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. Inside the Whale, the eighth in the Orwell's Essays series, discusses Henry Miller's controversial Tropic of Cancer, and considers the driving power behind the great books of the 1930s. Comparing Miller with other literary giants, Orwell lambasts the notion that all literature is good, forcing the reader to think for themselves, with his final words ringing in their ears: 'five thousand novels are published in England every year and four thousand nine hundred of them are tripe.'

About the Author
Born Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), George Orwell was an English journalist, writer and critic. Orwell devoted his life to working against extremism, and in his description of how authoritarian regimes pervade our thoughts, he gave us a new vocabulary to understand totalitarianism. He is best remembered today for his innumerable essays, his novels - in particular Animal Farm and 1984 - and his longer non-fiction, especially The Road to Wigan Pier and Down and Out in Paris and London.


Book Information
ISBN 9781804470107
Author George Orwell
Format Paperback
Page Count 96
Imprint Renard Press Ltd
Publisher Renard Press Ltd