Homage to Catalonia

What Hacker News says

1. ifwintercoSep 2026
   At the time the Soviet Union had the Spanish government over a barrel because they were the only people who could/would supply significant quantities of desperately needed weapons (the opposing Nationalists were better equipped for reasons I'm not entirely sure of).

   This also contributed significantly to the Communist (Stalinist) faction winning the internecine struggle on the left against the Anarchists and Trotskyists, but the quid pro quo was loyalty to the Soviet Union.

   In hindsight we know they lost anyway, so this seems really silly, but at the time everyone involved believed they were in a completely existential struggle against fascism that was more important than literally anything else.

   For anyone interested Orwell's Homage to Catalonia is an excellent book although it's just one man's perspective and may not be entirely historically accurate

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2. delis-thumbs-7eSep 2026
   My point is not about whether this or that word is part of someone’s (active) vocabulary, ie. whether they can explain the meaning of the word if asked without checking external sources. The reason why I evoke modernist masters is that each of those words have a plain English equivalent that more or less matches the meaning of the more abstruse one. This is usually a dead giveaway that the author felt the level of their prose would be greatly heightened by searching for a synonym of the more hipsterist variety - I know, since I have done it myself often enough, before maturing somewhat. Even if the words actually were something they use every day, I’d still argue more plain prose would be better every and which way. Obscure language a good writer does not make. Hoe often you need dictionary when reading The Sun Also Rises? Or Homage to Catalonia? Or The Bell Jar?

   In short, having have to read extremely jargony and difficult to understand academic or professional text more or less daily - text that by nature sorta have to be difficult and abstract, since the subject it - the benchmark for journalistic writing should be that it can be understood by a 11-year-old. Interestingly, Borsook herself seems to recognise this, the author of this article less so.

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3. gorkaeranaJul 2026
   Books on the Spanish Civil War I have read and can wholeheartedly recommend:

   - "The Spanish Civil War" by Paul Preston

   - "Homage to Catalonia" by George Orwell

   Books on the same topic on my reading list (and quite frankly can't wait to get hold of them):

   - "The Spanish Civil War" by Hugh Thomas

   - "The Fight for Spain" by Antony Beevor

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4. FarmerPotatoMay 2026
   Consult "Homage to Catalonia" by George Orwell. In the Spanish Civil War, Orwell soldiered with anarchists and socialists and the rest of the worker's parties, against the fascists.. until the inevitable purge.
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5. delis-thumbs-7eApr 2026
   It’s years since I’ve read Orwell, but I believe I have read almost all of his books (Coming up for Air nor Clegryman’s Daughter I have not read, or I don’t remember a single thing about them).

   He’s Non-fiction books (Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier, and especially Homage to Catalonia) are great. If you are at all interested what it was like to live in Europe in this time of economic turmoil and political chaos, those are essential. I also think Catalonia very clearly spells out why Orwell hated Soviets (although he was socialist himself) and didn’t fall for Hitler and all the other themes behind Animal Farm and 1984. He had seen it all serving as an idealistic young man amongst the Spanish anarchists. As an essayist he is beyond reproach and very must enjoyed his short stories.

   He was also a curmudgeon and conservative in the most ridiculous things (everything British is the best in the world according to him, he was a complete misogynist - he treated women horribly both in real life and in his writing - and vegetarianism for him was the stupidest nonsense ever, calling them “juice drinkers”). And I’m sorry to say this, but his novels are awful. Not 1984 of course, which is one of my favourite books, and Burmese Days is not half bad in itself, but it is god-awfully bleak with non really any real critique of colonialism or racism, it just kinda says “It’s a bit shit, isn’t it?” Aspidistra was just boring and stupid. You also do not hear Orwell’s voice and that direct unapologetic honesty you get from his essays (“A Hanging” and “Shooting an Elephant” are great). I get an idea he was trying to write like the great male writers of his era, not as himself, as a reporter of human life, what all good writers really are. But that’s just my opinion and it is ten years or more since I read them.

   However, there’s plenty more to Orwell than just 1984 and Animal Farm. He was fascinatingly complex person, who could see through the fog clear-eyed when no-one else could, but still be completely blinded by his own misgivings and prejudices. But then again, aren’t we all.

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6. TremendousJudgeMar 2026
   George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia is about his experience in the Spanish Civil War, published in 1938. He was there between '36 and '37 I think. It's pre WWII, and I found it very interesting for the same reason you say here: his account doesn't have the benefit of hindsight. The civil war wasn't even over when the book was published. It's very interesting to see his perspective, what things he saw coming, and what things he didn't.
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