In the spring of 1936, a writer planted roses.
A while back, Sue from Whispering Gums alerted me to the fact that such a thing as The Orwell Foundation existed. Ever since, I have been slowly exploring the site, which has led to an increased interest in all things Orwell. When Rebecca Solnit’s Orwell’s Roses turned up at work last year, I was instantly drawn to it.
With all good intentions, I will probably never read ALL of Orwell’s essays and articles and with so many to chose from, it’s hard to know where to start. Solnit referred to a number of his essays and articles throughout Orwell’s Roses. She made them all sound intriguing and relevant of course, so I made a note of them (below) for me to use as a starting point in my own Orwell reading.
| SOLNIT Chapter | Orwell Essay |
|---|---|
| Part 1: The Prophet and the Hedgehog – Chapter 1: Day of the Dead | A Good Word for the Vicar of Bray | 1946 You and the Atom Bomb | 1945 |
| Chapter 3: Lilacs and Nazis | Politics and the English Language | 1946 Revenge is Sour | 1945 Why I Write? | 1946 (also in Didion) A Happy Vicar I Might Have Been |
| Part 3: Bread and Roses – Chapter 3: In Praise Of | Some Thoughts on the Common Toad | 1946 Can Socialists Be Happy? | 1943 The Prevention of Literature |
| Chapter 4: Buttered Toast | A Hanging | 1931 (read last year thanks to Camus) |
| Part 4: Stalin’s Lemons – Chapter 2: Empire of Lies | Our Job is to Make Life Worth Living |
| Part 5: Retreats and Attacks Chapter 1: Enclosures | Inside the Whale | 1940 |
| Chapter 5: Flowers of Evil | Do Our Colonies Pay? |
| Part 6: The Price of Roses – Chapter 1: Beauty Problems | The Lion and the Unicorn |
| Chapter 3: The Crystal Spirit | Politics vs Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels | 1946 Benefits of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvidore Dali | 1944 Looking Back on the Spanish Civil War | 1943 |
| Part 7: The River Orwell – Chapter 1: An Inventory of Pleasures | In Defence of English Cooking Just Junk – But Who Could Resist It? | 1946 The Art of Donald McGill Bad Climates Are Best | 1946 The Moon Under Water | 1946 On Housing | 1946 |
| Chapter 2: As the Rose-Hip to the Rose | Reflections on Gandhi | 1949 |
Solnit has taken a curious approach in her look at Orwell’s life. His politics, writing and ethics are discussed using his love of the natural world as a foil for his more well-known seriousness. She found that even his ‘grimmest writings have moments of beauty.‘ Or as Dorian Lynskey says on the back cover, ‘we all know what Orwell hated but Solnit pays attention to what he loved.‘
I had thought I would write a clever/funny post punning on gardening, but Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian, beat me to it!
The book simultaneously is and isn’t about George Orwell, just as it is and isn’t about roses. It belongs in a whimsical category of its own, meandering elegantly enough through lots of subjects loosely connected to one or the other; more of a wildly overgrown essay, from which side shoots constantly emerge to snag the attention, than a book. But at its root is the fact that in 1936, the writer and political thinker planted some roses in his Hertfordshire garden. And when Solnit turns up on the doorstep more than eight decades later, she finds the rose bushes (or at least what she takes to be the same rose bushes) still flowering, a living connection between past and present.
The Guardian |Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit review – deadheading with the writer and thinker | Gaby Hinsliff | 19 Oct 2021
So where do I go now?
I can tell you that I really enjoyed my time with Orwell’s Roses. I learnt a lot about Orwell’s life and the experiences that informed his political ideology and I also learnt about the quieter, at home Orwell. A man who loved his garden, its seasons and rhythms, a man who loved a good cup of tea and English cooking! A man who loved the aesthetic pleasure of language – its ‘clarity, precision, accuracy, honesty and truthfulness‘.
I have been left with a very strong desire to reread 1984 and Animal Farm to find the ‘moments of beauty’. And I would like to tackle Burmese Days in particular for the first time (the impact of the colonial experience is an interest I share with Orwell). Solnit points out that he was good at discussing class and power and confronting uncomfortable truths about inequality and racism, but his ‘blindspot’ was gender. Previously, I have read that his flaws included being righteous and judgemental and too English. I guess I will have to find out for myself.
- Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
- Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
Epigraph:
The very act of trying to look ahead to discern possibilities and offer warnings is in itself an act of hope.
Octavia Butler
Title: Orwell's Roses Author: Rebecca Solnit ISBN: 9781783788620 Imprint: Granta Published: 16th November 2021 (originally published 19 October 2021) Format: Paperback Pages: 320
| This post was written on the traditional land of the Wangal clan, one of the 29 clans of the Eora Nation within the Sydney basin. This Reading Life acknowledges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are our first storytellers. |
bronasbooks.com 
This has been on my radar, though I haven’t read it yet, so glad to see yours. I’ve liked all the Solnit I’ve read at this point
I don’t think you can go wrong with Orwell’s essays. There was a four volume collection, Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters that came out a while back & I loved that in its entirety. I think his essays are better than his novels in general.
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I’m looking forward to reading more of the essays now I’ve had a taste for them with Orwell’s Roses. Would also be happy to read more Solnit too. I like her writing style.
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I’d love to read this. I’ve read quite a bit of Orwell – Animal farm, 1984, Burmese Days, Homage to Catalonia, several essays. I really want to read Down and out in Paris and London.
I think I’d love this book – and I’d love to read “In Defence of English Cooking Just Junk – But Who Could Resist It?”
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PS Thanks for the link…
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You’ve read Orwell far more widely than I have.
I’m looking forward to the English food essay too 🙂
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Excuse me while I scamper off to our Orwell shelves to see if we that essay about English food!
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Both you & Sue made me laugh – the English food essay is the one I want to read first too 🙂
Hope you found it (if not it’s on the Orwell Foundation site – here – https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/in-defence-of-english-cooking/)
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*drum roll*
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Great piece Lisa, thanks for extending the Orwell discussion.
Apologies for the slow response, family matters have been very distracting this week….
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Not to worry, family always comes first!
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I keep meaning to pick up some of his essays–there is one volume waiting on my TBR–but have still not gotten down to it. Solnit’s book seems an interesting way to get started with these–a great insight into Orwell and his views.
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I love spending time in the garden too, so I appreciated seeing Orwell as a man who enjoyed pottering around his flowers and veggie plot when he wasn’t thinking deep and serious thoughts.
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I enjoy gardens too, and would love to spend time in mine but sadly, I don’t get to enough. The only planting I seem to get up to currently is wheat grass for the cats!
My mom of course does a lot more, both flowers and veggies.
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Most of my gardening at the moment is herbs in pots. I miss growing roses & hope to do so again one day soon….
My mum & dad have a great veggie patch too.
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I love Orwell and luckily have a copy of this on the shelves. Looking forward to it even more after your review!
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I was a big fan of Orwell when I was younger and this book has been on my TBR list. It may be time to do a deep dive into Orwell’s work and see if it still speaks to me all these years later.
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I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. For me it was a great introduction that makes me want more. I’m curious to hear what someone who is better versed on the subject thinks.
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Thank you so much for drawing my attention to this, I’ve been meaning to read more Orwell for the last year or so and this looks like a great place to get started!
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I found it the perfect place to recommence my Orwell journey. I hope you do too Jane 🙂
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What a great reading project: you are in for a lot of satisfying prose, I’d say!
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Thanks Marcie, I’m looking forward to reading more Orwell.
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