George Orwell

Published: 3 May 2025
Last updated: 12 May 2025

Homage To Catalonia

Homage To Catalonia book cover

A great memoir on the Spanish Civil War, originating from Orwell’s simple desire to “fight Fascism”, outlining the both the initial enthusiasm and revolutionary spirit in Barcelona and Catalonia as a whole under the POUM/Anarchists felt by the local populous (and its subsequent disappearance, crushed under the byzantine politics), the total pointlessness and futility of pure trench warfare, as well as some observations of Catalonia as a whole, viewed through a rather “English” lens (namely a few running jokes/stereotypes, namely their generosity, laid-back nature, poor timekeeping and terrible marksmanship). A lot of it is rather mundane, emphasising the fruitlessness of Orwell’s initial endeavour and showing the pure drudgery of trench warfare on a moribund front without sleep, comfort or resources - but there are also several fantastic passages that stand out, namely the rare raid on a Fascist trench, the experience of having been shot in the throat and his subsequent lengthy recovery in battlefield hospitals and the race to escape Spain post-discharge as arcane political machinations crackdown on the POUM, the organisation that Orwell initially joined to volunteer.

A caveat that I found this much more enjoyable on a re-read with some existing background knowledge of the Spanish Civil War (Orwell’s chapters on the politics are relegated to the appendix in my version, and rightly so given the dizzying political situation that Orwell can only try and fail to understand).