Orwell's Roses

Orwell's Roses 

by Rebecca Solnit
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had not read any of Solnit's work before this but I may in the future. This book was essentially a series of interconnected essays that used the life and work of George Orwell as a lens through which to consider gardening, politics, beauty, the global flower industry, Nazis, junk-shops, the environment, and writing, among other things. Solnit refers to many specific pieces of Orwell's work in addition to numerous books, essays, and articles by other writers. Her discussion of Jamaica Kincaide's work reminded me that I have one of her books on my shelf waiting to be read. 

"I am not able, and do not want, completely to abandon the world view that I acquired in childhood. So long as I remain alive and well I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the earth, and to take pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information." -- G. O. in "Why I Write" 

This is my first book for Brona's Reading Orwell 2024 project. I think my next one will be a re-read of 1984. Solnit talks about her new perspective on the novel which came out of considering Orwell's love of nature and the joy he took from quotidian objects. (I love that word!) 

Remembering Orwell

Remembering Orwell 

by Stephen Wadhams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Last summer I read 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret which was unlike any biography I had read. This book reminds me of it. This was "conceived and compiled" by Stephen Wadhams of the Canadian Broadcasting Company as a companion to his "Radio Biography of George Orwell" which premiered on 1 January 1984. This book tells the life story of Eric Blair (aka George Orwell) through the reminiscences of a wide range of people who knew him.  I have been a fan of Orwell's books since I was a teenager. After reading Animal Farm and 1984 in school I went on a binge and read all his other books as well. This was a fascinating way to look at the life of both the famous writer and the man. The interviewees ranged from people he played with as a kid; to editors and writers he worked with; to fellow fighters in the Spanish Civil War; to his son. 

I am counting this book toward the Canadian Reading Challenge (because the author is Canadian) and it is one of the alternate titles on my TBR Pile Challenge list.