“A radical in politics [but] a conservative in feeling.”
Writer Joseph Epstein on George Orwell, who died #OnThisDay 1950. How have others interpreted Orwell and his politics?
Thread 👇🏻
Writer Joseph Epstein on George Orwell, who died #OnThisDay 1950. How have others interpreted Orwell and his politics?
Thread 👇🏻
“He was not only a socialist but profoundly liberal. He hated regimentation wherever he found it, even in the socialist ranks” — Jennie Lee
“He was a man of the left, but he attacked its holy images as fervently as he did those of the right” — George Woodcock
“He was a man of the left, but he attacked its holy images as fervently as he did those of the right” — George Woodcock
“He had a global grasp, and he was able to guess the truth by the way the other side told lies” — Clive James
“He could not blow his nose without moralising on conditions in the handkerchief industry” — Cyril Connolly
“He could not blow his nose without moralising on conditions in the handkerchief industry” — Cyril Connolly
“There was something of a religious element in George’s socialism. It owed nothing to Marxist theory and much to the tradition of English Nonconformity. He saw it primarily as an instrument of justice” — A. J. Ayer
“He thought the world would end with Big Brother watching us, but it ended with us watching Big Brother” — Alan Moore
“He invested blood, pain and hard labour to earn his anger, and was as attached to it as any capitalist to his capital” — Thomas Pynchon
“He invested blood, pain and hard labour to earn his anger, and was as attached to it as any capitalist to his capital” — Thomas Pynchon
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