'Adds enormously to our understanding of the man' Evening Standard
George Orwell was one of the greatest writers England produced in the last century. He left an enduring mark on our language and culture, with concepts such as 'Big Brother' and 'Room 101.' His reputation rests not only on his political shrewdness and his sharp satires (Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four) but also on his marvellously clear style and superb essays, which rank with the best ever written.
Gordon Bowker's new biography includes fascinating new material which brings Orwell'slife into unfamiliar focus. He writes revealingly about Orwell's family background; the lasting influence of Eton on his work and character; his superstitious streak and youthful flirtation with black magic; and his chaotic and reckless sex life, which included at least one homoerotic relationship. It highlights the strange circumstances of his first marriage and provides remarkable new evidence of his experiences in Spain and their nightmarish consequences. It also offers a fresh look at his peculiar deathbed marriage to a woman fifteen years his junior. All this has enabled Bowker to give Orwell's life a brilliantly fresh and distinctive interpretation.
Gordon Bowker has written highly acclaimed biographies of Malcolm Lowry (a New York Times Recommended Book of the Year) and Lawrence Durrell, and articles and reviews for the Observer, the Sunday Times, the New York Times and the Times Literary Supplement.
Title: George Orwell
Author: Gordon Bowker
ISBN: 9780349115511
Binding:
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Publication Date: 2004-04-01
Number of Pages: 512
Weight: 0.4083 kg
Invaluable... superb and fascinating biography adds enormously to our understanding of the man * Evening Standard *
The strength of his approach lying in his careful and judicious sifting of the evidence, and in the writing, which possesses an admirable clarity that Orwell himself would have appreciated * Independent *
[Orwell is].a voice that speaks as urgently to our times as it did to his * Economist *
Bowker's biography is that of a scholar... he has the ability to select the right detail and let it speak for itself * Sunday Telegraph *
Magisterial * Daily Mail *
In all his complex contradictions, Orwell comes to energetic life * Publishers Weekly *
An exhilaratingly crowded book * INDEPENDENT *
Invaluable... superb and fascinating biography adds enormously to our understanding of the man * EVENING STANDARD *
Bowker's biography is that of a scholar... he has the ability to select the right detail and let it speak for itself * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
Magisterial * DAILY MAIL *