George Orwell

George Orwell's biting satire, adapted by Nelson Bond Characters: 5 male, 2 female Bare Stage. Animal Farm is a fable with a sting. Much has been written about the threat of Communism, but it remained to the late George Orwell, farsighted British author of the brilliant and frightening 1984, to expose the Russian experiment for what it really is; an idealist's dream, converted by realists into a nightmare. In staged dramatic reading version of this timely allegory you will meet beasts whose prototypes have dominated news headlines for many fearful years. Opening on a note of joyous triumph for the creatures who have emancipated themselves from the cruel mastery of a human owner, the reading mounts inexorably to a climax of disillusionment in which the other animals discover themselves now subject to the rule of even more ruthless autocrats: the greedy, cunning pigs. Intermingling humor and drama, Animal Farm wrings the emotions of its listeners, leaving audiences shaken with the tale of a tragedy that happened in a mythical barnyard far away but could happen in our own back yard.

"One cannot help but be struck by the degree to which he (George Orwell) became, in Henry James's words, one of those upon whom nothing was lost. By declining to lie, even as far as possible to himself, and by his determination to seek elusive but verifiable truth, he showed how much can be accomplished by an individual who unites the qualities of intellectual honesty and moral courage." -- Christopher HitchensOrwell's first work -- a sensitive and insightful description of the life of the working poor in Paris and the homeless in London. It is still very relevant today, and while aimed at the casual reader, it is of interest to the scholar and activist. George Orwell (born Eric Blair, 1903, Motihari, Bengal, died Jan 1950, London)was a leading British writer of the twentieth century. He studied at Wellington College and Eton (1917-1921) where he was a King's Scholar. After Eton, he followed family tradition and joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, until 1927 when, disgusted by imperialism, he resigned to pursue his boyhood dream of being a writer. He published an autobiographical book Down and Out in London and Paris, with Victor Gollancz Ltd. under his pen name of George Orwell. This established his literary career. Orwell was a prolific journalist, essayist, novelist and nonfiction writer. He is remembered for his prescient writing and his unwavering commitment to truth and clarity of expression. His last two novels--Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four--have placed him at the pinnacle of British literature.

"One cannot help but be struck by the degree to which he (George Orwell) became, in Henry James's words, one of those upon whom nothing was lost. By declining to lie, even as far as possible to himself, and by his determination to seek elusive but verifiable truth, he showed how much can be accomplished by an individual who unites the qualities of intellectual honesty and moral courage." -- Christopher HitchensAn experimental novel by George Orwell, featuring a chapter written entirely in dramatic form. George Orwell (born Eric Blair, 1903, Motihari, Bengal, died Jan 1950, London)was a leading British writer of the twentieth century. He studied at Wellington College and Eton (1917-1921) where he was a King's Scholar. After Eton, he followed family tradition and joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, until 1927 when, disgusted by imperialism, he resigned to pursue his boyhood dream of being a writer. He published an autobiographical book Down and Out in London and Paris, with Victor Gollancz Ltd. under his pen name of George Orwell. This established his literary career. Orwell was a prolific journalist, essayist, novelist and nonfiction writer. He is remembered for his prescient writing and his unwavering commitment to truth and clarity of expression. His last two novels--Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four--have placed him at the pinnacle of British literature.

In this collection of eight witty and sharply written essays, Orwell looks at, among others, the joys of spring (even in London), the picture of humanity painted by Gulliver and his travels, and the strange benefit of the doubt that the public permit Salvador Dali. Also included here are a mouth-watering essay on the delights of English Cooking and a shocking account of killing an elephant in Burma.

George Orwell was an inveterate keeper of diaries. The Orwell Diaries presents eleven of them, covering the period 1931-1949, and follows Orwell from his early years as a writer to his last literary notebook. An entry from 1931 tells of a communal shave in the Trafalgar Square fountains, while notes from his travels through industrial England show the development of the impassioned social commentator. This same acute power of observation is evident in his diaries from Morocco, as well as at home, where his domestic diaries chart the progress of his garden and animals with a keen eye; the wartime diaries, from descriptions of events overseas to the daily violence closer to home, describe astutely his perspective on the politics of both, and provide a new and entirely refreshing insight into Orwell's character and his great works.

Manor Farm is like any other English farm, expect for a drunken owner, Mr Jones, incompetent workers and oppressed animals. Fed up with the ignorance of their human masters, the animals rise up in rebellion and take over the farm. Led by intellectually superior pigs like Snowball and Napoleon, the animals how to take charge of their destiny and remove the inequities of their lives. But as time passes, the realize that things aren't happening quite as expected. Animal Farmis, one level, a simple story about barnyard animals. On a much deeper level, it is a savage political satire on corrupted ideals, misdirected revolutions and class conflict-themes as valid today as they were sixty years ago.

A collection of George Orwell's correspondence. It provides an eloquent narrative of Orwell's life, from his schooldays to his final illness. It affords a view of his thoughts on matters both personal, political and much in between, from poltergeists, to girls' school songs and the art of playing croquet.

"It is the history of a revolution that went wrong - and of the excellent excuses that were forthcoming at every step for the perversion of the original doctrine". So wrote George Orwell in the original blurb for the first edition of Animal Farm in 1945. His simple and tragic fable, describes what happens when the animals drive out Mr Jones, the farmer, and attempt to run the Manor Farm themselves. Animal Farm has become a world-famous classic of English prose, and is a strong political allegory with parallels to the old Soviet regime. Reader Simon Callow is a British actor with a firmly-established reputation for impeccable performance on-stage, on-screen, and on audiobook.

In these timeless and witty essays George Orwell explores the English love of reading about a good murder in the papers (and laments the passing of the heyday of the 'perfect' murder involving class, sex and poisoning), as well as unfolding his trenchant views on everything from boys' weeklies to naughty seaside postcards.

These essays follow Orwell as he demonstrates in piece after piece how intent analysis of a work or a body of work gives rise to trenchant aesthetic and philosophical commentary.

George Orwell was first and foremost an essayist. From his earliest published article in 1928 to his untimely death in 1950, he produced an extraordinary array of short non-fiction that reflected - and illuminated - the fraught times in which he lived and wrote. This book charts Orwell's development as a master of the narrative-essay form.

Celebrating the seventieth anniversary of Coming up for Air and the sixtieth anniversary of 1984.

First published in 1949, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four has lost none of the impact with which it first hit readers. Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent - even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101. . .