TY  - GEN
T1  - Becoming George Orwell : life and letters, legend and legacy
A1  - Rodden, John
LA  - English
PP  - Princeton
PB  - Princeton University Press
YR  - 2020
UL  - https://ebooks.jgu.edu.in/Record/jstor_eba_on1128736437
AB  - "Is George Orwell the most influential writer who ever lived? Yes, according to John Rodden's provocative book about the transformation of a man into a myth. Rodden does not argue that Orwell was the most distinguished man of letters of the last century, nor even the leading novelist of his generation, let alone the greatest imaginative writer of English prose fiction. Yet his influence since his death at midcentury is incomparable. No writer has aroused so much controversy or contributed so many incessantly quoted words and phrases to our cultural lexicon, from "Big Brother" and "doublethink" to "thoughtcrime" and "Newspeak." Becoming George Orwell is a pathbreaking tour de force that charts the astonishing passage of a litterateur into a legend. Rodden presents the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four in a new light, exploring how the man and writer Orwell, born Eric Arthur Blair, came to be overshadowed by the spectral figure associated with nightmare visions of our possible futures. Rodden opens with a discussion of the life and letters, chronicling Orwell's eccentricities and emotional struggles, followed by an assessment of his chief literary achievements. The second half of the book examines the legend and legacy of Orwell, whom Rodden calls "England's Prose Laureate," addressing his influence on everything ranging from cyberwarfare to "fake news." The closing chapters address both Orwell's enduring relevance to burning contemporary issues and the multiple ironies of his popular reputation, showing how he and his work have become confused with the very dreads and diseases that he fought against throughout his life."--Provided by publisher.
OP  - 360
CN  - PR6029.R8
SN  - 9780691190129
SN  - 0691190127
SN  - 9780691182742
SN  - 0691182744
KW  - Orwell, George, : 1903-1950 : Criticism and interpretation.
KW  - Orwell, George, : 1903-1950 : Appreciation.
KW  - Orwell, George, : Criticism and interpretation.
KW  - Orwell, George, : 1903-1950
KW  - BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY : Literary.
KW  - Art appreciation
KW  - 1Q84.
KW  - 2 + 2 = 5.
KW  - A Hanging.
KW  - Airstrip One.
KW  - Aldous Huxley.
KW  - Big Brother Is Watching You.
KW  - Brave New World.
KW  - Burmese Days.
KW  - Down and Out in Paris and London.
KW  - Eastasia.
KW  - Emmanuel Goldstein.
KW  - Eurasia.
KW  - Homage to Catalonia.
KW  - Ingsoc.
KW  - Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
KW  - Ministry of Truth.
KW  - Murakami.
KW  - Oceania.
KW  - Orwellian.
KW  - Road to Wigan Pier.
KW  - Room 101.
KW  - Winston Smith.
KW  - authoritarianism.
KW  - doublespeak.
KW  - duckspeak.
KW  - dystopia.
KW  - dystopian novel.
KW  - oldspeak.
KW  - perpetual war.
KW  - propaganda.
KW  - surveillance state.
KW  - thought crime.
KW  - thought police.
KW  - Literary criticism
KW  - Criticism, interpretation, etc.
KW  - Literary criticism.
KW  - Critiques littéraires.
ER  -