George Orwell (25th June 1903 - 21st January 1950)
- Birth name was Eric Arthur Blair.
- English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic.
- Best known for speaking about his opinion in socialism (clear in his writing).
- He described his family as 'lower-upper-middle class'.
- Born in India but taken to England when he was 1 year old with his mother and 2 sisters.
- After his education he moved back to India to work with the Imperial Police.
- He decided he wanted a career as a writer in 1927.
- Apparently he was vegetarian.
- Well aware of social injustice.
- Fought in the Spanish civil war with the Republicans. This experience made him very anti-Stalinist.
- Shot through his throat (survived).
- 1941-1943 he worked for the BBC making British propaganda.
- Aldous Huxley was one of his masters at school.
1984
- Written as a warning against Stalinism and Nazism.
- Fictional future with 3 large states, Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia.
- The protagonist Winston Smith is well aware of the truth and rebels against the party in secret.
- He meets Julia, a woman who shares the same views and they end up having a secret love affair.
- They are both caught by the ThoughtPolice where Winston is tortured to make him change his mindset completely and begin to love Big Brother.
- Even though they kill you after anyway.
- This book is a strong example of totalitarianism.
I chose this book as it relates to my best interests of socialism as well as being gripped by the darkness of how the world is ran. This could potentially happen to us with Trump dropping threats. The choice was between Aldous Huxley 'Brave New World', Franz Kafka 'A Country Doctor' and 1984.
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