Published: Sunday, August 24, 2008
Blog like it's 1984: An Orwellian Web site
This is so Orwellian: Fred Astaire has danced with vacuums in commercials; now George Orwell's blogging.
The famed English social critic ("Animal Farm," "1984") has found life after death at OrwellDiaries.wordpress.com.
Granted, there's nothing commercial about this free Web site, run in association with the Orwell Trust. The site began posting Orwell's diaries on Aug. 9, exactly 70 years after he began writing them. For instance, on Aug. 10, 1938, Orwell wrote a short note in his personal diary: "Drizzly. Dense mist in evening. Yellow moon." The blog post went up on Aug. 10, 2008.
While the diary so far is dull, filled with talk of weather and crops, it has fun features. For instance, when Orwell mentions a place, readers can link to a Google satellite map.
And content may spice up on Sept. 7, when political entries begin. Keep in mind, he wrote these as England collapsed into World War II.
Andy Rathbun, Herald Writer, arathbun@heraldnet.com, 425-339-3455
The famed English social critic ("Animal Farm," "1984") has found life after death at OrwellDiaries.wordpress.com.
Granted, there's nothing commercial about this free Web site, run in association with the Orwell Trust. The site began posting Orwell's diaries on Aug. 9, exactly 70 years after he began writing them. For instance, on Aug. 10, 1938, Orwell wrote a short note in his personal diary: "Drizzly. Dense mist in evening. Yellow moon." The blog post went up on Aug. 10, 2008.
While the diary so far is dull, filled with talk of weather and crops, it has fun features. For instance, when Orwell mentions a place, readers can link to a Google satellite map.
And content may spice up on Sept. 7, when political entries begin. Keep in mind, he wrote these as England collapsed into World War II.
Andy Rathbun, Herald Writer, arathbun@heraldnet.com, 425-339-3455
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