A GEORGE ORWELL COMPANION

Transcription

1 A GEORGE ORWELL COMPANION

2 Other books by]. R. Hammond H. G. WELLS: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HIS WORKS AN H. G. WELLS COMPANION H. G. WELLS: INTERVIEWS AND RECOLLECTIONS (editor) AN EDGAR ALLAN POE COMPANION A ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON COMPANION Other Macmillan Literary Companions AJANE AUSTEN COMPANION A BRONTE COMPANION A COLERIDGE COMPANION A DICKENS COMPANION A GEORGE ELIOT COMPANION A HARDY COMPANION A KIPLING COMPANION AD. H. LAWRENCE COMPANION A TENNYSON COMPANION A WORDSWORTH COMPANION F. B. Pinion F. B. Pinion John Spencer Hill Norman Page F. B. Pt'nion F. B. Pinion Norman Page F. B. Pinion F. B. Pinion F. B. Pt'nion Further titles in preparation

3 George Orwell, circa 1945, ell the height of his fame

4 A GEORGE ORWELL COMPANION A guide to the novels, documentaries and essays J. R. HAMMOND

5 J. R. Hammond 1982 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission, No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1982 Reprinted 1984 (twice), 1985 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG212XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / r-ansferred to digital printing /780

6 He was a tall, lean, scraggy man, a Public House character, with a special gleam in his eye, and a home-made way of arguing from simple premisses, which could sometimes lead him to radiant common sense, sometimes to crankiness. STEPHEN SPENDER He had the gift, he had the courage, he had the persistence to go on in spite offailure, sickness, poverty, and opposition, until he became an acknowledged master of English prose. RUTH PITTER I was a stage rebel, Orwell a true one. CYRIL CONNOLLY

7 Contents List of Plates Preface IX XI PART I The Making of George Orwell 3 Orwell's Literary Achievement 32 A George Orwell Dictionary 56 PART II NOVELS AND DOCUMENTARIES 77 Down and Out in Paris and London 79 Burmese Days 89 A Clergyman's Daughter 99 Keep the Aspidistra Flying 107 The Road to Wigan Pier 115 Homage to Catalonia 130 Coming Up For Air 146 Animal Farm 158 Nineteen Eighty-Four 169 PART III THE ESSAYS 185 PART IV KEY TO THE CHARACTERS AND LOCATIONS 229 Appendix 257 References 260 Select Bibliography 266 Index 275 Vll

8 List of Plates Frontispiece George Orwell, circa 1945 I 36 High Street, Southwold 2 Orwell in the 1930s 3 The Orwell plaque at Hampstead 4 Still from Coming Up For Air 5 Still from Keep the Aspidistra Flying 6 Housing in Wigan 7 Orwell at the BBC 8 Orwell's works in popular editions For the provision of illustrations, and permission to reproduce them, grateful acknowledgements are made to: Vernon Richards (frontispiece); Orwell Archive and F. de France (1); Mrs Mabel Fierz (2); Hampstead and Highgate Express (3); British Broadcasting Corporation (4, 5 and 7); BBC Hulton Picture Library (6). IX

9 Preface George Orwell is now acknowledged as one of the most significant literary figures of the twentieth century. As novelist, essayist, and author of a number of outstanding works of reportage he has exercised an influence on modern thought which is increasingly being recognised. Though he died at the age of forty-six he achieved world-wide fame during his lifetime and since his death his stature as a writer of prose has grown immeasurably. Today he belongs to that select company of writers - including Lawrence, Joyce and Kafka - who have made a permanent contribution to modern literature. The present Companion aims to be a guide to the whole range of his work - novels, documentaries and essays - and to enable the reader to study and enjoy Orwell with a keener application. I am indebted in particular to the following critical works: George Orwell: A Life by Bernard Crick, The Crystal Spirit by George Woodcock and The Unknown Orwell by Peter Stansky and William Abrahams. Whilst I have found these works invaluable as sources of reference and stimulus I have followed my own judgement in appraising and interpreting Orwell's writings; I trust that I have succeeded in the pages which follow in communicating to the reader something of my own admiration for Orwell as both man and writer and my sense of his importance as a seminal figure in twentieth-century ideas. As work on the Companion has proceeded I have become more and more impressed both with the complexity of his personality and the breadth of his achievement. The popular image of him as the radical author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four conceals a much more complex reality: that of a man divided against himself, a writer who, until 1936, was uncertain of his basic convictions or role in life and whose moods fluctuated Xl

10 xu Priface throughout his career between an engaging happiness and a profound pessimism. This ambiguity at the heart of his make-up will be explored more fully in the succeeding chapters. The extracts from the works of George Orwell are reproduced by permission of A. M. Heath & Company, the agents for the Orwell Estate. I am indebted to the following publishers for permission to quote copyright material: Hutchinson General Books for the passage from 1985 by Anthony Burgess; Constable & Company for the extract from The Unknown Orwell by Peter Stansky and William Abrahams. The quotation from Tono Bungay is reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd on behalf of the Estate of H. G. Wells. Acknowledgement is made to David Higham Associates for permission to quote an extract from Four Absentees by Rayner Heppenstall, published by Barrie & Rockliff. I wish to express my thanks to the staff of the Orwell Archive, University College Library, and in particular to the Senior Library Assistant, Mr John Allen, for his courtesy and helpfulness. My thanks are also due to Mrs Carol Staves for typing the manuscript with such care, and to Miss Julia Tame and Mr Timothy Fox, on behalf of the publishers, for their encouragement and help at all times. J. R. HAMMOND