George Orwell, página 4 de 39

És un llibre molt modest: sembla que digui el mínim que es pot dir d'un tema de gran magnitud. I, en dir-ne el mínim, en diu el màxim. El tema principal és un període de la Guerra Civil espanyola en

Un clásico de una vigencia escalofriante.Una de las novelas más atractivas e inquietantes del siglo XX. Londres, 1984: el Gran Hermano controla hasta el último detalle de la vida privada de los ciuda

A través de una fábula, Orwell expone de forma magistral los horrores de los regímenes totalitarios.Uno de los alegatos más potentes contra el totalitarismo de cualquier especie. Cansados de sufrir a

Una nueva antología de los escritos políticos de George Orwell, caracterizados por su permanente actualidad Imprescindible complemento ensayístico de las novelas 1984 y Rebelión en la granja, la presente antologia reune una treintena de textos escritos entre 1937 y 1949 en los que George Orwell analiza y denuncia los totalitarismos que marcaron el siglo XX. El autor pasa revista a temas tan diversos como la guerra civil española, el imperialismo britanico, la obra de Arthur Koestler, la mentalidad nacionalista, el inicio de la guerra fria (expresion que acuño) o la figura de Gandhi, pero siempre hace hincapie en el pensamiento critico, evaluando los hechos sin aceptar simplificaciones partidistas ni generalizaciones faciles. En el contexto actual de manipulacion, fake news y opiniones vacuas, sus palabras nos animan a estar siempre alerta, primera forma de resistencia frente a la amenaza latente de la opresion. La presente edicion, avalada por The Orwell Foundation, sigue fielmente el texto definitivo de las obras completas del autor, fijado por el profesor Peter Davison. Incluye una introduccion biografica a cargo de Martin Schifino.Sobre el autor:En una epoca de lealtades partidistas extremas y a la vez cinicamente fluctuantes, [Orwell] se las arreglo para ser un enemigo coherente e inflexible tanto de Hitler como de Stalin, al tiempo que escribiacronicas que intentaban ser "objetivas" con respecto a ambos.Christopher Hitchens, Por que es importante Orwell La claridad y precision de su prosa han asegurado su frescura, y sus temas -la importancia de la verdad objetiva y de no confundir el patriotismo con el nacionalismo- siguen siendo de gran pertinencia en nuestro tiempo.Alan Johnson, Orwell on Truth Orwell es una figura mucho mas contradictoria y compleja de lo que aparenta ser en la imagen que ha prevalecido de el, y muy parecida a la de Albert Camus, a quien lo une, ademas del talento literario, la lucidez politica y la valentia moral.Mario Vargas Llosa, La verdad de las mentiras

La novela de George Orwell que predijo la Segunda Guerra Mundial y sentó las bases imaginativas de Rebelión en la granja y 1984 Un día como cualquier otro, el cuarentón George Bowling siente un arranque de nostalgia y decide salir en busca del tiempo perdido. Gracias al dinero ganado en una apuesta, puede marcharse unos dias a un hotelito de las afueras de Londres, resuelto a visitar los lugares de su infancia. Pero el idilio de la memoria enseguida contrasta con el aspecto irreconocible del presente. Y entre las impresiones del protagonista no tarda en asomar el presentimiento de un conflicto que puede cambiarlo todo aun mas. Redactada en 1938 y publicada en el 1939, esta estupenda novela de George Orwell, en la que destaca su veta menos conocida de escritor humoristico, funde admirablemente la comedia de costumbres con la anticipacion politica. La presente edicion, avalada por The Orwell Foundation, sigue fielmente el texto definitivo de las obras completas del autor, fijado por el profesor Peter Davison.La critica ha dicho:Muy divertida, asi como energicamente realista [...] Aqui esta el embrion de 1984. Tambien el de Rebelion en la granja [...] No muchas novelas albergan las semillas de dos clasicos y ofrecen una lectura tan rica por derecho propio.John Carey, The Sunday Times Parte de la excelencia de Subir a respirar, que algunos consideran su mejor novela, reside en el argumento sutil e implicito de que la gente comun puede tener esperanza [...] Era una novela que hacia una advertencia, sin caer en el pesimismo total.Bernard Crick, autor de George Orwell: La biografia Subir a respirar se compone a partes iguales de nostalgia y terror, y cada una de esas emociones realza el sabor de la otra.Dorian Lynksey, autor de The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwell's 1984.

Tercera novela de George Orwell, que relata con maestría la historia de un librero y poeta decidido a combatir el poder del dinero viviendo en la miseria Gordon Comstock es un poeta frustrado que quiere llevar sus ideales hasta las ultimas consecuencias. Tras rechazar un lucrativo trabajo como publicista, acepta un humilde puesto en una libreria de Londres que apenas le da para comer, pero que le permite salvar sus principios. Resuelto a no caer en la comodidad que simboliza la flor de la aspidistra, presente en todas las ventanas de los hogares de clase media britanicos, Gordon pasa las noches temblando de frio en su habitacion alquilada mientras intenta escribir, ensimismado en su sueño de noble pobreza. Pero cuando la relacion con su familia, sus amigos y su prometida se vuelva imposible por culpa del vil metal, la precariedad acabara por darle una importante leccion de vida: Los principios estan muy bien, siempre que no haya que ponerlos en practica. La presente edicion, avalada por The Orwell Foundation, sigue fielmente el texto definitivo de las obras completas del autor, fijado por el profesor Peter Davison.La critica dijo:Una presentacion completamente desgarradora y desnuda de la pobreza, escrita en un lenguaje claro y violento.Cyril Connolly Una summa de todas las criticas que se le han hecho a la civilizacion comercial.Lionel Trilling Perfecta de principio a fin.Norman Mailer

George Orwell es el mejor ensayista inglés del siglo XX y esta es la mejor y más amplia antología de su obra. «Escribo porque existe alguna mentira que aspiro a denunciar, algún hecho sobre el cual

Nel 1984 la Terra e divisa in tre grandi potenze totalitarie: Oceania, Eurasia ed Estasia, impegnate in una perenne guerra tra loro, il cui scopo principale e mantenere il controllo totale sulla societa. In Oceania, la sede dei vari ministeri (Ministero della Pace, che presiede alla guerra, dellAmore, che presiede alla sicurezza, della Verita, che presiede alla propaganda e al revisionismo storico, e dellAbbondanza, che presiede alleconomia) e Londra, facente parte della provincia di Pista Uno.La societa e amministrata secondo i principi del Socing (nelloriginale inglese, "IngSoc"), il Partito Socialista Inglese, ed e governata da un onnipotente partito unico con a capo il Grande Fratello (dallinglese "Big Brother" che letteralmente significa "Fratello maggiore"[, successivamente italianizzato in "Grande Fratello"), un personaggio che nessuno ha mai visto di persona (ma che appare in manifesti affissi dappertutto) e che tiene costantemente sotto controllo la vita di tutti i cittadini.

"Down and Out in Paris and London" is the first full-length work by the English author George Orwell, published in 1933. It is a memoir in two parts on the theme of poverty in the two cities, which was written deliberately in a non-academic tone. Its target audience was the middle and upper class members of societythose who were more likely to be well educatedand exposes the poverty existing in two prosperous cities: Paris and London. The first part is an account of living in near-destitution in Paris and the experience of casual labour in restaurant kitchens. The second part is a travelogue of life on the road in and around London from the tramps perspective, with descriptions of the types of hostel accommodation available and some of the characters to be found living on the margins.

"Animal Farm" is an allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.According to Orwell, the fable reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell, a democratic socialist, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. The Soviet Union had become a brutal dictatorship built upon a cult of personality and enforced by a reign of terror. In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described "Animal Farm" as a satirical tale against Stalin ("un conte satirique contre Staline"), and in his essay "Why I Write" (1946), wrote that "Animal Farm" was the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole".The original title was "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story", but U.S. publishers dropped the subtitle when it was published in 1946, and only one of the translations during Orwells lifetime kept it. Other titular variations include subtitles like "A Satire" and "A Contemporary Satire". Orwell suggested the title "Union des republiques socialistes animales" for the French translation, which abbreviates to URSA, the Latin word for bear, a symbol of Russia. It also played on the French name of the Soviet Union, "Union des republiques socialistes sovietiques".

"A Clergymans Daughter" is a 1935 novel by English author George Orwell. It tells the story of Dorothy Hare, the clergymans daughter of the title, whose life is turned upside down when she suffers an attack of amnesia. It is Orwells most formally experimental novel, featuring a chapter written entirely in dramatic form, but he was never satisfied with it and he left instructions that after his death it was not to be reprinted. Despite these instructions, Orwell did consent that to cheap editions "of any book which may bring in a few pounds for my heirs" following his death.

"Fifty Essays" is a collection of 50 essays by George Orwell. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic.Included in this collection:- The Spike (1931)- A Hanging (1931)- Bookshop Memories (1936)- Shooting an Elephant (1936)- Down the Mine (1937)- North and South (1937)- Spilling the Spanish Beans (1937)- Marrakech (1939)- Boys Weeklies and Frank Richardss Reply (1940)- Charles Dickens (1940)- Charles Reade (1940)- Inside the Whale (1940)- The Art of Donald McGill (1941)- The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius (1941)- Wells, Hitler and the World State (1941)- Looking Back on the Spanish War (1942)- Rudyard Kipling (1942)- Mark TwainThe Licensed Jester (1943)- Poetry and the Microphone (1943)- W B Yeats (1943)- Arthur Koestler (1944)- Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali (1944)- Raffles and Miss Blandish (1944)- Antisemitism in Britain (1945)- Freedom of the Park (1945)- Future of a Ruined Germany (1945)- Good Bad Books (1945)- In Defence Of P. G. Wodehouse (1945)- Nonsense Poetry (1945)- Notes on Nationalism (1945)- Revenge is Sour (1945)- The Sporting Spirit (1945)- You and the Atomic Bomb (1945)- A Good Word for the Vicar of Bray (1946)- A Nice Cup of Tea (1946)- Books vs. Cigarettes (1946)- Confessions of a Book Reviewer (1946)- Decline of the English Murder (1946)- How the Poor Die (1946)- James Burnham and the Managerial Revolution (1946)- Pleasure Spots (1946)- Politics and the English Language (1946)- Politics vs. Literature: an Examination of Gullivers Travels (1946)- Riding Down from Bangor (1946)- Some Thoughts on the Common Toad (1946)- The Prevention of Literature (1946)- Why I Write (1946)- Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool (1947)- Such, Such were the Joys (1947)- Writers and Leviathan (1948)- Reflections on Gandhi (1949)

"Homage to Catalonia" is George Orwells personal account of his experiences and observations fighting for the POUM militia of the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. The war was one of the defining events of his political outlook and a significant part of what led him to write in 1946, "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".The first edition was published in the United Kingdom in 1938. The book was not published in the United States until February 1952, when it appeared with an influential preface by Lionel Trilling. The only translation published in Orwells lifetime was into Italian, in December 1948. A French translation by Yvonne Davetwith whom Orwell corresponded, commenting on her translation and providing explanatory notesin 193839, was not published until five years after Orwells death.

"The Road to Wigan Pier" is a book by the English writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. The first half of this work documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England before World War II. The second half is a long essay on his middle-class upbringing, and the development of his political conscience, questioning British attitudes towards socialism. Orwell states plainly that he himself is in favour of socialism, but feels it necessary to point out reasons why many people who would benefit from socialism, and should logically support it, are in practice likely to be strong opponents.According to Orwell biographer Bernard Crick, publisher Victor Gollancz first tried to persuade Orwells agent to allow the Left Book Club edition to consist solely of the descriptive first half of the book. When this was refused Gollancz wrote an introduction to the book. "Victor could not bear to reject it, even though his suggestion that the repugnant second half should be omitted from the Club edition was turned down. On this occasion Victor, albeit nervously, did overrule Communist Party objections in favour of his publishing instinct. His compromise was to publish the book with [an introduction] full of good criticism, unfair criticism, and half-truths."The book grapples "with the social and historical reality of Depression suffering in the north of England, Orwell does not wish merely to enumerate evils and injustices, but to break through what he regards as middle-class oblivion, Orwells corrective to such falsity comes first by immersion of his own body a supreme measure of truth for Orwell directly into the experience of misery."

"Politics and the English Language and Other Essays" is a collection of 6 essays by George Orwell.Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.Included in this collection:- Politics and the English Language- Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gullivers Travels- The Prevention of Literature- Why I Write- Writers and Leviathan- Poetry and the Microphone

"The Complete Works" is a collection of the 9 novels and 50 essays by George Orwell.Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.Novels included in this collection:- Down and Out in Paris and London (1933)- Burmese Days (1934)- A Clergymans Daughter (1935)- Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)- The Road to Wigan Pier (1937)- Homage to Catalonia (1938)- Coming Up for Air (1939)- Animal Farm (1945)- Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)

"Keep the Aspidistra Flying", first published in 1936, is a socially critical novel by George Orwell. It is set in 1930s London. The main theme is Gordon Comstocks romantic ambition to defy worship of the money-god and status, and the dismal life that results. Orwell wrote the book in 1934 and 1935, when he was living at various locations near Hampstead in London, and drew on his experiences in these and the preceding few years. At the beginning of 1928 he lived in lodgings in Portobello Road from where he started his tramping expeditions, sleeping rough and roaming the poorer parts of London. At this time he wrote a fragment of a play in which the protagonist Stone needs money for a life-saving operation for his child. Stone would prefer to prostitute his wife rather than prostitute his artistic integrity by writing advertising copy.

"Coming Up for Air" is the seventh book by English writer George Orwell, published in June 1939 by Victor Gollancz. It was written between 1938 and 1939 while Orwell spent time recuperating from illness in French Morocco, mainly in Marrakesh. He delivered the completed manuscript to Victor Gollancz upon his return to London in March 1939. The story follows George Bowling, a 45-year old husband, father, and insurance salesman, who foresees World War II and attempts to recapture idyllic childhood innocence and escape his dreary life by returning to Lower Binfield, his birthplace. The novel is comical and pessimistic, with its view that speculative builders, commercialism, and capitalism are killing the best of rural England and the existence of new, external threats.

"Burmese Days" is the first novel by English writer George Orwell, published in 1934. Set in British Burma during the waning days of Empire, when Burma was ruled from Delhi as part of British India, it is "a portrait of the dark side of the British Raj". At the centre of the novel is John Flory, "the lone and lacking individual trapped within a bigger system that is undermining the better side of human nature". The novel describes "both indigenous corruption and imperial bigotry" in a society where, "after all, natives were nativesinteresting, no doubt, but finally...an inferior people"."Burmese Days" was first published "further afield", in the United States, because of concerns that it might be potentially libelous; that the real provincial town of Katha had been described too realistically; and that some of its fictional characters were based too closely on identifiable people. A British edition, with altered names, appeared a year later. Nonetheless, Orwells harsh portrayal of colonial society was felt by "some old Burma hands" to have "rather let the side down". In a letter from 1946, Orwell wrote, "I dare say its unfair in some ways and inaccurate in some details, but much of it is simply reporting what I have seen".

Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party.