Been quiet here. Too quiet.
In connection with another thread, I brought back to my mind Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" which IMO may be the most important essay written, at least in English, in the 20th century, and one of the four essays ever written of which I would most like to have been the author. (What are the others, you ask? Paine's Common Sense; Thoreau's Civil Disobedience; and Emerson's Self Reliance.)
Anyhow, I found it on the web at:
resort.com
I suggest that we read and discuss it here. Since it's relatively short, and accessible on line for those who don't have it in book form, we should be able to start soon, but should give everybody time to find out about it first.
Without getting into substance ahead of the official start of the discussion, I would propose reading it with the following two questions initially in mind.
1. Was Orwell an alarmist, or prescient?
2. If Orwell were writing the essay today, what examples would he use?
Rambi, if you think this is worth discussion, why don't you set a starting time? |
