Homage To Catalonia

George Orwell

Homage To Catalonia

Published by Harvest books (New York) in June 1969,264 pgs

Book Review of Homage to Catalonia

George Orwell, noted writer and journalist, arrived in Barcelona, Spain in late 1936 to cover the fight against fascism. Being an avid fan of socialism, he was amazed to see the small glimpse of socialism in action. He was intrigued to say the least, of the classless society he observed there. Barcelona, Spain at this time was held under Anarchist control, and as such most of the old class society rituals were abandoned: tipping, titles, and the old divisions between rich and poor were practically gone. Everyone was equal in this new society, and most of the rich aristocrats had either fled or went into hiding. This being the truest form of socialism and brotherhood Orwell had ever before witnessed he put down his pen and took up arms. Homage to Catalonia, which Orwell later wrote after fleeing to France in 1937, gives his account as a militiaman in the P.O.U.M (Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista) Militia, which roughly translates to the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification. At the time this was one of the many anti-fascist factions in Spain, later he remarks joining P.O.U.M with ignorant bliss of what the difference was between any of them.

In the beginning chapters of the book he describes the day-to-day activities as a militiaman on the frontlines near Barcelona, usually these accounts of war were more comical than eventful. I most noted his accounts of the actions of the Spanish militiamen during wartime. He would often revere the Spanish for their friendliness and amiability, but he was often infuriated by their careless ignorance of war, and in the first chapter even saying the Spanish are good at many things but not at making war. He also talks about the poor ammunition and rifles they received. Usually the rifles dated back to the late 19th century and the sights, rifling, and sheer condition of the guns were so poor that it was more of a nuisance to carry than have. Before heading to the front they received hardly any training whatsoever, and most of his fellow militiamen hardly knew how to shoot a rifle. He recalls one event where he was photographing several Spaniards standing beside a machine gun that fired on him as a practical joke. Only by the luck of their horrific aim was he totally uninjured. He talks about the position they held on the Aragon front for many months and how pathetic the situation really was, often referring to it as being boring and nothing like trench warfare in the Great War was supposedly like. The main problem of the fighting and lack thereof was the poor equipment and poor training, and sheer distance between them and their fascist enemies usually between 300-400 yards. He writes most of the injuries on the frontlines in his experience were either self-inflicted or by luck of a bullet hitting its target. He said most days you could stand straight up and walk around without fear of being shot, which of all accounts of trench warfare I have ever read would be certain suicide. I consider Orwell's true strengths to be his highly detailed accounts of the various events during his time as a militiaman, particularly the night raid against a fascist held bunker. The way he describes the firing of rifles, the clatter and explosions of bombs, the mud-soaked environment truly brings you into the trenches with him. He later almost comically describes trying to kill a fascist soldier with his bayonet, although unsuccessfully he later adds. In most of his fighting it seems Orwell was a much better writer than a fighter, with most of his attempts to actually kill someone failing.

Later after 115 days on the frontlines, Orwell receives a leave to return to Barcelona. Upon arriving in Barcelona he is struck by the changes that have occurred. On the streets he once again heard titles of servile nature being spewed from one persons mouth to another, the rich and poor clearly reappearing, and the resemblance of a class society slowly drifting back into view. Later he describes his sadness after getting dragged into street fighting caused by infighting between the communists and various anarchist factions, mostly caused by communistic led police trying to seize a telephone exchange held by anarchists in Barcelona. Finally after escaping the street fighting, he