George Orwell: A Political Life (Lives of the Left) [Hardcover]

Stephen Ingle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1993 | ISBN-10: 0719032334 | ISBN-13: 978-0719032332

This work assesses George Orwell's political writing, examining how his democratic socialism developed and changed in the nineteen thirties and forties. The book aims to determine whether Orwells' preoccupations form a common thread of coherent political philosophy and goes about this by asking four questions. These are, how did Orwell's thinking develop; is there such a thing as "Orwellism"; if so, what is it; and finally, what is its relevance to British socialist thought (and to the thought of the Labour Party) today?

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Manchester Univ Pr (February 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719032334
• ISBN-13: 978-0719032332
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,898,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Certainly over estimates Orwell as a genuine leftist, June 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: George Orwell: A Political Life (Lives of the Left) (Paperback)

Ingle's book is valuable for its insight into how Orwell was wont to exaggerate his hardships early in life as well as his attempts to record it as it *felt*. As a feminist I of course deplore Orwell's lack of sensitivity to Women and their struggles for suffrage, for political rights, and the right to own their own bodies. Nowhere does Orwell make clear that he is fighting for the rights of women, and this cannot be forgotten. We must also note that he continues to enjoy popularity among conservatives, a fact lost upon no self-respecting radical. I suppose that while the rest of us are challenging the assumptions of the colonialist mindset, white male writers of the past such as Orwell (who once slapped 'coolies' when losing his temper) are no longer useful in our examiniation of imperialist paradigms. For a contemporary perspective of the incredible variety and richness of post-colonial discourse, we need to turn to more radical and transgressive writers, such as Mary Daly, bell hooks, Ishmael Reed, and others. Orwell continues to accumulate dust and conservative praise, though we should continue to mine his works for their telling inconsistencies.