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Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays (1999)

by George Orwell(Favorite Author)

4.35 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0151013616 (ISBN13: 9780151013616)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

review 1: The opening essays to this collection are among the best writing I've ever come across- to the point that I wondered what happened to the early Orwell. After the war time journal entries the collection lost my attention- a lot of political pieces. Orwell had an interesting political mind, but he's far less captivating a writer when he engages political ideas. The pieces from his days in Burma or his first person reporting are what make this excellent.
review 2: Orwell, George. FACING UNPLEASANT FACTS: Narrative Essays. (2008). *****. This collection was compiled from “The Complete Works of George Orwell” published in 1998 and edited by Peter Davison. Orwell (pseudonym of Eric A. Blair) was a prodigious writer, and his essays appeared in all the leadin... moreg journals and newspapers of the time. The editor of this selection was George Packer. There is a companion selection of his critical essays also available which I have to seek out and read, too, especially after reading this one. Orwell had the habit of only writing about experiences that he personally had himself. Very little of his writing is second-hand or derivative of others’ experiences. His was a checkered career, but he knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. The sheer vitality of his prose shines through each of the selections in this book and propels you from essay to essay. A particularly impressive piece is entitled, “The Hanging.” Orwell served as a member of the Imperial Police in Burma, and was asked to view a hanging of one of the natives convicted of something or other. He goes on: “It was about forty yards to the gallows. I watched the bare brown back of the prisoner marching in front of me. He walked clumsily with his bound arms, but quite steadily, with that bobbing gait of the Indian who never straightens his knees. At each step his muscles slid neatly into place, the lock of hair on his scalp danced up and down, his feet printed themselves on the wet gravel. And once, in spite of the men who gripped him by each shoulder, he stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle on the path.” It was at this point that Orwell realized what it meant to destroy a healthy conscious man. Before that side-step, the Indian was just an anonymous prisoner meeting his just end. It is that shock of recognition that comes to Orwell in most of the situations that he writes about. Another essay, entitled “Shooting An Elephant,” also describes that moment of revelation typical of his experiences. A working elephant had escaped from his keeper and, since he was in heat, he was aggressively stomping through the village, destroying food stands and, ultimately, attacking a villager and killing him. Orwell was called out to see what he could do. He now had a dilemma. He knew that he had to do something, but not because the elephant was likely to be of more danger. He had to do something because if he didn’t he was at risk of the villagers laughting at him. He then called for his elephant gun and ultimately shot the elephant. Orwell’s analysis of why he reacted as he did in this situation is another one of those sparks of recognition that pervade his writing. I could go on for several pages, but won’t. I recommend this book highly. less

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