Author: WordNerd100

My title, A Study in Paper, may seem a little extravagant -given a certain Mr Holmes- as well as the additional fact that my auto correct tried to make the word 'may' into a proper noun (such is Brexit).

This writing society is gradually progressing and developing in a number of ways, each writer providing a paragon of skill for others to rest upon and ameliorate their writing with. Therefore, I thought that introducing a small book discussion would be a useful and interesting next step for our talented team and for others out there!

Recently, I have fallen upon Orwell's works. Having previously read Animal Farm - a dark satire based on communist Russia - and 1984 - an early sci-fi novel with political and ethical intrigue - I found a marvellous collection of his essays. They comprised of his political views, some history connected to his life story and an interesting insight into his writing journey.

The three essays I have picked are significant in a collection called 'Shooting an Elephant' named after the most intriguing piece of writing in the collection.

Shooting an Elephant reflects upon Orwell's time in Burma during which he was an officer for the British Empire. As a socialist he recounts being torn between fighting against his own imperialist government and trying to protect a crowd that were fractious and extremely vicious towards him. The metaphor whereby he shoots the elephant 'gone must' coveys the damage done by such primordial voracity because, in the end, both the conquered and the conqueror are destroyed.

The other essays I have chosen include of 'My Country Left or Right' and 'Politics and The English Language.' I'm very interested to hear what you all think about these topics as I would like to start a small discussion about them on this chapter.

For now, happy reading (and writing)!

NB:
Orwell's essays can be found online for free and in the book 'Shooting an Elephant' purchasable online.