Recommend an Orwell novel for me?

exiztone

Orwell is naturally famous for Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. His other books never seem to be mentioned much though. I was thinking of giving one of them a try. What's a good one to start with? Doesn't necessarily have the same political innuendo in it, just a nice novel.

Thanks

Caesar_Bojangle

You can't go wrong by buying The Complete Novels, which contains Animal Farm, Burmese Days, A Clergyman's Daughter, Coming up for Air, Keep the Aspidistra Flying and Nineteen Eighty-Four. I bought it months ago for less than €25 in Waterstones.

exiztone

I just want to read one for the moment though :>
Which was your favourite out of all those?

Bibliofemme

I liked 'Homage to Catolonia' and 'The Clergyman's Daughter' a lot and some people say that 'Coming up for Air' is actually his best.

MrNuked

Read them all, and Keep the Aspidistra Flying was the only one I didn;t really really like.
The non-fiction works are good too: Homage to Catalonia (Spanish Civil War which he fought in), Down and out in Paris and London (he was) The Road to Wigan Pier (Social commentary on miners and squalor, but very readable) and lots of essays.

loismustdie

homage to catalonia's brillian but is political and not a novel

jerenaugrim

Down and Out... is excellent, but not a novel. When he hits rock-bottom, in Paris, absolutely no money, etc...it's spot on, the feeling of relief at having gone as low as is likely, and surviving.

Of course, he ripped the idea off from that coruscating social commentator, Des Bishop.:D

Samson

If you have to read just one, I would recommend Animal Farm.

Attractive Nun

I've read 1984 and Animal Farm... I've never really heard much about his other novels. That box set thing sounds like a bargain though, i'll have to have a look.

The Beer Baron

Coming up For Air I liked also, the plight of a middle-aged man who's "fat and fifty-five" (or something to that effect) and can no longer identify with the world around him. It's an old book, of course, and references times long since passed, but the theme still resonates, certainly did in me.

Dancing duck

Originally posted by jerenaugrim
Down and Out... is excellent, but not a novel. When he hits rock-bottom, in Paris, absolutely no money, etc...it's spot on, the feeling of relief at having gone as low as is likely, and surviving.

Of course, he ripped the idea off from that coruscating social commentator, Des Bishop.:D

That book, Down and Out.. was more of an eye-opener than anything I've recently had the pleasure of reading.
It's worth your time even if you only read some of the more lecturing chapters towards the end of the book.
Interesting philosophies on class divisions he had. You may even see our own homeless as a group a bit more... close to home.

pork99

Originally posted by The Beer Baron
Coming up For Air I liked also, the plight of a middle-aged man who's "fat and fifty-five" (or something to that effect) and can no longer identify with the world around him. It's an old book, of course, and references times long since passed, but the theme still resonates, certainly did in me.

That was the first Orwell novel I read. I identified with George Bowling - "fat and fifty-five" - even though I was about 15 or 16 years old at the the time. How odd is that?

Stabshauptmann

Personally I like to read lots of different authors, see the different styles etc etc.

When I chose an author to read I usually read his/her most famous pieces as I presume there is a good reason why said piece is so aclaimed. Ive read 1984 and thought it was brilliant, it wasnt the ending I was expecting, but have no intention of reading any more of his works.

Dancing duck

Originally posted by Necromancer
Personally I like to read lots of different authors, see the different styles etc etc.

When I chose an author to read I usually read his/her most famous pieces as I presume there is a good reason why said piece is so aclaimed. Ive read 1984 and thought it was brilliant, it wasnt the ending I was expecting, but have no intention of reading any more of his works.

That's an interesting system you've got going there. But I presume you don't like every author's most famous work, so are you never tempted just to explore more of those authors who you do, and see what else they had to offer?

In the same way I'd ask myself what's the point in meeting someone who get along with, and you're sure would make a good friend, and then agreeing never to see them again because there are other potential friends out there...

It all reminds me of my friend who has managed to see almost every commercial film to come out of Britain and America in the last twenty years. He obviously has certain genres/styles he prefers... and yet he watches them all, just to sort of, 'get through them'.

pork99

Originally posted by Necromancer

When I chose an author to read I usually read his/her most famous pieces as I presume there is a good reason why said piece is so aclaimed. Ive read 1984 and thought it was brilliant, it wasnt the ending I was expecting, but have no intention of reading any more of his works.

I'm the opposite. I read "Coming up For Air" first and because I enjoyed that I went on to read all his other novels, factual works like "Road to Wigan" etc, and the 4 volumes of collected letters and journalism.

I think that reading all the other woorks deepens your enjoyment & understanding of the well known works like 1984 and Animal Farm

Stabshauptmann

i dunno, my brother loves russian lit. and everything he reads is russian, i just think its such a waste.

I read for several hours a day but can never seem to get round to all the books I want to read so I try to get through different authors, styles etc