Write a book review

Read Homage To Catalonia by Orwell, and write a 500 word book review (for instruction on book review writing, search the web with the key phrase (how to write a book review).

In your book review, copy the link to two articles about book review writing that you found through your search.

Critique the book and frame your essay in a current events context–why is reading this book important in our current times? What about this book is newsworthy or relevant to understanding global issues? You might also link the ideas in The Communist Manifesto to Orwell’s insights in Spain. (Hint: POUM was a Marxist Workers’ Party)

For my part, I discovered this book two years ago during a short stay in Spain. It kindled in me an interest in Catalonia and particularly the city of Barcelona and its neighboring regions. So I lived there last Spring for three months and into summer, studied Spanish, and read this book in Spanish. I also did some original research in the area he wrote about, and interviewed people about the Spanish Civil War. Coincidently, there is a strong identity now in Catalonia that views all things Catalan as comprising a distinct culture from the Spanish and politically autonomous. And a diverse and numerous group of new Spanish citizens and residents who have immigrated to Spain. So I am interested in how the students in our class respond to this book and look forward to reading the ideas that you compose based on reading and reflecting about it.