George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was a British author. Noted as a political and cultural commentator, as well as an accomplished novelist, Orwell is among the most widely admired English-language essayists of the twentieth century. He is possibly best known for two novels written towards the end of his life, in the 1940s; the political allegory Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, which describes a totalitarian dystopia so vividly that the adjective "Orwellian" is now used to describe totalitarian mechanisms of thought control.

Literary influences

Orwell claimed that his writing style was most similar to that of Somerset Maugham. In his literary essays, he also strongly praised the works of Jack London, especially his book "The Road". Orwell's descent into the lives of the poor in "The Road to Wigan Pier" strongly resembles that of Jack London's "The People of the Abyss", in which London disguises himself as a poverty stricken American sailor in order to investigate the lives of the poor in London. In his literary essays, Orwell also praises Charles Dickens and Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick. Another of his favourite authors was Jonathan Swift and in particular his book Gulliver's Travels.

Related Topics:
Somerset Maugham - Jack London - The People of the Abyss - Charles Dickens - Herman Melville - Moby Dick - Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels

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