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whysoserious 's review for:
Orwell's Victory
by Christopher Hitchens
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Hitchens' produces a excellently written analysis of George Orwell's political, cultural and long-term influence on the western world, several decades after his untimely passing. With his usual wit and vigour he argues the case for Orwell whilst demolishing the critiques of his (obvious) literary hero. That said, Hitchens' tendency to gloss over the grittier aspects of Orwell's personality and history can be frustrating at times though he does heavily critique Orwell's fictional works as being sub-standard up until his masterpieces of Animal Farm and 1984. Orwell's views on homosexuality are brushed over with only fleeting mentions and Hitchens' (who was an advocate of the LGBT community during his short life) seems not all that concerned by his anti-gay rhetoric. That said it is interesting that Hitchens' suggests that Orwell may have been a closeted bisexual man which was certainly a surprise! Orwell's views on women can be seen as crude and misogynistic though one must place this in the context of the times in which he lived. I would be curious to see how Orwell would relate to women had he made it into his old age.
All in all this is a reasonable read though one that can leave readers confused by the towering intellect of Hitchens. His verbose language and style of writing can be a tad overwhelming for some readers though this is classic Hitchens: academic, highly articulate and cutting in his analysis. It is now a cliche to say Hitchens will be sorely missed but that doesn't stop it being a fact. I often wonder what Hitchens would make of society and western culture in 2021 especially with the rise of the far right, Trump and Brexit.
All in all this is a reasonable read though one that can leave readers confused by the towering intellect of Hitchens. His verbose language and style of writing can be a tad overwhelming for some readers though this is classic Hitchens: academic, highly articulate and cutting in his analysis. It is now a cliche to say Hitchens will be sorely missed but that doesn't stop it being a fact. I often wonder what Hitchens would make of society and western culture in 2021 especially with the rise of the far right, Trump and Brexit.