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videotape's review against another edition
medium-paced
5.0
I daren't write an essay for this one as I'll greatly offend Orwell with my poor writing skills, and therefore disregard the very meaning of the book. Each essay is well educated and calculated in their manner, and are incredibly proactive when looking at them through a modern lense. It's a pretty snazzy read.
naomiameliarose's review against another edition
informative
reflective
4.0
People definitely think I am an intellectual now.
oliash01's review against another edition
4.25
Whilst the first chapter is more of a discussion of wartime politics, suitable for interest in the context of the book, the final chapter provides a polarising viewpoint of language and how it is used.
I would recommend this book to everyone as the ideas put forward in the final chapter are still useful for modern language, whether for political essays or simple day-to-day usage. No book has made me reconsider my use of language, and tell me how to fix my when using it, than this one.
I would recommend this book to everyone as the ideas put forward in the final chapter are still useful for modern language, whether for political essays or simple day-to-day usage. No book has made me reconsider my use of language, and tell me how to fix my when using it, than this one.
smuttea_matcha's review against another edition
4.0
It's Orwell, how can I not like it? I love how he cites authors trying to be clever as a primary motive for writing. I feel like that's true to so many on GoodReads because the word "clever" and "witty" are thrown all over the place so that they lose their meaning. I also like how Orwell writes like he doesn't give a shit, but he really does. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone, but fuck you, it makes sense to me. He has this false sort of nonchalance. He knows he's had shitty writing and he also knows he's made choices that not many agree with, such as how his one book was pretty much a journal article and a mentor/friend(?) commented on it. But like Orwell said, if it wasn't what it was, he wouldn't have written it. He's happy with what he writes and he knows he doesn't write masterpieces (in his opinion). He's humble and honest. He knows his style of writing and he knows why people write. Not just himself. It's a motive-study of all authors in general, but it focuses on his primary reasons, which he links to the four primary motives of other writers. I love Orwell and it's always exciting to read something he's penned.