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Liked It2 of 3 members found this review helpful “My third George Orwell book and this is just as good (if not better) than both Animal Farm and 1984 - books for which Orwell is more famous for. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish, it was very easy to get into and a well written book that I would recommend to all. |
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“Highly recommended as one of Orwell's best books. Based on his trek into a revolutionary war -- he went in an idealist and came out no longer a communist...”
muque and shylock tomes wrote this review 15 hours ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“George Orwell has/and still is one of my favourite authors of all time. The book has the superbd discription of the Spanish Civil War, as well as an superbly written display on Anarchisim back then. It talks about the horrors of life in war - the food shortages, fighting, the militia, the everything.
Sarah-Wan Kenobi wrote this review Friday, November 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This book is definatly for any fans of Politics, the Spanish Civil War, or Literature as well.”
“George Orwell (or should I say, Eric Blair) is a god.
Choccy wrote this review Wednesday, November 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Wait a minute, I think I have said a similar sentence in a review before. Ah yes, indeed, ‘twas referring to Jules Verne. Well, well, apparently I have two gods now LOL
Seriously, this guy is a genius. An uber-writer with an ability to captivate his readers in both fiction and non-fiction works. Homage to Catalonia is so witty and informative it could make you feel lively and miserable at the same time.
The story is about Orwell’s experience and observation when he joined the militia during the Spanish Civil War. The militias, interestingly, were divided into several branches with distinguishable differences, notably the view on the government and political philosophies. The Spanish loved abbreviations. Nevertheless, the abundant collections like P.O.U.M, P.S.U.C, F.A.I and C.N.T are not that difficult to remember so do not cower.
I struggled a bit with Trostkyism and Stalinism – readers with previous knowledge on Marxism and its branches supposedly could understand the book better – but when I came to understand them slowly, it dawned to me that this 'war' was indeed not a war per se, but a comic opera with an occasional death (quoting from Orwell’s superior officer, Kopp). The workers – the people – were just victims of superfluous political intrigues among themselves (or more specifically, the political factions who claimed to be on their side) in which the party with lesser resources (weapons, political supporters, PR/media engines etc) were simply doomed.
The accounts on the 'battlefield' are hilarious. As already brought up in various war memoirs, in the front a war is not a glorious as one may think. The quite-extensively described lice calamity, for instance. Even the valiant Spartans in Thermopylae (or soldiers in other famous battles like Verdun and Waterloo) had lice in their private parts, he mused. The weapons, ah the weapons. Almost all grenades were duds. In Barcelona, when Orwell was stuck in an urban battle (but don’t think Mogadishu), I just could not help sniggering when imagining all those silly militia soldiers ‘fighting’ (or more accurately, try not to fight) between themselves. Alas, of course they did not want to fight. They were just following orders from their sometimes disillusioned leaders.
The political accounts, on the other hand, are quite enlightening. Not so sure whether people who don't really dig into reading about politics would like this book (Orwell even made several warnings to the readers before going to the next chapter), but I believe that everyone should have a try. Because of this book, I am now really interested to study more about anarchism (I myself have left-libertarian view of politics) and anarchist communities (I don't know whether they're still exist though).
Was Orwell unbiased when writing this book? Obviously not. He sided with P.O.U.M and spent at least two chapters explaining why. His anti-communist stance and the way he described it was rather amusing. Nevertheless, despite his partiality, Orwell did teach us (since everyone can be journalists nowadays!) to be as objective as possible. He said: “It is the same in all wars; the soldiers do the fighting, the journalists do the shouting, and no true patriot ever gets near a front-line trench, except on the briefest of propaganda-tours.” Information that people spread could come from anywhere, so don’t put ALL your trust on the media and their reporters.
In a final note, I hereby admit that I felt a rather overwhelming awe towards Orwell. I was truly shell-shocked and now promise myself to read all his works in 2010. Man, what a writer!”
“One of the best books on war reporting”
jodonho wrote this review Saturday, September 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Orwell and Spain. Add a bottle of wine and a packet of cigarettes and you've almost got a perfect even.”
John A wrote this review Saturday, July 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“socialistb groove”
Mick C wrote this review Friday, May 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 3 members found this review helpful“Unlike the self-aggrandising and fictionalising Hemingway, this book is as sober and balanced an account of first hand experiences can be. It is so 'British' in its delivery, no less so where Orwell gets shot.
Drew P wrote this review Monday, April 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
A great account of the complexities and personal dilemmas of the war, and the dangers of fighting alongside communist 'allies'.”
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“James R said: 5 Star!
Play Book Tag Shelf wrote this review Thursday, March 5 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
My third George Orwell book and this is just as good (if not better) than both Animal Farm and 1984 - books from which Orwell is most famous for. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish, it was very easy to get into and a well written book that I would recommend to all. This was one of the books that I was advised to read for my Spanish Civil War topic in History and I'm glad I read it. I learnt more from this than from any text book that I could pick up. It is an autobiographical novel of George Orwell during the Spanish Civil war as he fought for the Republican left against the Fascist Nationalists in Nothern Spain. But this was no piece of propoganda it was a wonderfully told tale in which you can see how Orwell's thinking was evolved into what became his final novel, 1984. I flew through this book in little more than a day and other keen readers would probably do so as well.
”2 of 3 members found this review helpful“My third George Orwell book and this is just as good (if not better) than both Animal Farm and 1984 - books for which Orwell is more famous for. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish, it was very easy to get into and a well written book that I would recommend to all.
James wrote this review Saturday, March 7 2009. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This was one of the books that I was advised to read for my Spanish Civil War topic in History and I'm glad I read it. I learnt more from this than from any text book that I could pick up. It is an autobiographical novel of George Orwell during the Spanish Civil war as he fought for the Republican left against the Fascist Nationalists in Nothern Spain. But this was no piece of propaganda, it was a wonderfully told tale in which you can see how Orwell's thinking evolved into what became his final novel, 1984.
”
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“A wonderfully accessible perspective on the Spanish Civil War from a great writer who was actually there.”
Whisperin' Al wrote this review Wednesday, February 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
