Orwell's political writing was grounded by his love of gardening, says Rebecca Solnit
CBC Radio | Posted: June 1, 2022 6:38 PM | Last Updated: September 5, 2022
The author of Animal Farm sought beauty and simple pleasures in nature
*Originally published on June 1, 2022.
It might seem incongruous at first to think of George Orwell — the grim 20th-century author of dystopic fiction about authoritarianism and government "Newspeak" — as a kindred spirit of Romantic poets. But that's what Rebecca Solnit discovered as she wrote her latest book, Orwell's Roses.
In 1936, Orwell planted a garden — two of the rose bushes he planted survive to this day. And when Solnit saw them for herself, she was captivated.
"The apparent directness of these two plants, a connection to him and to that long-ago essay about roses and fruit trees in continuity and posterity filled me with joyous exultation," Solnit writes in her latest book.
Solnit is one of the most prolific non-fiction authors and essayists of our time. She's written almost 30 books, encompassing feminism, politics, the environment, illness, urban history, landscape and the joys of walking.
She went in pursuit of an Orwell which had obscured from view by the dystopic weight of Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the Orwell she uncovered was a revelation to her and those of us who might associate him more with thorns than roses.
He was of course a crusader against totalitarianism, lies and humbug of all kinds. He doggedly fought for truth. But he also sought joy and beauty, loved the natural world and took delight in living things and simple pleasures.
"I had not thought hard enough about those roses… They were saboteurs of my own long acceptance of a conventional version of Orwell and invitations to dig deeper," Solnit writes.
The acclaimed author tells IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed that her book, Orwell Roses was written to shine a light on how Orwell's love of gardening was integral to his commitment to the truth, independent thought and democratic freedoms.
"I found not only did he have this huge enthusiasm for flowers and gardening in the natural world, but that it shed a really different light on who he was, that he actually was hopeful and enthusiastic and humorous and took a huge amount of pleasure in everyday life," Solnit said.
"You have to recognize that Orwell spent his whole adult life essentially being a dying man. He had various respiratory illnesses, including tuberculosis that would hospitalize him repeatedly with lung hemorrhages and severe illness, and ultimately, he would drown in his own blood at the age of 46 in January of 1950.
"But he still or maybe because of his mortality, still reaches out to where pleasure lies for him in a cup of tea, a good book, funny songs, racy postcards."
Listen above to Rebecca Solnit's conversation with Nahlah Ayed on George Orwell's pursuit of truth, joy and beauty.
"I am not able and do not want completely to abandon the worldview I acquired in childhood. So long as I remain alive and well, I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the Earth and to take a pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information. It is no use trying to suppress that side of myself. The job is to reconcile my ingrained likes and dislikes with essentially public non-individual activities that this age forces on all of us." – George Orwell, Why I Write
*This episode was produced by Chris Wodskou.