Homage To Catalonia

If 'peerless prose' could apply to one writer alone, I'd accord it to Orwell * * The Guardian * * Praise for previous CSA WORD recordings: Simon Callow's remarkable narration brings out the many layers of Orwell's fable, from the light-hearted humour as the animals oust Mr Jones from Manor Farm. . . to the darkness of the Stalinist allegory * * The Observer on Animal Farm * * Given fresh life through this vigorous narration * * The Observer on Ninteen Eighty-Four * *

Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's account of his experiences fighting in the Spanish Civil War, and a portrait of disillusionment with his early politics. It also offers a personal background to the subtexts of his later novels, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell's experiences include being shot in the neck by a sniper, and being forced into hiding as factions of the Left battled on the streets of Barcelona. Orwell entered Spain intending to gather an experience worth writing as well as to fight Fascism, and wrote Homage to Catalonia within months of his return. His honesty and bitterness make for an unparalleled account of his journey from belief and enthusiasm to a reluctant loss of ideals. Jeremy Northam has narrated several audiobooks for CSA & Canongate: Orwell's semi-autobiographical account of life on the streets; Down and Out in Paris and London, Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh, and Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene.