What is Orwell's status in the canon? Potentially stupid…
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What is Orwell's status in the canon?
Potentially stupid question:
So, over the years Orwell has kinda become one of my favorite authors. Beyond the two big ones, Coming up for Air, and I've found that I really enjoy reading his essays and his letters, even when writing to people about subjects I've never heard of am have no bearing on me. There's something about his prose that I find comforting and enjoyable - it has that English quality of being descriptive, concise, but also approachable at the same time. And I've just always taken for granted that he's just considered a staple of the canon by low brow and snobbish readers alike.
But I've slowly come to suspect that he's not. 1984 is largely a meme at this point, even though I think the novel does a legitimately good job at exploring the themes of social control, group think, and weaponized irrationality. There was a list of 100 greatest novels that was released, and 1984 was on it, and a book commentator that I enjoy mentioned made an aside that "It probably shouldn't be on that list," as if that was a given.
In terms of world, capital L literature, is Orwell considered in the same category as fellows like Tolstoy, Nabokov, or Austin? Or is his work too 'on the nose' and in your face?
#entertainment
source
Potentially stupid question:
So, over the years Orwell has kinda become one of my favorite authors. Beyond the two big ones, Coming up for Air, and I've found that I really enjoy reading his essays and his letters, even when writing to people about subjects I've never heard of am have no bearing on me. There's something about his prose that I find comforting and enjoyable - it has that English quality of being descriptive, concise, but also approachable at the same time. And I've just always taken for granted that he's just considered a staple of the canon by low brow and snobbish readers alike.
But I've slowly come to suspect that he's not. 1984 is largely a meme at this point, even though I think the novel does a legitimately good job at exploring the themes of social control, group think, and weaponized irrationality. There was a list of 100 greatest novels that was released, and 1984 was on it, and a book commentator that I enjoy mentioned made an aside that "It probably shouldn't be on that list," as if that was a given.
In terms of world, capital L literature, is Orwell considered in the same category as fellows like Tolstoy, Nabokov, or Austin? Or is his work too 'on the nose' and in your face?
#entertainment
source
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