Orwell and the Politics of Despair - Rai, Alok

Drawing on a wide range of Orwell's writing, including unpublished and previously unused material, Rai charts his progression from rebellion through reconciliation to despair. Making use of the insights of contemporary critical theory, he demystifies the idea of Orwell as a 'transparent' writer, simply concerned with basic human values, and relates the literary style to the political beliefs.