Vigo Books » George Orwell

Shooting an Elephant

admin12 — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:21:35 +0000

This collection of essays by one of England’s most influential writers is led by Shooting an Elephant, a recount of Orwell’s time as a policeman in British controlled Burma where he ends up killing an elephant to save face.

Coming Up for Air

admin12 — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:18:44 +0000

A comic story of George Bowling, a middle-aged insurance salesman living a dull, loveless suburban life who travels to the village he grew up in after winning a bet. But once he gets there the ageing salesman finds that the village of his memories no longer exists.

Homage to Catalonia

admin12 — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:16:03 +0000

After heading to Spain to report on the country’s bitter civil war, George Orwell turned from journalist to fighter helping the left-wing forces in their battles against Franco’s fascists. His frank recount of the six months he spent in the war captures both the tedium and danger of war while shining a light of the nature of those who wage it.

The Road to Wigan Pier

admin12 — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:14:15 +0000

George Orwell leaves behind the comfort of his middle-class life to live among the coal miners of Northern England in this first-person account of the dystopian existence of Britain’s poor. His experiences force him to question his view of the working class and the workings of capitalism.

Keep the Aspidistra Flying

admin12 — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:12:33 +0000

Angered by the nature of money, the successful advertising executive Gordon Comstock quits his job and sets out to escape the grind of the rat race. But instead of finding the creative freedom he imagines a money-less existence will bring he finds himself dragged down by the crushing squalor of life in poverty.

A Clergyman’s Daughter

admin12 — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:10:33 +0000

A witty satire of life in a rural 1930s England, A Clergyman’s Daughter is a social critique that tells the story of Dorothy Hare – a minister’s daughter who is trapped by faith and her gender in a monotonous life working as her father’s unpaid curate. But after she wakes up in London without knowing how she got there events conspire to challenge her faith.

Burmese Days

admin12 — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:08:47 +0000

The dying days of the British imperialism are recounted in this novel that draws on the time Orwell spent as a police officer in 1920s Burma. His story follows John Flory, a timber merchant living in a Burmese outpost who finds the racism of the British appalling but lacks the stomach to speak out.

Down and Out In Paris and London

admin12 — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:06:58 +0000

Orwell delves into the poverty stricken underbelly of Paris and London in this fictionalised account of his days as a penniless writer. In France he discovers the dark soul hidden behind the facades of the finest restaurants in Paris while in London he rubs shoulders with the homeless and forgotten.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

admin12 — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:18:06 +0000

Orwell’s gripping dystopian novel about how a totalitarian state crushes individuality has lodged itself into the public consciousness in a way few books ever do. Terms such as Big Brother, doublespeak, Orwellian, Newspeak and thoughtcrime originate here, and the book’s powerful warning still resonates today.

Animal Farm

admin12 — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:14:18 +0000

The animals of Manor Farm have had enough of ill treatment at the hands of humans and stage a revolution. But will the promises of a better future come true? A true 20th century classic, Animal Farm delivers a knockout critique of Soviet communism disguised as a fairy tale.