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martinbainbridge 's review for:

Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
3.0

Supposedly published tomorrow (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/444/444274/shooting-an-elephant/9780241515006.html), 'Shooting an elephant' dropped through our letterbox this morning. An ideal lockdown lunch read, the book comprises three essays exploring guilt ('Shooting an elephant'), passive outrage ('A hanging') and curious detachment ('The spike'), the first two recounting events during Orwell's time policing in Burma, the third clearly going on to serve as an early draft of later material to be featured in 'Down and out in Paris and London'. As usual, it's compelling stuff, told with an almost brutal bluntness and candour.