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Coming Up For Air

By George Orwell
Series: Orwell: The New Editions
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Coming Up For Air by George Orwell is a portrayal of one man's reflection on his life amidst the backdrop of pre-war England. The protagonist, George Bowling, a middle-aged insurance salesman, feels detached from his mundane existence and embarks on a nostalgic journey to his childhood village. Through his eyes, the novel explores themes of memory, change, and the passage of time, capturing the unease of a rapidly modernising world.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You may enjoy this book if you appreciate stories that delve into personal introspection and societal critique. George Orwell offers a rich narrative blending satire and nostalgia, exploring themes of escapism and the impact of modern life on personal identity. If you find the tension between past and present intriguing, this novel might captivate you.

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A new and definitive edition of Coming up for Air, introduced and annotated by Orwell's prize-winning biographer. With additional content from Orwell himself.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
A new edition of Orwell's elegiac fourth novel, introduced and annotated by his biographer, D.J. Taylor

First published in 1939 and dominated by the shadow of the Second World War, Coming Up For Air finds fat, middle-aged and unhappily-married George Bowling trying to revisit the world of his Edwardian childhood in rural Oxfordshire. He attempts to reconnect with the certainties of his past, only to discover that they are dead, and a very different future is looming up to claim him.

This new edition includes an introduction, extensive end-notes, and an appendix containing original responses to the novel, as well as letters and documents from the period in which it was written.

Series: Orwell: The New Editions

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  • Coming Up For Air
    A new edition of Orwell's elegiac fourth novel, introduced and annotated by his biographer, D.J. Taylor First published in 1939 and dominated by the shadow of the Second World War, Coming Up For Air finds fat, middle-aged and unhappily-married George Bowling trying to revisit the world of his Edwardian childhood in rural Oxfordshire. He attempts to reconnect with the certainties...
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  • Keep the Aspidistra Flying
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781472133090

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 09 June 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Constable

Contributors:

  • Edited by D.J. Taylor
  • Edited by D.J. Taylor

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 124.0mm

Height: 220.0mm

Weight: 240g

Pages: 304

Collections

Classic Fiction Classic General Fiction Fiction General Fiction George Orwell Literary Fiction Series: Orwell: The New Editions

About the Author

D. J. Taylor is a writer and critic. His collection of short stories, After Bathing at Baxter's was published in 1997 and he is the author of six novels: Great Eastern Land (1986); Real Life (1992); English Settlement (1996); Trespass (1998), a satire of 1970s England; The Comedy Man (2001), the story of one half of a comedy duo; and Kept: A Victorian Mystery (2006). Several of his books are set in his home city of Norwich.

His books of non-fiction include Afer the War: The Novel and England Since 1945 (1993); A Vain Conceit: British fiction in the 1980s (1989), a critical look at the quality of fiction-writing in Britain; and most recently, Bright Young People: The Rise and Fall of a Generation 1918-1940.

He is also well-known for his biographies: Thackeray (1999); and Orwell: The Life, published in 2003 to coincide with the centenary of Orwell's birth. This book won the 2003 Whitbread Biography Award.

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