# Why I Write by George Orwell

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Why I Write by George Orwell and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Readers praise Orwell's clear writing and critical thinking in these essays, and say they resonate with how he wrote. One reader struggled with a racist claim in the collection.

## What people warn about

- Racist claim troubled a reader (1 comments): "An important collection of essays but I struggled to get over his racist claim" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47887666))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion](https://hackerapproved.com/p/slouching-towards-bethlehem.md): 8 recommend
- [Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke](https://hackerapproved.com/p/letters-to-a-young-poet.md): 5 recommend
- [Paul Graham essays](https://hackerapproved.com/p/paul-graham-essays.md): 5 recommend
- [Metamagical Themas by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/metamagical-themas.md): 4 recommend
- [On Photography by Susan Sontag](https://hackerapproved.com/p/on-photography.md): 4 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143036351?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780143036357) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Why I Write by George Orwell", https://hackerapproved.com/p/why-i-write/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).