ct of Paris. He wrote two novels, whichhave been lost, as well as publishing a number of articles in French and English. Hebecame ill with pneumonia, worked ten weeks as a dishwasher and kitchen porter, andreturned to England at the end of 1929. He used his parents’ home in Suffolk for writingand earned money from occasional articles and teaching. Blair then completed severalversions of what was to become his first book, called, not by his choice, Down and Out inParis and London. The book was a record of his experiences, but “If it’s all the same toeverybody, I would prefer [it] to be published pseudonymously”. Discussing thepublication of his first book with his agent, he decided on three possible pseudonyms:Keneth Miles, George Orwell and H. Lewis Allways. He favored George Orwell. TheOrwell is a river in Suffolk, south of his parents’ home. “George Orwell” published hisfirst book in 1933. Down and Out... was followed by the novel Burmese Days, publishedfirst in the United States rather than in England because of his English publishers fear ofit’s giving offense in Burma. After Burmese Days came two more novels: A Clergyman’sDaughter, published in 1935; and Keep the Aspidistra Flying, published in 1936. In theSpring of 1936 he moved to Hertfordshire and married Eileen O’Shaughnessy, an Oxfordgraduate in English, a teacher, a journalist, and later a London graduate in psychology.Orwell’s reputation at this time was based mainly on his accounts of poverty anddepression. His next book, The Road to Wigan Pier was written for the Left Book Cluband started his career as a political writer. Much of this book was composed of an essayon class and socialism, which was Orwell’s first statement of his political position. InJuly, he left for Spain to fight (and write) in the Spanish civil war. For the next two orthree years, Orwell became a revolutionary socialist. When he ...
