Did not know all this about Orwell, even though I had read both his "big hits" while in school. Thank you for this very interesting essay. Loving your "Rogues Gallery".
Thanks, Grimalkin. Glad you're enjoying these. They've been fun to write (and more so to research). These first two rogue galleries, at least, have been like brief but intensive revisits of a past era of my life. Not sure yet who's up next.
Yeah, I happened to come at Orwell the other way around. I read his essays and Homage to Catalonia before any of the novels (well, maybe except Animal Farm). But it wasn't until last week that I'd read all of 1984
I recently listened to a history podcast where they interviewed top Orwell historian, Robert Colls. The conclusion they reached was; that the reason Orwell's writing speaks to both ends of the political spectrum is because Orwell himself was inwardly conflicted between authoritarian and libertarian tendencies. It makes sense how the experiences of Orwell's life (Eton, Burma, Tuberculosis), and an inner schism, could lead to an eventual magnum opus like 1984 and the concept of doublethink.
I liked your article, and I especially like the gallery photo you chose. I feel like the look on his face reflects the inner conflict of the man himself.
I can see that. Christopher Hitchens talks about a offshoot of this in Why Orwell Matters (if I remember correctly). Hitchens suspects that when Orwell was in the imperial police in Burma, he had a kind of paid concubine, as many British men did and, due to his private misgivings over that, he quit his job for fear of being further morally compromised.
There's no question that in many of his essays (say, Shooting an Elephant) you see this conflict over sympathy for the downtrodden and disgust with them (like wanting to run the monks jeering at him through the guts with a bayonet, if I remember the line correct). Most everyone probably has similar conflicts, if they're being honest with themselves. This isn't exactly to your point, which is about authoritarianism and libertarianism, but I think it's related.
Found Orwell and Huxley within the last year. Maybe finally maturing as I round 50. I enjoyed getting a deeper perspective into who he was, and how he influenced you. "Fortifying yourself against censorship, saber-rattling, and doublethink... these authoritarian regressions are all staging a comeback." Well said. Influence the group, and be aware of the group influencing you. A rabbit hole I think is healthy to wander into often. Thanks for taking the lead on this trip.
Thanks, Ben, appreciate that. Never too late to find anyone. And anyway, finding him now is timely, to understate it.
I hear you on the importance of wandering into rabbit holes. Without doing so, there's no way of finding out that we've just been in a single giant one all along
Thanks, Lam. It'd be hard to imagine Orwell not condemning recent efforts from all sides of the political sphere to curb freedom of expression, so he'd likely be pissing all sorts of people off, as he did back in his time (my guess is that on free speech issues he'd be closer to the free speech absolutism of F.I.R.E. or Glenn Greenwald). But who knows. For sure his takes would be uniquely tangy.
Not to mention that, considering the success of 1984, he'd have a decent case for filing a copyright infringement lawsuit on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for its aborted attempt to set up a Disinformation Governance Board...
Did not know all this about Orwell, even though I had read both his "big hits" while in school. Thank you for this very interesting essay. Loving your "Rogues Gallery".
Thanks, Grimalkin. Glad you're enjoying these. They've been fun to write (and more so to research). These first two rogue galleries, at least, have been like brief but intensive revisits of a past era of my life. Not sure yet who's up next.
Yeah, I happened to come at Orwell the other way around. I read his essays and Homage to Catalonia before any of the novels (well, maybe except Animal Farm). But it wasn't until last week that I'd read all of 1984
I recently listened to a history podcast where they interviewed top Orwell historian, Robert Colls. The conclusion they reached was; that the reason Orwell's writing speaks to both ends of the political spectrum is because Orwell himself was inwardly conflicted between authoritarian and libertarian tendencies. It makes sense how the experiences of Orwell's life (Eton, Burma, Tuberculosis), and an inner schism, could lead to an eventual magnum opus like 1984 and the concept of doublethink.
I liked your article, and I especially like the gallery photo you chose. I feel like the look on his face reflects the inner conflict of the man himself.
Can't wait to see who's next in the gallery.
I can see that. Christopher Hitchens talks about a offshoot of this in Why Orwell Matters (if I remember correctly). Hitchens suspects that when Orwell was in the imperial police in Burma, he had a kind of paid concubine, as many British men did and, due to his private misgivings over that, he quit his job for fear of being further morally compromised.
There's no question that in many of his essays (say, Shooting an Elephant) you see this conflict over sympathy for the downtrodden and disgust with them (like wanting to run the monks jeering at him through the guts with a bayonet, if I remember the line correct). Most everyone probably has similar conflicts, if they're being honest with themselves. This isn't exactly to your point, which is about authoritarianism and libertarianism, but I think it's related.
Thanks for sharing it
Found Orwell and Huxley within the last year. Maybe finally maturing as I round 50. I enjoyed getting a deeper perspective into who he was, and how he influenced you. "Fortifying yourself against censorship, saber-rattling, and doublethink... these authoritarian regressions are all staging a comeback." Well said. Influence the group, and be aware of the group influencing you. A rabbit hole I think is healthy to wander into often. Thanks for taking the lead on this trip.
Thanks, Ben, appreciate that. Never too late to find anyone. And anyway, finding him now is timely, to understate it.
I hear you on the importance of wandering into rabbit holes. Without doing so, there's no way of finding out that we've just been in a single giant one all along
Thanks, Lam. It'd be hard to imagine Orwell not condemning recent efforts from all sides of the political sphere to curb freedom of expression, so he'd likely be pissing all sorts of people off, as he did back in his time (my guess is that on free speech issues he'd be closer to the free speech absolutism of F.I.R.E. or Glenn Greenwald). But who knows. For sure his takes would be uniquely tangy.
Not to mention that, considering the success of 1984, he'd have a decent case for filing a copyright infringement lawsuit on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for its aborted attempt to set up a Disinformation Governance Board...