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A collection of less accessible essays by the author of 1984 and Animal Farm, including his lament for the inferior quality of modern murders and his comments on the changing face of fictional crime. ... Read more

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Timeless Overview
This volume used to be easily available up until the mid-80s and can still be easily purchased in most second-hand bookstores. I hope that Penguin decide to reissue it again as I think every essay contains certain timeless elements that add very much to many contempory events.

Both the left and the right like to claim Orwell as their own. As this book of essays proves, he belongs to no one and eschews all those stinking orthodoxies that via for the souls of mens. This is a recurring theme. In his long Essay on Dickens he reminds us that Dickens is particulalry great because of the things he DOES not do, rahter than what he describes and the moral tales he tells. Dickins is no social theorist. Dickens is a great moraliser where revolution has no place and people being decent to each other solves the majority of the world's problems.

There are some anti-imperial essays here. "How the Poor Die" is rather an indictment of French Culture or uncaring and "A Hanging" has as much dealing about Imperialism as it does with the general notion that "man can get used to anything" when they are exposed to it enough.

"Notes on Nationalism" could easily be called "Notes on Crooked Thinking."In this essay Orwell lays out the follies of ideology in general on peoples thinking processes... It should be read and re-read and quotes like "every nation that becomes a country thinks it necessary to depreciate all other foreigners."It may be cynical, but it is food for thought, such as when everyone is cheering their medals won in the olympics... Orwell doesn't stop at Nationalism. He locates the same diseased thinking in Marxism, Fascism, Orthodox Catholicism and Anglicanism. The tendancy for Trade Unionists to see nothing but evil in corporations and for capitalists to only see baleful influences in Trade Unionism. By extension there are the very disturbing debates we see in the US at the present time, when the so-called cultural wars are really just short-hand for people to think only in terms of ideological maxims -- the era of good old fashioned, even-handed common sense is truly in trouble in the US. A good read of this essay could help a lot of people.

The essay on Raffles and Miss Blandish tells the story of how the morality of characters changes within our heros over time. In reality this may be one of the first essays on the anti-hero. As such it is not important if anyone knows either of the above Characters (I think that only Raffles would be even vaguely known), it is far more important for a person to grasp the fact that writing tells us about the things we deem important, good or bad. For those who bemoan the tide of violence sweeping the world and the loss of good ol-fashioned morality this is an important essay.

A man who walks to the sound of his own drummer
Orwell writes in a number of different ways in these essays. To my mind the most powerful is the journalistic autobiographical essay on 'How Poor People Die'. This is his description of the time he spent in a public hospital when down- and- out in Paris. His descriptions of the barbarity of the medical practices, the pain and indifference suffered by the patients' make a moving cry against human cruelty. In the longest literary essay Orwell also moves in the realm of moral judgment. He reads the works of Dickens and sees in him not a practical reformer but rather a moralist crying out against human injustice. Orwell sees Dickens as a person of neither aristocracy nor proletariat but of the middle commercial class. He sees Dickens as one who is not a real revolutionary but rather as one who aims for some idealized and perfect version of a presently unsatisfactory status- quo. Orwell also writes about Kipling another of the most popular British authors in his own time. He argues that however objectionable Kipling's imperialism his sympathy for the clerks and soldiers of the Empire gave his work a strongly positive human quality. Orwell also writes a long essay of political philosophy in which he redefines the concept of Nationalism seeming to see it as any kind of chauvinistic, selfish collectivism. And he concludes the work with an essay explaining why he writes.
No matter what form he works in Orwell is a very clear and readable writer. However I find him to be far more convincing as journalist than as theorist. And this when the strong spirit of individual independence, of hearing his own drummer, of judging his own way pervades this fine work.

Analytical and balanced essays, and still relevant
George Orwell was a master of the critical, analytical essay and this collection gives us ten of his best.


*Decline of the English Murder
*A Hanging
*Benefit of Clergy
*How the Poor Die
*Rudyard Kipling
*Raffles and Miss Blandish
*Charles Dickens
*The Art of Donald McGill
*Notes on Nationalism
*Why I write

The essay on Kipling stands as an excellent example of analytical criticism. It contains my single favourite line from the book. "A good bad poem is a graceful monument to the obvious." There's no question Orwell enjoys Kipling and admires his talent and his understanding of the world. At the same time, Orwell disapproves of Kipling and of Kipling's values. Orwell knows that Kipling is a British imperialist and that Kipling believes the British man superior to other races, but Orwell sees that Kipling also knows what it is to rule. Orwell also sees that Kipling, unlike many others who glorify military death, understands that the common soldier would perhaps prefer to run away rather than face bullets.

Death stalks many of the other essays, e.g. a Hanging or How the Poor Die, but the Art of Donald McGill is a pleasant enough examination of low-brow humour, and the essay on Charles Dickens explains much of what makes Dickens so enjoyable and instantly recognizable.

But by far and away, the most important essay in this collection is "Notes on Nationalism". It has coloured my own political thinking since I first read it in 1990 and hardly a month goes by without my thinking of it. Orwell defines nationalism as the state of mind for people who identify so strongly with a group that they are unable to admit any wrong if that wrong makes the group more powerful, and who could never admit the truth of their group owing something to another. He sees this form on nationalism in British colonial officials who could not accept "natives" ruling India for themselves, he sees it in Irish and Scottish republicans who could not admit they owed their freedom to the United Kingdom's protection. He sees it in Catholic writers who see the population oppressed in (Protestant) Britain but freed in Mussolini's (Catholic) Italy. Perhaps today Orwell would have used the word "fundamentalism" instead of nationalism.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo ... Read more

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A retelling of the classic tale of a tailor whose boast about killing seven flies at one blow leads him to even greater feats. ... Read more

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Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Novels for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: plot summary; character analysis; author biography; an overview of the novel's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Novels For Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: Thomson Gale--and "Novels for Students." ... Read more

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Based on extensive original research and interviews with a wide variety of key players, this is a compelling assessment of the Labour Party in power.

Beginning with a detailed account of the development of New Labour, including the ideological tensions within the party, Eric Shaw provides a sophisticated analysis of the Labour Government during an unprecedented period of power.

Offering the most detailed examination yet published of the actual performance of the party in several key social and economic policy areas, Losing Labour’s Soul? will be of enormous interest to students of British politics, labour history and party politics.

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The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are involved in the immune system's response to tumor and infected cells and in generating an immune response. This book brings together basic aspects of the regulation of MHC antigens with important clinical applications (in viral infection, viral oncology, cancer biology and autoimmunity). There is a strong emphasis on situations where MHC expression is modulated (either stimulated or repressed). The book's major themes are: the mechanisms of MHC expression--explored at several levels including the transcription and translation of MHC genes and the insertion of MHC protein molecules into plasma membranes; the effect of cytokines on MHC expression--both in the etiology of certain diseases and in possible immunotherapeutic approaches to disease; and the use of gene therapy to modify MHC expression in cancer cells, and thereby cause tumor rejection. This book will be valuable to researchers and clinicians in molecular biology, immunology, oncology, and virology. ... Read more

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Phil Ochs was one of the greatest folk singers of the 1960s. Ochs was first investigated by the FBI early on in his career, after writing a favorable article on Woody Guthrie in Mainstream magazine in 1963, which also brought another name to the attention of the FBI: Bob Dylan. The FBI attended political rallies where Ochs played, and he began noticing the attention, telling an audience in 1966: "I'm a folk singer for the FBI." The FBI's investigation intensified after the DNC riots in Chicago in August 1968. The FBI attempted to build a case against Ochs and other members of the Youth International Party (Yippies), but the indictment against Ochs never materialized due to a lack of evidence. Ochs instead later testified at the Chicago Seven trial for the defense. Despite the hundreds of pages in his FBI file, Ochs never committed a federal crime. He continued to be under investigation until his death by suicide in 1976. This volume contains commentary and the complete FBI file. ... Read more

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While on their way to Bremen, four aging animals who are no longer of any use to their masters find a new home after outwitting a gang of robbers. ... Read more

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"A Retelling of the Grimms' Fairy Tale" for children. ... Read more

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A nicely-illustrated adaptation of Grimm's fairy tale
I found the Read it! Readers series of books at our local library. The "Read-It! Readers" series of books begin with the Purple Level which presents basic topics and objects using high frequency words and simple language patterns. The Red Level books present familiar topics using common words and repeating sentence patterns. The Blue Level books present new ideas using a larger vocabulary and varied sentence structure. The Yellow Level presents more challenging ideas, a broad vocabulary, and wide variety in sentence structure. The Green Level books present more complex ideas, a more advanced vocabulary, and more complex language structures.

The story and illustrations are interesting and visually pleasing respectively. The story here is an adaptation of Grimm's Fairy Tale. The sentence structure is more varied and there are some advanced vocabulary. My 5-year-old daughter needed extra help with this book and we reviewed the vocabulary after reading. Overall, a good beginning reader to challenge young children with some elementary reading skills, especially those with an interest in classic fairy tales.
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"A Retelling of the Grimms' Fairy Tale" for children. ... Read more

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A nicely-illustrated adaptation of Grimm's fairy tale
I found the Read it! Readers series of books at our local library. The "Read-It! Readers" series of books begin with the Purple Level which presents basic topics and objects using high frequency words and simple language patterns. The Red Level books present familiar topics using common words and repeating sentence patterns. The Blue Level books present new ideas using a larger vocabulary and varied sentence structure. The Yellow Level presents more challenging ideas, a broad vocabulary, and wide variety in sentence structure. The Green Level books present more complex ideas, a more advanced vocabulary, and more complex language structures.

The story and illustrations are interesting and visually pleasing respectively. The story here is an adaptation of Grimm's Fairy Tale. The sentence structure is more varied and there are some advanced vocabulary. My 5-year-old daughter needed extra help with this book and we reviewed the vocabulary after reading. Overall, a good beginning reader to challenge young children with some elementary reading skills, especially those with an interest in classic fairy tales.
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Appropriate for intermediate readers
I found the Read it! Readers series of books at our local library. The "Read-It! Readers" series of books begin with the Purple Level which presents basic topics and objects using high frequency words and simple language patterns. The Red Level books present familiar topics using common words and repeating sentence patterns. The Blue Level books present new ideas using a larger vocabulary and varied sentence structure. The Yellow Level presents more challenging ideas, a broad vocabulary, and wide variety in sentence structure. The Green Level books present more complex ideas, a more advanced vocabulary, and more complex language structures.

The story and illustrations are interesting and visually pleasing respectively. The story here is an adaptation of Grimm's Fairy Tale. The sentence structure is more varied and there are some advanced vocabulary. My 5-year-old daughter needed extra help with this book and we reviewed the vocabulary after reading. Overall, a good beginning reader to challenge young children with some intermediate reading skills, especially those with an interest in classic fairy tales.
... Read more

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A retelling of a classic tale of a kindly but poor shoemaker who gets unexpected help with his work. ... Read more

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These well-known legends will become well-loved books, as readers learn these classic tall tales through lively illustrations and unforgettable characters.

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