George Orwell strana 7 z 17

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George Orwell
Jeho bestsellery sa dostali do učebníc. 1984 aj Zvieracia farma. Svoj pseudonym si zvolil podľa rieky. Vlastným menom sa volal Eric Arthur Blair, narodil sa 25. Júna 1903 v Indii a poznáme ho pod menom George Orwell.

Narodil sa v rodine koloniálneho úradníka, ktorý pracoval v štátnych službách pre Odbor s opiátmi. Jeho rodina patrila do typickej strednej vrstvy. Keď sa s ním a s jeho dvomi sestrami matka presťahovala do Oxfordshir v Anglicku, rodina sa rozpadla. Svoj pseudonym si zvolil podľa rieky Orwell, ktorá tam preteká.
Keď mal šesť rokov, rodičia ho poslali do malej anglickej školy v Henley, učitelia ho odporučili do St Cyprian's School, v Eastbourne kde získal štipendium. Neskôr vyštudoval prestížnu súkromnú strednú školu Eton.

Po škole slúžil v Indickej imperiálnej polícii v Barme od roku 1922 až do 1927. Práve službe sa vrátil späť do Anglicka a začal sa živiť ako novinár a esejista. Spočiatku žil ako tulák v najchudobnejších vrstvách Paríža a Londýna. Intenzívne politické a sociálne nepokoje, ktoré sužovali Európu, zmenili Orwella na vášnivého socialistu, odporcu fašizmu, zástancu rovnosti a na spisovateľa.
Už v 30. rokoch napísal niekoľko románov. A Clergyman's Daughter, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Coming Up for Air, Road to Wigan Pier. V týchto knihách opisuje trápenie tých najspodnejších spoločenských vrstiev.
Po vypuknutí španielskej občianskej vojny sa do nej zapojil ako dobrovoľník, bojoval za republikánsku stranu v légiách POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista - sesterská protistalinistická strana nezávislej Labouristickej strany založenej v roku 1935, jej členom sa stal v roku 1938). Prežil nadšenie z fungujúceho španielskeho socialistického štátu, no čoskoro pocítil znechutenie z intríg a z fanatizmu jednotlivých zložiek ľavice. Stalinisti podporovaní Sovietskym zväzom porazili anarchistov a POUM a týmto zásahom ukončili revolúciu.
20. mája 1937 bol Orwell postrelený fašistickým ostreľovačom do krku, preto musel predčasne opustiť front. Keďže boli spolu s manželkou Eileen zatknutí za členstvo v „Trotskyit“, v júni 1937 Španielsko opustili. Neskôr boli prenasledovaní políciou, ktorá zatýkala všetkých členov POUM. O rok neskúr ochorel na tuberkulózu.
Počas vojny bol pevne presvedčený, že nastávajúci kapitalistický systém nemá šancu prežiť. Navrhol a obhajoval rozsiahle zoštátnenie majetku, obmedzenie výsad bohatých, obmedzenie maximálnych príjmov, slobodu kolóniám, avšak úplne odmietal stalinistický socializmus.

Orwell písal články do New English Weekly až do roku 1940. Počas 2. svetovej vojny sa stal členom domobrany a v roku 1941 začal pracovať pre BBC na programoch o Indii a Východnej Ázii. Po finančne príťažlivej ponuke prijal miesto v Tribune ako literárny spravodajca. Písal do pravidelnej rubriky „As I Please“.
V roku 1944 Orwell dokončil svoju antistalinistickú alegóriu Zvieracia farma, ktorá patrí k jeho najznámejším dielam. Dielo bolo publikované nasledujúci rok s veľkým úspechom. Po tejto knihe sa Orwell konečne ocitol finančne zabezpečený. Od roku 1945 sa stal vojnovým korešpondentom a neskôr pravidelne prispieval do Manchester Evening News. Bol blízkym priateľom vydavateľa a majiteľa Davida Astora, ktorého Orwellove myšlienky ho silno ovplyvňovali a tým menili smerovanie novín.

Po smrti manželky sa presťahoval na ostrov Jura a tu napísal jedno zo svojich najvýznamnejších diel 1984.
21. Januára 1950, zomrel v Londýne na tuberkulózu.

(foto: BNUJ)

viac

Farma zvířat


„Bytosti venku hleděli z prasete na člověka a z člověka na prase a znovu z prasete na člověka; ale nebyli schopni určit, který byl který. “ Alegorická novela začíná vzpourou zvířat, která vyženou majitele farmy a začnou si vládnout sama. Zprvu ušlechtilé, idealistické myšlenky o rovnosti, svobodě a blahobytu záhy berou za své a jejich místo postupně zaujme propaganda, nesvoboda a totalitní diktatura.
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9,96 €

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Homage to Catalonia


In 1936, George Orwell volunteered as a soldier in the Spanish Civil War. In Homage to Catalonia, first published just before the outbreak of World War II, Orwell documents the chaos and bloodshed of that moment in history and the voices of those who fought against rising fascism. His experience of the civil war would spark a significant change in his own political views, which readers today will recognise in much of his later literary work; a rage against the threat of totalitarianism and control.
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3,65 €

The Road to Wigan Pier


If there is one man to whom I do feel myself inferior, it is a coalminer. In the mid-1930s, George Orwell was given an assignment from his publisher - to write a book about unemployment and social conditions in the economically depressed north of England. Revolutionary for its time, The Road to Wigan Pier documents Orwell's stint in towns likes Barnsley, Sheffield and Wigan in 1936, where he met and observed working-class people living in the bleak industrial heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Orwell graphically and emphatically describes the hardships of ordinary people living in cramped slum housing, working in dangerous mines and growing hungry through malnutrition and social injustice. It is an honest, gripping and humane study that also looks at socialism as a solution to the problems facing working-class northerners - something many readers at the time were uncomfortable discussing. The Road to Wigan Pier cemented ideas that would be found in Orwell's later works, and remains a powerful portrait of poverty, injustice and class divisions in Britain to this day.
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5,55 €

1984


Byl jasný, studený dubnový den a hodiny odbíjely třináctou. Winston Smith, s bradou přitisknutou k hrudi, aby unikl protivnému větru, rychle proklouzl skleněnými dveřmi věžáku na Sídlišti vítězství. Ne však dost rychle, aby zabránil zvířenému písku a prachu vniknout dovnitř. Těmito větami začíná slavný antiutopický román anglického spisovatele George Orwella – jeden z pilířů literatury 20.
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13,16 €

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1984


Nové vydanie románu 1984 - jedného z najznámejších diel svetovej literatúry. Spája v sebe prvky spoločensko-politického a vedecko-fantastického románu. Je obžalobou komunistickej diktatúry, ktorá roku 1984 ovládla všetko, vrátane ľudského myslenia. Román opisuje osudy čestného, citlivého a uvažujúceho jednotlivca (Winstona Smitha), ktorý sa vzoprie systému, za čo platí krutú daň.
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Zvieracia farma


Aktualizované vydanie románu Zvieracia farma je politickou satirou na revolúciu, ktorá sa vymkla z rúk. Zvieratá sa zbavia nadvlády nenávidených ľudí a zavedú si svoj vlastný režim, v ktorom si všetci majú byť rovní. Z nádherných ideálov revolúcie sa však postupne stáva nočná mora. Prasce sa zmocnili koryta, a teda aj vlády, postupne si začali prispôsobovať zákony a legendárny slogan sa čoskoro mení na "Všetky zvieratá sú si rovné, ale niektoré sú si rovnejšie".
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6,95 €

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Down and Out in Paris and London


THE AUTHORATITIVE TEXT 'You can live on a shilling a day in Paris if you know how. But it is a complicated business' As a struggling writer in his twenties, Orwell lived as a down-and-out among the poorest members of society. In this, his early memoir, Orwell recalls with vivid clarity his time working as a penniless dishwasher in Paris, pawning clothes to buy a day's worth of bread and wine, sleeping in bug-infested bunks, trading survival skills and cigarette butts with fellow tramps, and trudging between London's workhouse spikes for a few hours' sleep and tea. With all of the sensitivity and compassion that Orwell is known and loved for, he exposed the hardships of poverty and gave readers an unprecedented look at life lived on the fringes of society. This vivid account is an enduring call to support the world's most vulnerable people and exemplifies his belief that 'The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty.' WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY KERRY HUDSON
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1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four


Winston Smith rewrites history. It's his job. Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, he helps the Party, and the omnipresent Big Brother, control the people of Oceania. Winston knows what a good citizen of Oceania must do: show his devotion for Big Brother and the Party; abstain from all vices; and, most importantly, possess no critical thoughts of their own. The new notebook he's begun to write in is definitely against the rules - in fact, the Thought Police could arrest him simply for having it. Yet, as Winston begins to write his own history, a seed of rebellion begins to grow in his heart - one that could have devastating consequences. In George Orwell's final and most well-known novel, he explores a dystopian future in which a totalitarian government controls the actions, thoughts and even emotions of its citizens, exercising power through control of language and history. Its lasting popularity is testament to Orwell's powerful prose, and is a passionate political warning for today.
Na sklade 3Ks
5,55 €

Homage to Catalonia


'This is the story of one man who went to Spain with an intellectual sympathy for socialist doctrine and came back...with a fervent, almost religious belief in its necessity' Both a memoir of Orwell's experiences during the Spanish Civil War and a heartfelt tribute to those who died, Homage to Catalonia is an extraordinary first-hand record of him time on the frontline. Written with all of the depth, passion and deep human understanding that defines Orwell's writing this is incredible work of non-fiction tells of the battles that were faced by ordinary working people as they fought for both their lives and their ideologies. Although Orwell was himself near-fatally wounded he finds both bleak and comic notes in his experience which is recorded with such clarity and depth that this short work has become one of his best known.
Na sklade 1Ks
3,95 €

Animal Farm


"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. " Mr Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, is a lazy drunk. The animals decide to overthrow him in a revolution that will allow them to run the farm, liberating themselves and creating a new life of equality and freedom. But they have underestimated the pigs. Napoleon and Snowball form an elite and take control for themselves, and the tyranny of the farmer is replaced with another kind of control leaving the animals again subject to a ruthless and cruel authority. Imagined only as Orwell could, this powerful fable is instilled with humour and an underlying urgency that makes this one of the most prescient warnings ever written.
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Down and Out in Paris and London


Three francs will feed you till tomorrow, and you cannot think further than that... As a young man struggling to find his voice as a writer, George Orwell left the comfort of home to live in the impoverished working districts of Paris and London. He would document both the chaos and boredom of destitution, the eccentric cast of characters he encountered, and the near-constant pains of hunger and discomfort. Exposing the grim reality of a life marred by poverty, Down and Out in Paris and London, part memoir, part social commentary, would become George Orwell's first published work.
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Animal Farm


The animals at Manor Farm have had enough of Farmer Jones - he's drunk, reckless and cares little for their welfare. When the boar, Old Major, shares his revolutionary plans, the animals are convinced they can thrive on their own once the despot Jones is overthrown. But as the pigs vie for power, they begin to bear an uncanny resemblance to the tyrants they have overthrown... George Orwell's renowned fable became an instant success on publication after the Second World War. The novel has continued to captivate readers of all ages, and has secured Orwell's position as one of the great writers of the twentieth century.
Na sklade 2Ks
5,55 €

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  • 5 /5

Animal Farm


All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. George Orwell's fable of revolutionary farm animals - the steadfast horses Boxer and Clover, the opportunistic pigs Snowball and Napoleon, and the deafening choir of sheep - who overthrow their elitist human master only to find themselves subject to a new authority, is one of the most famous warnings ever written. Rejected by such eminent publishing figures as Victor Gollancz, Jonathan Cape and T.S. Eliot due to its daringly open criticism of Stalin, Animal Farm was published to great acclaim by Martin Secker and Warburg on 17 August 1945. One reviewer wrote 'In a hundred years' time perhaps Animal Farm ... may simply be a fairy story: today it is a fairy story with a good deal of point.' Seventy-five years since its first publication, Orwell's immortal satire remains an unparalleled masterpiece and more relevant than ever.
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4,45 €

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Homage to Catalonia


THE AUTHORATITIVE TEXT 'There are occasions where it pays better to fight and be beaten than not to fight at all' Both a memoir of Orwell's experiences during the Spanish Civil War and a heartfelt tribute to those who died, Homage to Catalonia is an extraordinary first-hand record of him time on the frontline. Written with all of the depth, passion and deep human understanding that defines Orwell's writing this is a vivid account of the battles that were faced by ordinary working people as they fought for both their lives and their ideologies. Although Orwell was himself near-fatally wounded he finds both bleak and comic notes in his experience which is recorded with such clarity and depth that this short work has become one of his best known.
U dodávateľa
11,50 €

Nineteen Eighty-Four


George Orwell's masterwork, now in the Penguin Clothbound Classics series with a cover designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith 'Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past' Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal. George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four is perhaps the most pervasively influential book of the twentieth century.
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23,99 €
  • 5 /5

1984


"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." The year is 1984. War and revolution have left the world unrecognisable. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, is ruled by the Party, led by Big Brother. Mass surveillance is everything and The Thought Police ensure no individual thinking is allowed. Winston Smith works at The Ministry of Truth, carefully rewriting history. But Winston dreams of freedom, and of rebellion. It is here that he falls in love with Julia, and starts a secret, forbidden affair with her - but in this world nothing can be kept secret, and they are forced to face consequences more terrifying than either of them could have ever imagined. A dystopian masterpiece, this is the powerful and prophetic novel that defined the twentieth century.
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