Whatever else one says about Orwell, he’s got a mature and reasoned viewpoint. It was a relief to read this after trying to read Chesterton, who just hammered and hammered on Christianity as reflected in the works of various authors.
At first, reading about Dickens, I thought, “Dang! Not again, except now it’s socialism” But that didn’t continue. Orwell is certainly focused on economic inequalities, but he doesn’t allow that to overwhelm everything else about an author.
Among the different chapters I found the sections on Dickens, Boys’ Weeklies, and P. G. Wodehouse to be the most rewarding, although the entire book is intelligent, worthwhile, and entertaining to read. The section on Dali is perhaps the weakest part of the book, but it was written in 1944, so allowances must be made.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in authors from the last century, in older viewpoints, or in Orwell himself. ( )