1973: In Praise of GEORGE ORWELL | Writers and Wordsmiths | BBC Archive
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- George Orwell, the author of Nineteen-Eighty-Four, Animal Farm, Keep The Aspidistra Flying, The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated and influential writers of the 20th Century.
In this extract from Melvyn Bragg's documentary, contributors - including poet W H Auden, philosopher Noam Chomsky, Labour politician Michael Foot, writer Norman Mailer and novelist Angus Wilson - explain what appeals to them about Orwell's work.
This clip is from George Orwell. Originally broadcast 17 August, 1973.
00:00 Michael Foot
00:42 Norman Mailer (1)
02:20 Noam Chomsky
03:08 W H Auden
04:52 Angus Wilson
06:30 Norman Mailer (2)
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I devote a chapter of my book George Orwell on Screen to this. It's an hour-long Omnibus documentary called The Road to the Left, first shown on January 10, 1971 (so the interviews were done in 1970!). Last time I looked, you can watch the whole programme at one of the BFI's viewing rooms, known as Mediatheques. Anyway, thanks for posting!
Thank you for sharing!
These old episodes of Omnibus ought to be made available to the public on BBC iplayer.
@@Tim.Weaver agreed. Feel like it was a fight just to get these uploaded. There's a small argument that their insistence to keep these interviews and news reels hidden have helped dumb a generation(imo)
How could I contact you? I'm teaching a course on 1984 in March and I'd like to be in touch with you.
@@matiascarnevale3948 I have a George Orwell on Screen playlist that might help you. If you need to contact me, you can send a message via my website. It's mentioned in the intro to all but the earliest videos on the list. ruclips.net/p/PLQzmr7aKTEDJK1xlqM9Jw-NWFtSr0OH8b
I read all of his books and essays this year. With the exception of 1984. I do not feel short changed. Homage to Catalonia in particular, is extraordinary.
Homage to Catalonia is also my favorite. Best description of war I've ever read.
It is quite brilliant. I do recommend 1984 too, though, if you have the time.
This is gold wow
1984 is why he's famous. But if you want to know why he's still great, read his essays and Homage to Catalonia. 1984 is interpreted to mean whatever people want it to mean (frequently to strengthen the very agendas he was denouncing in that book). But those other works are far clearer.
I would have thought Animal farm brought fame
Ive found out these past few years the more I’ve read his other novels and essays, 1984 becomes even that more richer and mind blowing. A titanic talent. Elite prose.
both his fiction and NF are good but I do find myself revisiting his essays more…amazing writer though!
@@musikafossora totally. I’ve made it a personal goal to finish all of his works. Finished Burmese Days just yesterday, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Down and Out in Paris and London, Homage to Catalonia, Road to Wigan Pier, 1984, Animal Farm, and I have a copy of Under Your Nose Vol.4 his collected letters and essays of which I’ve read chunks of. Incredibly readable. I’m able to get thru it like bags of popcorn. No wonder he’s been such a success.
@@woodoven love down and out! probably one of my personal favorites. I’ve been wanting to read Burmese Days, Homage, & Road to Wigan Pier though…hopefully I’ll get around to them someday.
Awesome.
At work I went to the Human Resources equal opportunities manager and she told me 'Two legs good, four legs bad".
All HR managers are equal, but some HR managers are more equal than others.
Orwell's fiction described the reality we are now living in. We can't say we weren't warned.
But not so much in the West, however hard people try to push that idea. The truth is that the dystopian horrors of Orwell's work are very much in evidence in oppressive countries like North Korea, Iran, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea and Uzbekistan, places whose brutal oppressions and state control are beyond the worst nightmares of most Westerners (and why people choose to risk life and limb to escape from there to here, rather than the other way round.) The only way I can think of in which Western politicians tend to behave in an Orwellian way is the use of language, especially euphemisms.
@@simonzonenblick395 I'd say that lockdowns, 15 minute cities, 'hate speech' censorship is a sign of thingd to come. My point is that we could be sleepwalking into something like you describe above. I hope not, but thats my impression.
@@simonzonenblick395 Well we lived though the fun and happy Huxley type times and now Orwell's predictions beckon.
@@tachikomakusanagi3744 So now you are no longer saying they describe reality, but only that they might? You said his fiction "described the reality we are now living in." But unless you're talking about a state like North Korea, it simply doesn't.
You know that a writer is great when their language enters your language even if you have not read their work.
Unfortunately, our leaders have used "1984" not as a warning but as an instruction manual.
We took hints from China. Imagine the Chinese Orwell
What about Inteligence Agencies? 🤯💀😲😳
Yes and jived it up
We in the West have no idea how lucky we are. If you swap "our leaders" with something like "the leaders of Iran, or North Korea," your statement would be more accurate. I say "your statement," but in fact its just one you're passing off as your own as its a well known saying, usually used by people who have not actually read 1984.
Yo, post the whole thing, Beebs!
The road to Wigan pier is one of his best books. It's a analysis of poverty and by wider extension, the poor and the class system in the UK. Orwell is unflinchingly honest in exploring his own middle class attitudes towards the poor which he widens to the rest of English middle and upper class society. What I admire is that he is honest enough to explore his own attitudes against a backdrop of exploring the the merits and drawbacks of socialism. However, what he was absolutely correct that many of those that professed to be socialists were often frauds who were driven by other motives. Orwell believed that it wasn't that they loved the poor so much but rather that they hated the rich !
What he wasn't able to predict was the looming impotence of Britain as a world power. He was also writing too early to notice the decline of state power in the face of corporations.
Dear BBC, I love these archives, but with one like this, please could you add captions to tell us who the speakers are? You've listed names in the description, but many of us will not be able to match those names to the faces - unless we google for images of each named person.
That's a fair point. We've added chapter markers to the video with the names of the contributors to aid with identification. Thanks for the suggestion.
God bless 🇺🇸 the greatest country on 🌎
Why aren’t the featured commentators identified with supers?
Fair point. We've now added chapter markers to help identify the contributors.
@@BBCArchive Thanks for being so responsive!
Big Brother is watching. No matter where you are.
Manson 92 parole hearing in progress.
Praise?
Orwell is brilliant. There's no question. There's also no question there's modern Orwell's but they sit in silence. "We can see America and Russia fighting together against China..." Aged terribly, the polluting the world aspect was spot on.
George Orwell was in the club. How do you think he was able to so accurately predict the future.
Which club was that?
@vespelian5769 the elite, the illuminati, 33 degree Freemason. Everything is scripted decades in advance.
When BBC was good
Never happened. Didnt exist.
States enemy nowadays! 😒