Titles in this set:
1. Animal Farm
2. 1984
3. A Clergyman’s Daughter
4. Burmese Days
5. Coming up for Air
6. Down and Out in Paris and London
7. Homage to Catalonia
8. Keep the Aspidistra Flying
9. Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays
10. The Lion and the Unicorn
Description:
Animal Farm
‘Four legs good, two legs bad.’
When the animals of Manor Farm overthrow Mr Jones, their drunkard farmer. The pigs (Napoleon and Snowball) mastermind a new regime – where all animals are equal and free.
But as Napoleon and Snowball battle for power, it soon becomes apparent that the pigs secretly believe some animals are more important than others.
1984
‘Who controls the past controls the future … who controls the present controls the past.’
Winston Smith works in the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history to suit the Party. However, he hates the world they have created – one where everyone is under the eye of the omniscient Big Brother.
After Winston finds love with Julia, a young woman who shares his ideals, he risks it all and rebels. But Big Brother is always watching.
A Clergyman’s Daughter
‘It is a mysterious thing, the loss of faith – as mysterious as faith itself.’
Dorothy tries to be a dutiful daughter, but nothing is ever good enough for her clergyman father – no matter how much she does to help him.
After being invited to dinner by Mr Warburton, Dorothy becomes the centre of village gossip. As a result, she suffers from amnesia and embarks on a journey of self-discovery in London.
Burmese Days
‘Beauty is meaningless until it is shared.’
Rather than drink and gossip with his hostile English peers at the exclusive European Club, John Flory has embraced Burmese culture.
When his best friend, Dr Veraswami, asks for his help, Flory comes to understand the true extent of the corruption in British-ruled Burma. But the arrival of the beautiful yet aloof Elizabeth forces Flory to examine his values and what he believes in.
Coming up for Air
‘The idea really came to me the day I got my new false teeth.’
George Bowling leads a dreary life. He is forty-five and a mediocre insurance salesman, husband and father. The most exciting thing in his week is getting some new false teeth.
After he foresees World War II, George decides to escape to the idyllic days of his childhood. He soon discovers that the journey may not be everything he hoped.
Down and Out in Paris and London
‘The stars are a free show; it don’t cost anything to use your eyes.’
In George Orwell’s first full-length work, a memoir in two parts, he recounts how he lived in two major cities as a struggling writer with very little money in his pocket.
From sleeping in bug-infested hotels to surviving off scraps, Orwell uncovers the truth about the impoverished working and living conditions of Paris and London.
Homage to Catalonia
‘This is not a war … it is a comic opera with an occasional death.’
In this personal account of his time fighting for the POUM militia of the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War, George Orwell details his life in the trenches and the lives of the men he fought alongside.
He also critically examines his growing frustrations with the totalitarianism of Stalin’s oppressive communist regime.
Keep the Aspidistra Flying
‘He drove his mind into the abyss where poetry is written.’
Gordon Comstock is fighting against the worship of the so-called ‘money-gods’ – but it is a fight that is making his life miserable and unfulfilling.
After quitting his well-paying job, he spends his days working in a bookshop and writing unsuccessful poetry. And to make matters worse, there is a depressing aspidistra on his windowsill that refuses to die.
Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays
‘… I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to.’
In this perceptive essay collection, Orwell recounts a pivotal moment in his career as a police officer in Burma. He shares his experience of being treated for pneumonia in a Parisian hospital for the poor, and divulges into the absolute horrors of attending a public school for boys. Throughout, he shares his insightful opinions on colonialism, social class and more.
The Lion and the Unicorn
‘As I write, highly civilised human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.’
In this essay written during the worst of the London blitz, Orwell discusses socialism, patriotism, an English revolution and how to make the country a better place. His passionate argument about the need for class consciousness and huge political change is as relevant today as it was when the essay was first published in 1941.
