George Orwell, "My Country Right or Left"
Now THAT was a good piece of work. This is how editorial journalism should be. He�s opinionated, yet he uses others to make the opinion, not falling into the trap of student journalists everywhere who write column after shitty column of their views and their views only. If there�s one thing I can�t stand, it�s the idea that says everybody should listen to them because they have the only opinion that matters...
Hey, wait a minute...
Anyhoo, this also included his famous essay, �Shooting an Elephant� which I had never read but always heard referenced. There�s good reason for that, it�s a powerful piece. More surprising is that he can be quite funny when he wants to be, as in his essay of working in a used bookstore. He talks about crazy people coming in the store and asking for a certain book without knowing the author or the title, but remembering that it had a red cover. This happened to me twice today at work. He finishes that piece with a comment that the job made him despise books in general, being forced to be around them everyday...
Hey, wait a minute...
Still though, the book is not all great, and there are some slow points. The most notable example comes from his essay on Charles Dickens. Reading a 54-page rant about an author that I�ve never read in my life can get more than a little taxing...
Hey, wait a minute...
