George Orwell

George Orwell (1903–1950) is one of the most influential authors in the English language. His landmark novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) have been translated into many foreign languages and inspired numerous stage and film adaptations. His well-known essays “A Hanging” and “Shooting an Elephant” are widely anthologized and often taught in college composition classes. The writer is credited with inventing the terms “Big Brother,” “thought crime,” “unperson” and “double think.” His name itself has become an adjective—“Orwellian.”
Seventy years after its publication, Nineteen Eighty-Four remains very popular, its sales surging in an era of enhanced surveillance and media manipulation. This literary companion provides an extensive chronology and more than 175 entries about both his literary works and personal life. Also included are discussion questions and research topics, notable quotations by Orwell and an extensive bibliography of related sources.

Mark Connelly teaches literature and film at Milwaukee Area Technical College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he is vice president of the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center.

Mark Connelly
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 210
Bibliographic Info: appendices, chronology, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6677-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3454-8
Imprint: McFarland
Series: McFarland Literary Companions

Preface  1
Introduction  3
Chronology of Orwell’s Life and Works  5
The Companion  29
Appendix A: On Literature, Language, Politics and Life  181
Appendix B: Writing and Research Topics  187
Bibliography  190
Index  199

• “This clearly written and well-organized volume provides a great deal of useful information about the life and the writings of the important 20th-century English author, George Orwell…excellent information…a valuable acquistion”—ARBA
• “David Ryan’s study, a twenty-five-year labor of love, seeks to present a comprehensive examination of film adaptations and documentaries on Orwell and succeeds brilliantly. His outsider status as a journalist instead of an academic proves a blessing in being able to appeal to a wider audience…. Ryan’s work very well may be the most important contribution to the field”—Journal of American Culture
• “Excellent series of Literary Companions”—Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine