The duty to stand aside : Nineteen Eighty-Four and the wartime quarrel of George Orwell and Alex Comfort
(Book)

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Published
Chico, CA : AK Press, [2018].
ISBN
1849353182, 9781849353182
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St. Charles Public Library District - Adult Nonfiction823.912 ORWOn Shelf

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Published
Chico, CA : AK Press, [2018].
Format
Book
Physical Desc
175 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
Language
English
ISBN
1849353182, 9781849353182

Notes

Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-165) index.
Description
The Duty to Stand Aside tells the story of one of the most intriguing yet little-known literary-political feuds -- and friendships -- in 20th-century English literature. It examines the arguments that divided George Orwell, future author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Alex Comfort, poet, biologist, anarchist-pacifist, and future author of the international bestseller The Joy of Sex -- during WWII. Orwell maintained that standing aside, or opposing Britain's war against fascism, was "objectively pro-fascist." Comfort argued that intellectuals who did not stand aside and denounce their own government's atrocities -- in Britain's case, saturation bombing of civilian population centers -- had "sacrificed their responsible attitude to humanity." Later, Comfort and Orwell developed a friendship based on appreciation of each other's work and a common concern about the growing power and penetration of the State -- a concern that deeply influenced the writing of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Shortly before his death in 1950, however, Orwell would accuse Comfort of being "anti-British" and "temperamentally pro-totalitarian" in a memo he prepared secretly for the Foreign Office -- a fact that Comfort, who died in 2000, never knew. Laursen's book takes a fresh look at the Orwell-Comfort quarrel and the lessons it holds for our very different world -- in which war has been replaced by undeclared "conflicts," civilian bombing is even more enthusiastically practiced, and moral choices between two sides are rarely straightforward.

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Laursen, E. (2018). The duty to stand aside: Nineteen Eighty-Four and the wartime quarrel of George Orwell and Alex Comfort . AK Press.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Laursen, Eric. 2018. The Duty to Stand Aside: Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Wartime Quarrel of George Orwell and Alex Comfort. AK Press.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Laursen, Eric. The Duty to Stand Aside: Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Wartime Quarrel of George Orwell and Alex Comfort AK Press, 2018.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Laursen, Eric. The Duty to Stand Aside: Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Wartime Quarrel of George Orwell and Alex Comfort AK Press, 2018.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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