Homage to Catalonia

While I consider myself a fan of all of Orwell's works, Homage to Catalonia holds a special place on my mantle. The story recount's the author's days as a soldier in the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War. He, as evident by the title, spent his time in Catalonia, an area of Spain especially alive with all the zeal and hope of the revolution. However, after the hardline Communist faction...more

While I consider myself a fan of all of Orwell's works, Homage to Catalonia holds a special place on my mantle. The story recount's the author's days as a soldier in the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War. He, as evident by the title, spent his time in Catalonia, an area of Spain especially alive with all the zeal and hope of the revolution. However, after the hardline Communist faction gains increasing power, the optimism and near utopian lifestyle of the Catalonian streets gives way to totalitarian oppression. If you wish to truly understand the Orwell who wrote 1984 and Animal Farm, you should certainly give this a read.   hide

It's a very good book

Excellent work, which isn't a surprise from Orwell. If anyone is curious about the experience of being a foreign foot soldier in the Spanish Civil War, this is a superb read (and is even if you're not curious about such things.) Fascinating work about a war I previously felt that I didn't know enough about. If you're interested in the experience of being a foreign foot...more

Excellent work, which isn't a surprise from Orwell. If anyone is curious about the experience of being a foreign foot soldier in the Spanish Civil War, this is a superb read (and is even if you're not curious about such things.) Fascinating work about a war I previously felt that I didn't know enough about. If you're interested in the experience of being a foreign foot soldier in the Spanish Civil War, a great read for sure!   hide

Del Toro's movies made me want to know more about the Spanish Civil War. This was an interesting short work on the subject. It gave me a limited perspective on the greater conflict and too much information on the regional struggle but is worked well as a personal travelouge. I want to read more of Orwells non-fiction.

You've likely read Orwell, but if you have not read this one, do it! This is his account of his time fighting in the Spanish Civil war. It's a fascinating account, and shows his uncanny ability as a writer to convey big ideas with simple dialogue. It's of special interest to those who find the history of socialism intriguing, especially the shift from Marxism-Leninism to...more

You've likely read Orwell, but if you have not read this one, do it! This is his account of his time fighting in the Spanish Civil war. It's a fascinating account, and shows his uncanny ability as a writer to convey big ideas with simple dialogue. It's of special interest to those who find the history of socialism intriguing, especially the shift from Marxism-Leninism to Stalinist Communism.   hide

A truly fascinating tale of revolutionary times. Reading it made me very excited. A great manifesto for militias and revolutionary trade unions. A very sad account of the constant struggle within the Left. In my copy (Penguin Books 1989) the two chapters on the political dimension of the war - formerly Chapter V and XI - are at the end of the book as an appendix; this makes it hard to...more

A truly fascinating tale of revolutionary times. Reading it made me very excited. A great manifesto for militias and revolutionary trade unions. A very sad account of the constant struggle within the Left. In my copy (Penguin Books 1989) the two chapters on the political dimension of the war - formerly Chapter V and XI - are at the end of the book as an appendix; this makes it hard to understand the political party scene Orwell refers to, since a lot of explanations are given in these two chapters.   hide

Very interesting account of Orwell's experiences in Spanish civil war. The sights, sounds, and as best as he could describe them, the smells of life in combat. He came to Spain full of socialist ideals, left with a bullet wound through the neck and filled with dismay, not about socialism, but about the Stalinist version of it.

Kind of a slow start....

This must be, apart from 1984, one of Orwells definitive works. Details his experiences in Spain during the Civil War. Interesting in his support for the POUM and CNT-FAI against the Communists; he later suffered for this because he could not get his book published because of left wing snobbery and official ties to the Comintern.