The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius by George Orwell is the eleventh of The Essays that hold on (though I have not checked lately) to the 917th place on The Greatest Books of All time site, and the longest this far – Nineteen Eighty Four is sixth, and Animal Farm 54th on the same site, while Homage to Catalonia is in the top best few hundred, notwithstanding the claim made in the introduction to this book that The Essays will climb in the preferences of readers in the future – if there would be any such thing, future or readers, or both – while the rest of the Orwell magnum opera will become less prominent – to know what the trends are and will be, you should check my blogs https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html though this is more of a blague, than anything

 

The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius by George Orwell is the eleventh of The Essays that hold on (though I have not checked lately) to the 917th place on The Greatest Books of All time site, and the longest this far – Nineteen Eighty Four is sixth, and Animal Farm 54th on the same site, while Homage to Catalonia is in the top best few hundred, notwithstanding the claim made in the introduction to this book that The Essays will climb in the preferences of readers in the future – if there would be any such thing, future or readers, or both – while the rest of the Orwell magnum opera will become less prominent – to know what the trends are and will be, you should check my blogs https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html though this is more of a blague, than anything

 

 

9 out of 10

 

Nineteen Eighty Four is a chef d’oeuvre https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/12/nineteen-eighty-four-by-george-orwell.html but I have had the wrong impression, until reading some of The Essays of George Orwell

 

I made the (false) assumption that the writer is an ardent anti-communist, which might be partially true, but this is by no means the whole picture, this essay, The Lion, Unicorn, Socialism shows that Orwell was of the left…

 

At least at the time when he wrote The Essays, he talks about nationalizing, fracture between the poor and the rich, the former have to endure the horrors of war (II, and the others for that matter) while the latter escape it

In newspapers, you get encouragements to save, and to spend, there are ads for butlers, and the fat woman in the Bentley is mentioned, Britain was led by old, incompetent men, not much has changed, but Stamer seems alright, if not brilliant

 

The quarrel I have is with the leader of the free world, the old, decrepit Orange Woland – the speculation over the past days was that he is sick, what with the blue spots on hands, swollen ankles, but I think he will live a long time

Besides, no reason to be cheerful on this front, for loathsome Vance is up next, and he seems to be even worse – if that is even conceivable https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-princess-bride-by-william-goldman.html

 

George Orwell is very critical of capitalism, the system which placed profit above all else, and he underlines the fact that Britain had sold things to Germans when it was incredible, the same thing with the Italians

And he says that ‘it is like selling the razor that will cut your throat’, something along these lines, however, with its faults, capitalism has brought prosperity, it is faltering now, what with the aforementioned OW

 

India is a major subject, just like other colonies – in his time, the British Empire covered what a quarter of the world or so – and Orwell speculates that Britain could not just set free those lands it controlled, for Japan, Russia or both would take them

On India, the author is of the opinion that it would not seek independence, or could not, on the grounds that it cannot produce the food it needs, there are those specialists there, which is striking, for he is against empires

 

They were antagonizing India at the time, and it is funny how this is happening right now, Modi was in China these days, not on account of the (now defunct) British Empire, but because Trump sent him into the embrace of Xi

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence

Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

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