''Inside the Whale and Other Essays'' is a book of essays written by
George Orwell in
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* Januar ...
. It includes the eponymous essay "
Inside the Whale".
Background
''Inside the Whale'' was published by
Victor Gollancz
Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian.
Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing causes. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism, but he defined himself as a Chris ...
as a book of essays on 11 March 1940. Orwell refers to it as a "book" in part three of the essay. ("While I have been writing this book another European war has broken out."), as well as in letters he wrote to
Geoffrey Gorer and Humphry House, an English scholar, the following month. Gollancz initially printed 1,100 copies in March 1940, with some copies destroyed by Nazi bombing of England.
Contents
*"
Inside the Whale" (1939)
*"
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
" (1940)
*"
Boys' Weeklies
"Boys' Weeklies" is an essay by George Orwell in which he analyses those weekly story-paper publications for boys which were current around 1940. After being published in ''Horizon'' in abridged form, it was published alongside two of his other p ...
" (1940)
Later version
A collection of essays with the same title was published in 1962 in the UK by Penguin Books.
[George Orwell ''Inside the Whale and Other Essays'' 1962 Penguin Books] This edition was a reprint of an earlier collection entitled "Selected Essays" published in 1957. The collection contains the following essays:
*"
Inside the Whale"
*"Down the Mine" (a passage from ''
The Road to Wigan Pier
''The Road to Wigan Pier'' is a book by the English writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. The first half of this work documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yor ...
'')
*"
England Your England"
*"
Shooting an Elephant
"Shooting an Elephant" is an essay by British writer George Orwell, first published in the literary magazine '' New Writing'' in late 1936 and broadcast by the BBC Home Service on 12 October 1948.
The essay describes the experience of the Englis ...
"
*"
Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool"
*"
Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver's Travels"
*"
Politics and the English Language
"Politics and the English Language" (1946) is an essay by George Orwell that criticised the "ugly and inaccurate" written English of his time and examined the connection between political orthodoxies and the debasement of language.
The essay ...
"
*"
The Prevention of Literature
"The Prevention of Literature" is an essay published in 1946 by the English author George Orwell. The essay is concerned with freedom of thought and expression, particularly in an environment where the prevailing orthodoxy in left-wing intellectu ...
"
*"
Boys' Weeklies
"Boys' Weeklies" is an essay by George Orwell in which he analyses those weekly story-paper publications for boys which were current around 1940. After being published in ''Horizon'' in abridged form, it was published alongside two of his other p ...
"
See also
*
Bibliography of George Orwell
The bibliography of George Orwell includes journalism, essays, novels, and non-fiction books written by the British writer Eric Blair (1903–1950), either under his own name or, more usually, under his pen name George Orwell. Orwell was a pro ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inside the Whale and other Essays
1940 non-fiction books
Books by George Orwell
English-language books
English essay collections
Victor Gollancz Ltd books
Books of literary criticism