Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell, was born in 1903. Less than 47 years later he died, leaving behind a highly celebrated collection of works and a legacy as one of the foremost British political writers and essayists of the 20th century. Today his most famous works, 1984 and Animal Farm, are taught in schools around the world and remain stark reminders of what horrors mankind is constantly capable of committing in the name of political ideals.
Listen back as Susan speaks with Robert Colls, Professor of Cultural History at De Montfort University, about his book George Orwell: English Rebel and the influential life of this complex Englishman. Join ‘Talking Books’ as we delve into the life that produced some of the most iconic works of political literature and words, saying, turns of phrase, and concepts that have been used in everyday language and political discourse for over 60 years.
Born into an affluent middle class family falling onto hard times Eric Blair was a restless young man; never at home in his own skin thanks to the conflict between his background and political beliefs. A highly intelligent man Blair’s own ability won him a scholarship to the prestigious Eton College. Despite having won the scholarship himself, Eton and the prestige and elitism associated with it didn’t sit right with this young man who was becoming increasingingly left-wing and socialist.
After serving as a policeman in Burma from 1922-’27 Blair returned to Europe; travelling through England and France as he developed his thoughts and writings. This period was heavily marked by ill health, something that would plague him his entire life, and a series of menial jobs. In 1932, however, Blair returned to England and began a new chapter in his life as he took up a position teaching at a prep school for boys in West London and adopted the nom de plume George Orwell.
Though he would stop teaching all together two years later the name would stick and he began to pursue his writing career in earnest. 1932 also marked Orwell’s return to England. This return was more than just physical and would eventually coalesce into his emergence as one of the most important and identifiable English writers and thinkers of the 20th century.
The main break in this now all but permanent residency in his native country came at the end of 1936 when his socialist ideology and sense of duty compelled him to join one of the many International Brigades serving in the Spanish Civil War. This excursion to the violent military world was short lived, however, as a sniper’s bullet sent him back from the front to a friendly Spanish hospital. It was here he learned he was wanted by his own side’s secret police, forcing him to flee and make his way back home. In July 1937 he arrived safely back to English shores, but the same couldn’t be said for his political ideology and conviction.
The next major change in his life would come with the onset of the Second World War. The poor health that had plagued his life exempted George Orwell from service. Instead he focused continued his writings, both fictional and political, as his wife began working for the British Censorship Department. Now, however, the true cost of totalitarianism was evident both in the revealed fascist horrors and the past revelations of Stalinist atrocities and his writings began to reflect this shift in his own political views.
Though still considering himself a socialist, Orwell hardened to the regimes that co-opted these political schools for their own terrible ends. These fears and changing political outlooks soon filtered into and strongly influenced his writings. By the end of the war his fantastic Animal Farm had been published, the façade of A Fairy Story stapled to the end of the title allowing it to finally be accepted as a viable work.
With this book came a great deal of admiration and praise. Yet this was no simple shot in the dark and a mere four years later Orwell would follow the success of Animal Farm with another, entirely comparable in success and importance. First published in June 1949 Orwell's final Novel, 1984, still inspires countless pieces of literature, film, comic books, and all other number of artistic and intellectual undertakings.
A vivid and distressing cautionary tale of a world without liberty 1984 has been a key tool in the promotion of democracy and the undermining of visions of totalitarian utopias. Today the world Orwell described in the pages of 1984—with its doublespeak, jackbooted police thugs, and ever watchful eye of Big Brother—is almost instinctually, even to those totally unfamiliar with the book.
Suffering from ill health and respiratory issues his entire life Eric Arthur Blair died on the 21st of January 1950, his weak lungs finally failing him. Only 46 years old Orwell died a young man at the peak of his literary career. In the last five years of his life he had published two of the most important and successful books of the 20th century and it is amazing to think what might have been produced had George Orwell lived to be an old man.
Join Susan and Professor Colls as they look back at the life of Eric Arthur Blair. Hear how a child born in India to an upper class British family became one of the most important writers in the English language. Listen in as we look at the life behind the well-known horror stories and vivid depictions of states turned against their own people.
Oscar Wilde is often quoted and highly celebrated, his wit and lifestyle lending him a lasting legacy as a sardonic playboy. Yet of his writings the lovely and moving stories he wrote for children rank amongst his most celebrated. Their sincerity and the honest innocence of their message separate these tales from Wilde’s more usual fare set amongst high society and the luridness and absurdity of that world.
Listen back as Susan takes a look at the best of these children’s tales as she delves into O’Brien Press’ wonderful reprint of Oscar Wildes’ Stories For Children, resplendent with reproductions of Charles Robinson wonderful illustrations. Revisit the magical garden of The Selfish Giant and the picturesque paradise painted there by children at play. Join the swallow in its perch by the ear of The Happy Prince and The Nightingale and the Rose as they endeavour to teach us about the true value of things. Be ready with the tissues though, they are as moving today as they ever were before.
