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swilliams's review against another edition
3.5
note: my overall rating given is roughly based on the average ratings of the essays (below)
this is an odd collection of essays ? it contains political ones with literary analysis ones in the middle, which i didn’t enjoy as much. my favourite ones were ones that i had read before in the ‘why i write’ collection, so i’d recommend that over this collection if that’s what you’re more interested in.
decline of the english murder - 3/5
decline of the english murder - 3/5
a hanging - 4/5
benefit of a clergy - 4/5
how the poor die - 3/5
rudyard kipling - 2/5
raffles and miss blandish - 3/5
charles dickens - 3.5/5
the art of donald mcgill - 3.5/5
notes on nationalism - 4.5/5
why i write - 5/5
rumaho76's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Although containing language and attitudes that would be regarded as utterly offensive, this is an interesting wee book of essays. It's clear that George Orwell was very good at settling in with people from many backgrounds and being accepted. This allows him access to subcultures that otherwise would not be written about.
xenobio's review
5.0
My Form 6 teacher gave us this the first week of school.
Bear in mind that until Form 5, the standard of English education in Malaysian public schools is abysmal so most of my classmates who weren't from nerdy anglophone families had probably never read anything this advanced or emotionally intense. During my time (90s) the syllabus didn't even include a single novel. I think the other students were a little traumatised!
I thought it was good and it's contributed to me thinking that the death penalty should really be reserved for unrehabilitatable monsters who commit the most heinous crimes against humanity like war criminals. Not even average murderers or robbers.
Bear in mind that until Form 5, the standard of English education in Malaysian public schools is abysmal so most of my classmates who weren't from nerdy anglophone families had probably never read anything this advanced or emotionally intense. During my time (90s) the syllabus didn't even include a single novel. I think the other students were a little traumatised!
I thought it was good and it's contributed to me thinking that the death penalty should really be reserved for unrehabilitatable monsters who commit the most heinous crimes against humanity like war criminals. Not even average murderers or robbers.
aenabus's review
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Don't really know what to say about this, but I'm really impressed by his writing
Finished at 23:24
7/31✅️
Finished at 23:24
7/31✅️
rosekk's review against another edition
4.0
It's odd to read essays that in places are incredibly outdated (owing to having been written so long ago), but which in other places remain relevant. This was particularly striking in the piece about Boys' Weeklies - if those even exist anymore, then they certainly don't occupy the same status as they did in Orwell's day, but some of the commentary he supplies could just as easily be said about plenty of modern entertainment.