The reality of many worried about "end of the world" which is no small matter, but it ends for some everyday in thousands of different ways. If only we understood time truly is of the essence. Life is precious.
I’m guessing you are familiar with Richard Poe’s book “How the British Invented Communism And Blamed It On The Jews”. I found it quite interesting. If I understand him correctly, he argues that Orwell saw the British Empire and the developing Atlantic alliance in Big Brother and that part of writing 1984 was to warn the world. Any thoughts?
Hopefully in 10-20 years, people will still be literate enough to read 1984 and Animal Farm and understand the message Orwell was trying to convey; this was someone who believed in socialism but realized that socialism could not function without eliminating civil liberties and personal freedom; as Reagan said, “you cannot control an economy without controlling people.” Sadly, I fear we are moving toward Huxley’s world where diversion and pleasure are the norm instead of serious discussion and debate. Sooner or later no one will read Orwell not because they despise him, but they have no reason to even want to read him.
Like many, I read 1984 at school. The message is so bleak, so absolute without any recourse of hope and the psychological insight so profound that it remains terrifying-the complete abnegation of what it means to be human. As others have pointed out Orwell sharpened his critique of communism during his time in Spain
I read almost everything Orwell wrote many years ago and considered him a socialist at heart. However a discussion recently with someone who had only read 1984 and Animal Farm he clearly wasn’t a socialist.
Interesting to read, but not quite sure of the point, other than that his outlook obviously underwent transformation over the years. No mention of Homage to Catalonia, which explains his disillusionment, even if one does not wholly buy his account; nor Down and Out in Paris and London, in which he documents his experiments with living in poverty; nor, still, Animal Farm, his wonderful satire of communism versus capitalism; nor even his War Commentaries on the BBC. EricBlair/George Orwell was also a noted essayist. He certainly despised totalitarianism.
I think that underlying the problems that this author struggled to bring to the public were the politics of religion which, to my knowledge, he never confronted. This, a terrible omission, which we suffer from today. Religion, especially big, globally minded religion, is deeply cynical about economics and social science. Religious authority where it is born of frenzied sadism has its fingers everywhere. Idealists and progressives are just children, all the more appealing to its appetites.
Excellent bio and how "Orwell" came to be. I always learn something I never knew with your essays.
Thank you, and perhaps it may give us some hope that the next Orwells are waiting in the wings even if they may be rather foolish at the moment.
Readers get so much more out of a writer’s works once they know the context to how they developed personally over the years.
Orwell was one of the greatest writers snd public intellectuals of the 20th Century Excellent article!
thank you, indeed, sadly his contributions were prematurely cut short
The reality of many worried about "end of the world" which is no small matter, but it ends for some everyday in thousands of different ways. If only we understood time truly is of the essence. Life is precious.
Yes, but then people focus on the long view sometimes to avoid the shorter view of personal mortality.
Orwell's ongoing health issues probably helped drive his interest in bigger issues
History I never knew. Orwell was just always there. Never thought about where he came from.
we all have our journeys and it's worth seeing where some of the men and women who influenced us came from
I’m guessing you are familiar with Richard Poe’s book “How the British Invented Communism And Blamed It On The Jews”. I found it quite interesting. If I understand him correctly, he argues that Orwell saw the British Empire and the developing Atlantic alliance in Big Brother and that part of writing 1984 was to warn the world. Any thoughts?
Hopefully in 10-20 years, people will still be literate enough to read 1984 and Animal Farm and understand the message Orwell was trying to convey; this was someone who believed in socialism but realized that socialism could not function without eliminating civil liberties and personal freedom; as Reagan said, “you cannot control an economy without controlling people.” Sadly, I fear we are moving toward Huxley’s world where diversion and pleasure are the norm instead of serious discussion and debate. Sooner or later no one will read Orwell not because they despise him, but they have no reason to even want to read him.
Like many, I read 1984 at school. The message is so bleak, so absolute without any recourse of hope and the psychological insight so profound that it remains terrifying-the complete abnegation of what it means to be human. As others have pointed out Orwell sharpened his critique of communism during his time in Spain
I read almost everything Orwell wrote many years ago and considered him a socialist at heart. However a discussion recently with someone who had only read 1984 and Animal Farm he clearly wasn’t a socialist.
Thank you for the explanation.
Interesting to read, but not quite sure of the point, other than that his outlook obviously underwent transformation over the years. No mention of Homage to Catalonia, which explains his disillusionment, even if one does not wholly buy his account; nor Down and Out in Paris and London, in which he documents his experiments with living in poverty; nor, still, Animal Farm, his wonderful satire of communism versus capitalism; nor even his War Commentaries on the BBC. EricBlair/George Orwell was also a noted essayist. He certainly despised totalitarianism.
I think that underlying the problems that this author struggled to bring to the public were the politics of religion which, to my knowledge, he never confronted. This, a terrible omission, which we suffer from today. Religion, especially big, globally minded religion, is deeply cynical about economics and social science. Religious authority where it is born of frenzied sadism has its fingers everywhere. Idealists and progressives are just children, all the more appealing to its appetites.
Thank you. I read "1984" decades ago but never knew so much about the author.