I'm all in favor of Orwell on HN (probably too much so) but this is not the way to do it!<p>If you post the generic information "Orwell", which is all that "The Complete Works" really points to, then the discussion will only be a boo-vs.-yay thread about Orwell-in-general. This is not so interesting, and that sort of thread usually degrades pretty quickly.<p>What you should do instead is post the most uncorrelated/curious article by Orwell (or maybe about him) that you can find—preferably something that highlights some little-discussed or surprising aspect. Then the hivemind has something fibrous to chew on.<p>This is an application of the principles "lists don't make great HN submissions" [1] and "generic subjects are less interesting" [2].<p>[1] <a href="https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=denominator%20lists%20by:dang" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=generic%20discussion%20by%3Adang%20-flamewars%20-flamewar&sort=byDate&type=comment" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...</a>
All of Orwell's works are in the public domain in Canada and Australia, and can be obtained in multiple formats, from Project Gutenberg Canada or Australia:<p><a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#orwell" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#orwell</a><p><a href="http://gutenberg.ca/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://gutenberg.ca/index.html</a> (search for Orwell)<p>It would not be legal for American residents to access the above. His works remain under copyright in the USA; now 95 years from publication so Nineteen-Eighty-Four will enter the public domain there in 2044. Though really, things are getting, if you will excuse the expression, rather Orwellian with copyright, and it seems likely to me it will never become public domain.
This seems to leave out my favourite essay by Orwell which is a review of 2 books:<p>The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek / The Mirror of the Past by K. Zilliacus Observer, 9 April 1944<p>The only full reproduction of it I can find online (apart from an abridged google book) is here:<p><a href="https://maudestavern.com/2008/10/09/george-orwell-review/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://maudestavern.com/2008/10/09/george-orwell-review/</a>
This website looks like possibly the worst way to read George Orwell (or anyone else). Links to individual chapters, text in a narrow (and non-adjustable) column, a search function that doesn't work...<p>Just buy the book, or borrow it from a library.
If you haven't read anything else by Orwell except <i>Animal Farm</i> and <i>1984</i>, I'd suggest starting with <i>Homage to Catalonia</i>.<p>It's a pretty amazing story (non-fiction), and also quite apropos to our current political reality with people calling for civil war. I think that's just crazy right-wing rhetoric, but still. Orwell writes about how the military becomes split into factions and civilians become divided, with cities either becoming strongholds or splitting into fighting neighborhoods with escalating violence. Definitely a must read.