George Orwell, a true great?

[burntpunk]

Haven consumed the bulk of George Orwell's texts I deeply enjoyed them and can see appreciate why they have been canonised amongst the greatest texts of the 20th century.

Other than the obvious, I've struggled to pinpoint what quantifies his brilliance. Any ideas? Don't state the obvious.

[the facade]

I am a huge Orwell fan myself.
I also find it hard to pin-point exactly what it is about him and I think the problem lies in his diversity. Orwell grew immensely as a writer during his career and his style varied from book to book. But what I believe is distinctly Orwellian is a sense of brutal honesty that never wavers.

[Mr.lucifer]

Probally animal farm and 1984. His essays too.

[Brad Coelho]

His ability to cut, paste & copy went unchallenged.

[Babelfish]

His ability to cut, paste & copy went unchallenged.

Hahaha. The secret of great writing revealed.

[dfloyd]

as did I. I wouldn't want to do it again, but it can make you have clearer objectives. You've mentioned some of his best works, but try Down and Out in Paris and London. This is real poverty!

[Serena03]

Although his two best known books have topped his legacy, it is his essays that I find the most captivating. IMO, they may be among some of his most important reads. These writings tend to represent the best of Orwell's sort of bohemian personalty and progressive perspectives of all political and common ideas and responses that crossed his mind. He could talk endlessly in such a eloquent, artistic and simplistic tongue from the combative complications of government and empire to elaborate yet witty instructions on how to make a cup of tea. His advocating words towards universal freedom, equality and social justice speaks with just as much relevance now as it did then. His novels as well are just as crucial, painting charming allegories of both the virtues and decadents of society. Unfortunately he left us too early to produce further refinements for the prospective reader, but at least what he has left us is a mouthful of motivation, endurance and insight that is enough to feed the entire world.

[Jassy Melson]

It is his brutal honesty that's part of it, but it's also Orwell's ability to be objective that adds to his greatness as a writer. Part of this objectivity is his use of satire. Orwell may just be the greatest satirical writer of the English language.

[TheFifthElement]

His ability to cut, paste & copy went unchallenged.

:lol: I was thinking the same thing. 1984 loses some of its sheen and certainly its originality when you realise Orwell wrote it after reading We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (which is an excellent book, by the way).

[the facade]

From what I recall Orwell openly admitted to drawing a lot of inspiration from We. Though I love We, I feel that 1984 is the better book.

[Emil Miller]

It is his brutal honesty that's part of it, but it's also Orwell's ability to be objective that adds to his greatness as a writer. Part of this objectivity is his use of satire. Orwell may just be the greatest satirical writer of the English language.

I agree that he was a marvellous satirist but he was also a very modest person who would have shunned being called the greatest. He would almost certainly have given that title to Swift.
However, I wouldn't class him among the 'greats' as I think his books will be more remembered for their content rather than their form.

[underthepink]

I hope this isn't what you meant by 'the obvious' but I think his greatness lies in the rules he used for writing. He avoided using overdone metaphors and similes, refused to use a long word were a short one would do the trick and always prefered the active to the passive way of writing eg. passive being: the man was bitten by the dog, and active: the dog bit the man. You can see that the second example has much more of the energy and life that we associate with Orwell's writing.

And also he is just damn good...