Jessica
I'm definitely more liberal with the five-star ratings with nonfiction books than fictional ones... regardless though, this was a great book. It should be compulsory reading for any right-wing idiot who wants to claim Orwell was against revolutions; the entire point of this book was that he was fighting to defend it, and his criticism of the Communist Party is scathing not because they wanted revolution, but because (under orders from Moscow) they were determined to wreck it. His political analysis is brilliant – he uses the phrase “state-capitalist” before Cliff had ever theorised state capitalism - and above all, is passionate in his support of working-class revolution, with no pretense of being “impartial”. The truth is not impartial, basically.
Overall I loved this book. I'm definitely going to have to read more of his work; of course I've read his novels, but this has given me a taste for his nonfiction, too :)
I'm definitely more liberal with the five-star ratings with nonfiction books than fictional ones... regardless though, this was a great book. It should be compulsory reading for any right-wing idiot who wants to claim Orwell was against revolutions; the entire point of this book was that he was fighting to defend it, and his criticism of the Communist Party is scathing not because they wanted revolution, but because (under orders from Moscow) they were determined to wreck it. His political analysis is brilliant – he uses the phrase “state-capitalist” before Cliff had ever theorised state capitalism - and above all, is passionate in his support of working-class revolution, with no pretense of being “impartial”. The truth is not impartial, basically.
Overall I loved this book. I'm definitely going to have to read more of his work; of course I've read his novels, but this has given me a taste for his nonfiction, too :)