Complexities of the Orwellian world: "Homage to Catalonia"

How do we perceive George Orwell's books 1984 and Animal Farm? 

When I ask the right, they see them as anticommunists. If I ask the left, the books are antifascist and anti-imperialist. Interesting. Two lectures of the same text - I guess because communism and fascism are at the extremes of the social circus and they've things in common. 

No doubt that Orwell's books go against totalitarian regimes. But curious that his ideas were a mix of socialism, laborism, and anarchism. He was labeled as democratic socialist but was an enemy of Stalinism. 

Recently, I read Homage to Catalonia. It's a different book. It's the tale of his fight in Spain.

Orwell fought against Franco in a military division of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification where his comrades were all unionists and anarchists. He was shot in the throat and fled Spain blacklisted by other factions of the left. 

His description of what was vital in the Spanish frontline is short and accurate. 

In trench warfare five things are important: firewood, food, tobacco, candles, and the enemy. 

He also warned of the partisanship of his book.

...beware of my partisanship, my mistakes of fact, and the distortion inevitable caused by my having seen only one corner of events. 

His hope for the end of the war was the removal of all the external participants. 

I hope they win the war and drive all the foreigners out of Spain, Germans, Russians, and Italians alike. 

 Homage to Catalonia is an interesting book - Link is affiliate to Amazon.