Book · 2021 · Literary Collections
Shooting an Elephant
- mentions
- 5
- person
- 1
- podcasts
- 2
- episodes
- 2
- recommendations
- 0
So you have uh consider the lobster, David Foster Wallace, 2003, and then uh shooting an elephant by George Orwell.
The best things said about it
I go back to orwell constantly because i feel like this book answers so many of these questions And what scares me about the orwell book is when winston the protagonist this is the winston smith is being tortured by o'brien the tyrant and and and every one of us has got fear is imagine your worst fear in the.
Why people recommend it
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell is a classic essay detailing the author's experiences as a police officer in Burma and the moral conflicts inherent in imperial rule. Michael Dean discussed the piece at length on How I Write, comparing its structure directly to David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster as foundational examples of essay writing within his analytical framework. Dean utilized Orwell's work to illustrate how writers can effectively build narrative conflict and map out the experience pillar of storytelling. He contrasted the traditional pacing and internal psychological tension found in Orwell's Burmese narrative with other literary styles to demonstrate how different works successfully master fundamental principles of composition. Additionally, Jim O'Keefe referenced Orwellian themes on Timcast IRL, drawing parallels between dystopian control mechanisms and the psychological coercion depicted in Orwell's broader literary contributions. Through these conversations, podcast guests underscored the enduring relevance of Orwell's observations on power dynamics, guilt, and institutional authority, treating his writings as essential templates for analyzing human behavior, structural oppression, and the complexities of moral responsibility in difficult political environments.
Every mention
Michael Dean So you have uh consider the lobster, David Foster Wallace, 2003, and then uh shooting an elephant by George… 4
“So you have uh consider the lobster, David Foster Wallace, 2003, and then uh shooting an elephant by George Orwell.”
“So you have uh consider the lobster, David Foster Wallace, 2003, and then uh shooting an elephant by George Orwell. I think it's 1936.”
“So consider the lobster, you know, shows experience in one way, but in shooting an elephant, you can see that all of these cells are shaded, right?”
“So I think we can look at how these two essays are are structured differently because Shooting an Elephant, you know, it's written by Orwell.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
“I go back to orwell constantly because i feel like this book answers so many of these questions And what scares me about the orwell book is when winston the protagonist this is the winston smith is being tortured by o'brien the tyrant and and and every one of us has got fear is imagine your worst fear in the”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“my dad uh he grew up in a very poor part of the north of england which is wigan orwell actually wrote a book about it the road to wigan pier talking about the deprivation of that of that particular part of the world”