George Orwell's Selected Writings 1970 - Heinemann

Title: George Orwell's Selected Writings
Author: George Orwell
Publisher: Heinemann
Publication Date: 1970
Format: Hardcover
Condition: This book is in a good condition for its age. The boards are worn and have markings. There are library stamps on the free endpapers, there are some pencil notes throughout but these do not detract from the text.

Reader's note

This wonderful book explores some of George Orwell's brilliant essays and ideas. Read on as he write about the stereotypes in English society - Here are a couple of generalizations about England that would be accepted by almost all observers. One is that the English are not gifted artistically. They are not as musical as the Germans or Italians, painting and sculpture have never flourished in England as they have in France. Another is that, as Europeans go, the English are not intellectual. They have a horror of abstract thought, they feel no need for any philosophy or systematic “world-view”. Nor is this because they are “practical”, as they are so fond of claiming for themselves. One has only to look at their methods of town-planning and water-supply, their obstinate clinging to everything that is out of date and a nuisance, a spelling system that defies analysis, and a system of weights and measures that is intelligible only to the compilers of arithmetic books, to see how little they care about mere efficiency. - full of self deprecating humour that the English are famous for. An excellent addition to any library.