Skip to main content

Churchill and Orwell finished

A fine book.  Orwell reaches his peak with Animal Farm and then 1984, his last two books before dying of TB.  His reputation and influence grow after his death worldwide.  His books transcend the criticism of USSR to become a criticism of all state totalitarianism. Predicts modern world where "truth" becomes something politicians believe they can bend. Predicts constant war on the edges being used as a reason for constant picking away at individual liberty.

Churchill's end is, on the other hand, a decline.  His history of WWII drops off after the first two volumes. Succeeding volumes become "factory" books. Researchers and other writers take the main stage; he checks over and makes improvements -- when so inclined.  He becomes PM one more time, but is ineffective.  When he dies, LBJ does not attend his funeral, probably because Churchill did not attend the funeral of FDR.

Both Orwell and Churchill share a belief in language as a means to truth; both are appalled by the misuse of language to hide truth and see this undermining of objective truth as the main danger facing the modern world.  Hard to disagree in the age of "fake news." 

Straightforward, clear-eyed descriptions of the fact on hand is a brave act, and a subversive one, when the state bases its actions on lies.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin . . . finished

 Follows Sadie and Sam (Mazer) from childhood to mid-thirties when both are feeling old and a bit out of it in the gaming world.  Characters are well-rounded, develop throughout the novel in interesting way.  Plot is involved but sensible.  Not a single, "Oh, come on!" moment.  The book could have been faster paced. Odd, since the main topic is video games which are not for their speed of engagement and Gabrielle Zevin clearly knows her video games. Recommended by Michael Connelly in an interview.  He also has Bosch pick up the book in his novel, Resurrection Walk, as Bosch tails a possible witness to a crime as she moves through a bookstore. Sadie and Sam do not get together at the end, which is good.   Marx killed by homophobic nutcase who really wants to kill Sam, but Sam isn't there. Marx is father of Sadie's child. 
Post a Comment
Read more

The Franchise Affair, Josephine Tey--opening pages

Blair, a lawyer in Milford, gets a strange call.  His practice is wills and similar--nothing criminal.  A woman tells him that Scotland Yard is accusing her of abduction and implores him to come out to help her, even if later on he passes the case to someone else.  The woman says she has called him because he is "her type," meaning respectable and conservative.  He agrees.
Post a Comment
Read more