The Last Man in Europe by Dennis Glover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jura, April 1947. Glover opens his novel with an ill George Orwell contemplating the opening of his latest novel in the remote Scottish island after returning there from treatment for tuberculosis. It is a novel which looks at Orwell’s writing life through the prisms of his books. Dominating is his final greatest work: Nineteen Eighty-Four. The picture that emerges does homage to the literary works and illuminates where they came from. Reading it reminds you of all the Orwell books you have read and triggers the desire to read the ones you haven’t. The title is the working title Orwell used for Nineteen Eighty-Four and also refers to Orwell himself as he feels the responsibility to warn the future about where it could be headed without taking heed of where totalitarian tendencies could lead.
I loved this book. Now I want to read more Orwell.