A note from Stan

Everyone please welcome George Orwell to the Blog-0-Sphere. The Orwell Prize began publication last week with the goal to put up Eric Blair’s diaries and promote renewed interest in one of the most prescient writers of the Twentieth Century. His commentary on political speech and invention of “double speak” in the novel 1984 is absolute must reading if one is going to understand the like of George Bush or Shawn Hannity or any of the lying bastards now occupying the upper echelons of the Party.  Orwell’s useful rule for detecting dedicated Party members is their willingness to declare that “Two plus two equals five” if the Party finds it useful.

The New York Times points out that the diaries present the observant Eric Blair in his day to day existence rather than the polemicist George Orwell. The entry for today, from exactly fifty years ago, August 25, 1938, notes a moth from his backyard and the arrival of “gipsies” for the hop-picking season among other topics. The entry for August 22 includes a newspaper clipping on sloe gin. The diary is discursive rather than directed, as a good diary ought.

I recommend The Orwell Prize to your attention. There are only a couple week’s entries up so far, but they offer a promise of an opportunity to come to understand what should be one of the most influential people from the last century and some insight into the day to day conditions in the world half a century ago.