The 1st article Eric Blair (the future George Orwell) wrote for Henri Barbusse’s communist journal Monde, is not only a window onto the “strange” world of English censorship at the time, but a glimpse into the preoccupations of the author himself. Here, translated back into English from H.J.Salemson’s French translation, as it appeared in print in October 1928.
My very own French reception is fast approaching – my book Orwell à Paris will be published on the 23rd of April.
In 1935, George Orwell’s first book was set for French Publication in July. Nicolas Ragonneau has written an article on how the French press reacted to Orwell’s debut La Vache Enragée…
In the autumn of 1934, days before the publication of Burmese Days in New York, George Orwell penned the introduction to the French translation of the book that launched his literary career. His introductory text was slotted in between Panaït Istrati’s preface and chapter one of La Vache enragée. Orwells’ introduction translated back into English…
The moment has arrived: on the 25th of April, I’ll be at the Hotel Littéraire Le Swann, Paris, for the launch of my book, Orwell à Paris which will have been published 2 days earlier in France by Exils Éditions.
Tricky questions & the signing of books will be dealt with simultaneously…
See you there. 19h.
“Crowley, Edward Alexander, 12.10.75, Leamington, Britannique, Homme de lettres.” The microfilm is an interesting historical document in itself, but in addition to the fact that Aleister Crowley and George Orwell were both in Paris in 1928-1929, they are also linked by association to one woman…
Panaït Istrati, writer of the French preface to Orwell’s “Down & Out in Paris & London” (La Vache Enragée) died in 1935, a pariah, slandered by the Communists. Orwell died in 1950, also of tuberculosis and at the same age as Istrati.
Guest author Nicolas Ragonneau explores the common ground between the 2 writers & tells of Istrati’s long path to redemption…
In March 1935, days before he died from tuberculosis, the Romanian writer Panaït Istrati penned the preface to the French edition of George Orwell’s first book. In translation, Down and Out in Paris and London became La Vache Enragée, a title taken from the 18th-century expression that describes a level of destitution so great that the poor are forced to eat meat from diseased cows.
In 1927, a year before Eric Blair travelled to Paris, the A.L.A company began a ferry service between England and France, while dreams of a Channel Tunnel, envisioned since the early 1800s, continued to be discussed in parliament and founder on the usual concerns of defence of the realm.
The Art & Literature review L’illustration carried a full-page ad in their May 1929 issue that attempted to dispel the myth of genius and the place it occupies in the creation of literary greats. In the absence of genius, they claimed that “This art, if necessary, can be taught”
“Anyone coming into the basement for the first time would have thought himself in a den of maniacs. It was only later, when I understood the working of a hotel, that I saw order in all this chaos.”