Grammath
9th July 2008, 03:02 PM
Having been hugely impressed by "Down and Out in Paris and London" and "The Road to Wigan Pier", I had high expectations of "Homage to Catalonia", Orwell's account of his experiences fighting for the Anarchist POUM in the Spanish Civil War.
However, in comparison to the two earlier books, I found it somewhat lacking, but for me this was as much to do with the subject matter as the author, whose expresses his views as trenchantly and incisively as ever.
The political situation, about which I knew little before reading this book, was a complex one with numerous factions of Anarchists, Communists, Fascists and government troops involved. Consequently, there is a lot of exposition along the way that affects the narrative flow, a shame after the clear and direct approach of the two earlier books, but understandable. It is as much a piece of reportage as a book so even then there's things the contemporary reader would find obscure I suspect their 1930s counterparts would have known.
Orwell captures the boredom and chaos of war - much time is spent sitting in trenches in uniform that is falling apart armed with rifles that jam awaiting orders that never come. Unfortunately, boredom is a difficult subject to relate without also boring the reader to some extent. There are sudden explosions of activity, and eventually Orwell is invalided out.
It is fascinating to read this book and be able to draw parallels with modern warfare. One chapter is devoted to how the press manipulate people's perceptions of the war and the various groups involved which, in these days of embedded journalists, still feels highly relevant.
I'd still steer those wanting to sample Orwell's nonfiction work in the direction of "The Road to Wigan Pier" first, but this is a decent attempt to present one man's experiences in a war zone and a complex historical situation.
However, in comparison to the two earlier books, I found it somewhat lacking, but for me this was as much to do with the subject matter as the author, whose expresses his views as trenchantly and incisively as ever.
The political situation, about which I knew little before reading this book, was a complex one with numerous factions of Anarchists, Communists, Fascists and government troops involved. Consequently, there is a lot of exposition along the way that affects the narrative flow, a shame after the clear and direct approach of the two earlier books, but understandable. It is as much a piece of reportage as a book so even then there's things the contemporary reader would find obscure I suspect their 1930s counterparts would have known.
Orwell captures the boredom and chaos of war - much time is spent sitting in trenches in uniform that is falling apart armed with rifles that jam awaiting orders that never come. Unfortunately, boredom is a difficult subject to relate without also boring the reader to some extent. There are sudden explosions of activity, and eventually Orwell is invalided out.
It is fascinating to read this book and be able to draw parallels with modern warfare. One chapter is devoted to how the press manipulate people's perceptions of the war and the various groups involved which, in these days of embedded journalists, still feels highly relevant.
I'd still steer those wanting to sample Orwell's nonfiction work in the direction of "The Road to Wigan Pier" first, but this is a decent attempt to present one man's experiences in a war zone and a complex historical situation.