All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

George Orwell (Author), Keith Gessen (Author), George Packer (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2008

As a critic, George Orwell cast a wide net. Equally at home discussing Charles Dickens and Charlie Chaplin, he moved back and forth across the porous borders between essay and journalism, high art and low. A frequent commentator on literature, language, film, and drama throughout his career, Orwell turned increasingly to the critical essay in the 1940s, when his most important experiences were behind him and some of his most incisive writing lay ahead.

All Art Is Propaganda follows Orwell as he demonstrates in piece after piece how intent analysis of a work or body of work gives rise to trenchant aesthetic and philosophical commentary. With masterpieces such as "Politics and the English Language" and "Rudyard Kipling" and gems such as "Good Bad Books," here is an unrivaled education in, as George Packer puts it, "how to be interesting, line after line."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Before he was a renowned novelist, George Orwell was a masterful essayist. Spanning the 1940s, this companion to Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays showcases Orwell in an often unexpected cavalcade of observations on diverse subjects—in the literary field alone as varied as T. S. Eliot, Charles Dickens, Henry Miller, Graham Greene and Kipling. But since this is Orwell, the book takes on a range of subjects with gusto: power and bully worship and the deleterious influence of Catholicism on literature. Orwell's withering observations on professional academic criticism (Politics and the English Language) are tempered by his sly Confessions of a Book Reviewer (constantly inventing reactions towards books about which one has no spontaneous feelings whatever) and Good Bad Books (the supreme example being Uncle Tom's Cabin). Not to be overlooked is a freewheeling take on the naughty postcards of Donald McGill. Overall, this collection highlights the work of a writer who always put his money where his mouth was, reiterating frequently the importance of clarity of expression in enabling independent thought. (Oct. 13)
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From School Library Journal

George Orwell (1903–50) is best remembered for his dark and prophetic political novels, Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949). In addition to four other novels, he also produced some of the best book-length nonfiction of the modernist era, including Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) and Homage to Catalonia (1939). Harcourt is now republishing in two volumes his collected essays, compiled by Packer (The Assassin's Gate: America in Iraq). What is most astonishing about these essays are their continuing freshness and relevancy more than half a century after Orwell's death. All are worth reading for some combination of literary, historical, or cautionary merit. His criticism of art and politics (and sometimes both) remains spot-on, and the "unpleasant facts" he considers, including war, poverty, homelessness, lack of adequate medical care, and even schoolboy bullying, are unfortunately still familiar topics. Orwell's crisp and clear journalistic writing style remains highly accessible to 21st-century readers, with the occasional, now obscure reference illuminated by Packer's notes. Essential for academic libraries; highly recommended for public libraries.—Alison M. Lewis, formerly with Drexel Univ. Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (October 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151013551
• ISBN-13: 978-0151013555
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #588,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950) was born in India and served with the Imperial Police in Burma before joining the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. Orwell was the author of six novels as well as numerous essays and nonfiction works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A peek into the mind of Orwell, September 28, 2010

By 

Cyndi Bu-ej - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Art Is Propaganda (Paperback)

This selection of essays provides excellent insight for anyone who appreciates the theories of George Orwell.
Readers will get a better understanding of class warfare, secrets of great communicators, totalitarianism, the effects of literature, and, of course, propaganda. I especially enjoyed his essay on "The Prevention of Literature", as it implies the ideas written into his masterpiece known as 1984.

I highly recommend this book to all writers and political thinkers.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb collections of thoughts, July 5, 2009

By 

Integrity Reviews (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays (Hardcover)

Offering a wide range of Orwell's essays, which were mostly written late in his remarkable life, this collection will stimulate your thinking about entertainment, writing, politics, and other topics. Orwell writes to make one think. Reading these essays is like having a provocative conversation with one of the most interesting and broad-spectrum minds of the first half of the 20th century. Definitely recommended.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides Orwell's reflections on a range of critical topics from literature to art, November 8, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays (Hardcover)

George Orwell was a fine essayist and successful critic, discussing art and literature with equal ability and ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA: CRITICAL ESSAYS is a key recommendation for all kinds of libraries, from college-level collections strong in literature and social observation to collection also strong in art criticism. It's the latter that should especially consider ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA: it provides Orwell's reflections on a range of critical topics from literature to art. Very highly recommended.