)

Add NewVideos

George Orwell

Combine EditionsGeorge Orwell’s books

Series by George Orwell

Related News

Quotes by George Orwell

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

Combine Editions
George Orwell’s books