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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
I just read the titular essay and hated Orwell immensely. The scene of the shooting made me suffocated.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Finally finished this one! I started it back in early 2020? Late 2019? for my English Lit class, and only just finished it over a year later. That isn't because it is bad, however. In fact, for said English Lit class we only had to read a couple of the essays from this collection, but I enjoyed them so much that I deliberately went out and bought the whole collection. Unfortunately, without the motivation of an exam, and with the sort of years-long reading slump/prioritisation of other things like uni and language studying, I never got around to continuing with it. It was actually playing video games for a week that got me to finish it- I would read whenever I was waiting for the game to load!
In any case, I really enjoyed this essay collection. Some of the essay collections were more of interest to me personally than others, but even when the topic did not particularly interest me, Orwell still managed to somehow make me curious. For example, I'm not a Dickens fan, and I only roughly know the story of Gulliver's Travels, never having read the book itself. And yet, I managed to enjoy the two VERY long essays on these topics. My enjoyment of the Dickens one, I will admit, was at least partially because I felt vindicated by some of Orwell's criticisms. Nevertheless, the fact that I read them both, having never read most of what they were talking about should tell you just how much I enjoyed these essays.
Most people, I think, know Orwell for his novels- Animal Farm and 1984. My first exposure to Orwell was Animal Farm, and whilst it wasn't my favourite book ever (and it's been about 6 or so years since I read it so I don't really remember that much of what I felt at the time), I don't have anything particularly negative to say about it, so I assume it was fairly good. I will preface my next statement with the confession that I have not read 1984, nor do I plan on reading it any time soon (dystopia, even the classic literary fiction stuff is really not my thing), so do take what I am about to say with a pinch of salt, but......
Instead of making people read Orwell's novels in schools, I think they should make people read his essays. Even if you're past school age, please read his essays if you haven't already. You don't need to buy them, or read them all, you can check out the Orwell Foundation website and find ones that interest you, but he says so many interesting things and is incredibly self-reflective in such a beautifully eloquent way. Even when I didn't agree with him, the essays felt like a little time capsule into to the past, and into his mind. More so than reading any fictional classic, I felt like I gained a true insight into the life of somebody in the past, and what they might have thought about the events and happenings that I have only studied in history textbooks.
As a side note, I would also recommend this collection for aspiring writers, whether that be of fiction or nonfiction. Firstly, Orwell's writing style is *chef's kiss*, and secondly, there are a couple of essays about writing, writing style, how writing should be done etc. etc. that I found particularly illuminating and would highly recommend.
In any case, I really enjoyed this essay collection. Some of the essay collections were more of interest to me personally than others, but even when the topic did not particularly interest me, Orwell still managed to somehow make me curious. For example, I'm not a Dickens fan, and I only roughly know the story of Gulliver's Travels, never having read the book itself. And yet, I managed to enjoy the two VERY long essays on these topics. My enjoyment of the Dickens one, I will admit, was at least partially because I felt vindicated by some of Orwell's criticisms. Nevertheless, the fact that I read them both, having never read most of what they were talking about should tell you just how much I enjoyed these essays.
Most people, I think, know Orwell for his novels- Animal Farm and 1984. My first exposure to Orwell was Animal Farm, and whilst it wasn't my favourite book ever (and it's been about 6 or so years since I read it so I don't really remember that much of what I felt at the time), I don't have anything particularly negative to say about it, so I assume it was fairly good. I will preface my next statement with the confession that I have not read 1984, nor do I plan on reading it any time soon (dystopia, even the classic literary fiction stuff is really not my thing), so do take what I am about to say with a pinch of salt, but......
Instead of making people read Orwell's novels in schools, I think they should make people read his essays. Even if you're past school age, please read his essays if you haven't already. You don't need to buy them, or read them all, you can check out the Orwell Foundation website and find ones that interest you, but he says so many interesting things and is incredibly self-reflective in such a beautifully eloquent way. Even when I didn't agree with him, the essays felt like a little time capsule into to the past, and into his mind. More so than reading any fictional classic, I felt like I gained a true insight into the life of somebody in the past, and what they might have thought about the events and happenings that I have only studied in history textbooks.
As a side note, I would also recommend this collection for aspiring writers, whether that be of fiction or nonfiction. Firstly, Orwell's writing style is *chef's kiss*, and secondly, there are a couple of essays about writing, writing style, how writing should be done etc. etc. that I found particularly illuminating and would highly recommend.
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Shooting an Elephant is by far my most favorite short story. Even over Edgar Allen Poe's stories, which before reading this short story I would have said was impossible.
informative
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Just as I wrote about “A Hanging,” Orwell is undeniably a brilliant writer. He is able to capture both the gruesomeness of the death of the elephant as well as the internal processes that contribute towards social behavior. Again though, his focus tends to be more empathetic towards the imperialists, rather than the millions of people who are under Imperial control. Which is fine, sort of, because Orwell is choosing to speak only towards his own experiences rather than towards the experiences of a people of which he is not a part. But it is worth mentioning. Again.