12 - Politics and the English Language, by George Orwell
WHY I PICKED IT: Picked it up at an airport book store
ELAPSED TIME: 1 Day
RATING: Good
This essay by Orwell is ... interesting. I enjoy language and thought I'd enjoy the essay in which Orwell rails against lazy writing. Idioms and metaphors simplify language to the point where even the writer does not actively engage with the message. Wordiness is not a trait worth promoting. Use active verbs rather than passive ones.
Curiously, before I got to read it, but while I was carrying it around, I had a conversation about grammar with someone who was struggling to quote Orwell, and we were able to dig it out: Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
:)
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
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