Politics and the English Language
Ratings13
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings13
Average rating4.2
George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Politics and the English Language, the second in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell takes aim at the language used in politics, which, he says, ‘is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind’. In an age where the language used in politics is constantly under the microscope, Orwell’s Politics and the English Language is just as relevant today, and gives the reader a vital understanding of the tactics at play. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times
Reviews with the most likes.
I liked this and highlighted several passages of it.
As I found newspeak a very interesting concept in 1984 (the only Orwell book I've previously read) I was interested to see how he viewed the use of language. I especially agreed that partially-formed ideas cannot be well explained in clear language.
