Another Steve Donoghue Q&A.  

The whole thing is fun to listen to: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

My question: The "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell controversy: What is your gut feeling on this?  Did it really happen, or did George Orwell make it all up?  What about Orwell's other autobiographical writings?  How reliable do you think they are?  And does any of this matter to our enjoyment of Orwell?

Steve Answers it starting at 15:00:

My question was inspired by an article on George Orwell that a friend emailed to me years ago after I had gotten done reading (and reviewing) a collection of George Orwell's essays.

The essay is Such, Such Was Eric Blair by Julian Barnes from the New York Review of Books.  (Although my friend read this essay in a book which of collected essays by Julian Barnes, which and she tells me that in that book the same essay was titled  as "George Orwell and the Fucking Elephant".)  

Whatever title it goes by, that essay is a fascinating look at the controversy about whether or not Orwell's essays were authentic.  I recommend reading it.  Click on the link above.

If you watch Steve's response, you'll see that he's of the opinion it should have no effect on our enjoyment of Orwell one way or the other.  But, I don't know, for me, I though Shooting an Elephant was much more fascinating back in the days when I believed it was all true.  Now that I know it didn't happen, the essay isn't quite so interesting to me anymore.  But that's just me.  What do you guys think?

For my other forays into Steve Donoghue's Q&As (the ones I've blogged about anyway), see HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.