In the case of the private-school system in the England of Orwell's era, he delivers a two-page critique of how capitalism has rendered the school system useless and absurd. He started writing A Clergyman's Daughter in mid-January 1934 at his parents house in Southwold and finished it by 3 October 1934. Much of this journal found its way into A Clergyman's Daughter. During this time he lived in a hopper hut like the other pickers, and kept a journal in which 'Ginger' and 'Deafie' are described. Orwell was never satisfied with it and he left instructions that after his death it was not to be reprinted. In August and September 1931 Orwell spent two months in casual work picking hops in Kent. In a letter from 1946, Orwell said 'I dare say it's unfair in some ways and inaccurate in some details, but much of it is simply reporting what I have seen'.Ī Clergyman's Daughter tells the story of Dorothy Hare, the clergyman's daughter of the title, whose life is turned upside down when she suffers an attack of amnesia. His works included non-fiction and many great essays and short stories and the following novels:īurmese Days was a scathing account of his time as a police officer in Burma (now Myanmar) 1922-27 and is the work of a young man and splenetic and drawn from his experiences. I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts, and I felt that this created a sort of private world in which I could get my own back for my failure in everyday life.” George Orwell, Why I Write. 1946.īefore being sent away to school at 8, Eric Blair had a very happy childhood in Henley. “I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued. Write the book only you can write, the book you're meant to write, but how do you write freely and truly and honestly with cleanliness? Let me show you how Orwell found his way.Įric Arthur Blair was born 25 June 1903 (and died at just 47 21 January 1950 - which gives this ageing writer pause for thought.)

How did Orwell make the leap from The Clergyman's Daughter to works like Animal Farm and 1984, from more conventional middle-of-the-road writing, small themes and safe prose to the stark, and bolder books of his last years, to 'prose like a windowpane'? In this special blog, we will delve into George Orwell's own development as a writer to greatness.

Let the aspidistra flying