

Letter from Orwell to his publisher regarding 1984 - alexholehouse
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/12/bag-of-wind.html

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fennecfoxen
If you like this, you may also be interested in reading Orwell's book review
of C.S. Lewis, _That Hideous Strength_, which appeared well before the
publication of _1984_. The review itself is titled "The Scientists Take Over"
and may give some insight into the mindset of the day. A copy is here:
<http://www.lewisiana.nl/orwell/>

The Lewis book itself is remarkably little-read (the traditional C. S. Lewis
fan may not appreciate its atmosphere, I suppose) and will probably surprise
most people who have preconceptions about the man's philosophy and what he was
capable of writing. But I digress.

~~~
ekidd
C.S. Lewis also wrote an interesting review of _1984_ and _Animal Farm,_
claiming "Both are very bitter, honest and honorable recantations" of Orwell's
earlier revolutionary beliefs. Interestingly, Lewis greatly preferred _Animal
Farm._

A partial copy is here:
[http://books.google.com/books?id=V7YkpPwnFlUC&lpg=PA103&...](http://books.google.com/books?id=V7YkpPwnFlUC&lpg=PA103&dq=c.s.%20lewis%20animal%20farm&pg=PA101#v=onepage&q&f=false)

( _That Hideous Strength_ is a hard book to appreciate, because it doesn't
have a natural audience. It mixes dystopian transhumanist science fiction with
religious parables, Arthurian legend and British academic politics.)

~~~
fennecfoxen
Interesting.

The nice thing about the Orwell review for me is that by explicitly talking
about the atomic bomb and spelling it out for me in that context, it led me to
an understanding of a lot of other cultural output (especially film) over the
next few decades. _Star Trek IV_? Oh, that space probe that's out to destroy
the world is a symbol for the atomic bomb. (I had some help from the boombox
quip about how "we'll all be crispy critters after WORLD WAR III.") _Blade
Runner_? Is about living with the expectation your life could end tomorrow.
_Aliens_? Is about the destruction of civilization. And it's not just hardcore
sci-fi. Why did the film adaptation of _Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH_ into
_The Secret of NIMH_ rewrite the end plot with that stupid mystical jewel-
locket-thing? Besides the fact that it's more cinematic, perhaps the director
was pondering the promise and perils of science, especially atomic weapons and
atomic energy. Flippin' _Rock-a-doodle_? I'm thinking 'nuclear winter'.

You just don't get that same flavor with things produced after the mid-
eighties.

~~~
extension
_Why did the film adaptation of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH into The
Secret of NIMH rewrite the end plot with that stupid mystical jewel-locket-
thing?_

They pretty much rewrote the entire premise of the book. It was originally
about _lab rats_ who acquired human-level intelligence from experiments, and
then had to rapidly build a civilization from scratch. Disnification turned it
into some typical magical talking animal thing.

~~~
fennecfoxen
Disnification? Don Bluth wasn't at Disney at that point, so give credit where
it's due. :)

Yeah, he rewrote the premise, and now it's about saving your family from
imminent nuclear/tractor-related apocalypse with a lab-rat sideshow. Ironic,
since this means _Frisby_ is about the NIMH story while _Secret of NIMH_ is
about Mrs Frisby (/Brisby, per Frisbee Corp. lawsuit concerns).

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arundelo
"D.V." = "Deo volente" = "God willing".

<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deo%20volente>

~~~
user24
"MS" = Manuscript.

"TB" = Tuberculosis.

Reading his little abbreviations, it's like some kind of new language or
something... ;)

~~~
kristopolous
I was hoping TB was actually a disused hallucinogen, popular during the 40s.

------
revorad
Priceless just for the last paragraph.

~~~
rmk
Haven't read Sartre's book in question, but I do know that Orwell was quite
antisemitic himself, so this looks like his prejudice showing through.

~~~
MiguelHudnandez
How do you "know" that Orwell was antisemitic? Did you know the man? Whether
you have first-hand knowledge or not, please do share your information.

I suggest reading his essay about anti-semitism if you wish to learn more
about his opinion based on his writings. <http://www.george-
orwell.org/AntiSemitism_In_Britian/0.html>

~~~
rmk
I take it that 'Did you know the man?' is a rhetorical question. I 'know' that
Orwell was antisemitic, because of some of the stuff he has written. I have
read 'Down and out in Paris and London', and 'Burmese Days' (apart from
'Homage to Catalonia' and '1984'), and in both books I got the clear
impression that Orwell was an anti-semite.

The essay to which you have linked surprised me; I can only conclude that
Orwell must have been an anti-semite most of his life, and changed (or at
least appeared to change) his views towards the very end of his life.

~~~
bloggergirl
I had never heard that Orwell was antisemitic. That's so troubling. And here I
thought it was just a writers'/philosophers' feud. :(

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heat_miser
I'm always surprised to find out that even great writers were skeptical of
their masterpieces. I wonder if it is false humility, or genuine lack of self
efficacy

~~~
Homunculiheaded
I think behind almost every successful endeavor (no matter the scale) you'll
find someone driven by personal dissatisfaction with their work. For example I
think most good software comes from people who go to bed a little concerned
about issues with their code or product features. On the more grand scale,
when Michael Jackson released Thriller, the first album I believe to outsell
the Beatles, all those around him thought his next album should be just a
simple collection of covers so he could take a break, but he was determined to
out do it, dissatisfied with his current success (which would seem absurd even
to most HNers, you just outsold the Beatles, you can give yourself a pat on
the back)

Success is the balance of dissatisfaction with your own work combined with a
drive to push forward. The drive without the dissatisfaction just leads to a
bunch of mediocre half done projects, the dissatisfaction without the drive
will just end in depression.

I think truly great people are nearly torn apart by these clashing drives, but
that's what leads to true masterpieces.

On a personal note I think it's important to find the level of dissatisfaction
that works best for you. It my be great to make Thriller, but paradoxically if
you're the person that makes Thriller you won't be able to accept its
greatness. At the same time you never want to be in a state of comfort such
that your life is spent playing xbox all day. Of course some (Buddhists being
one group) would argue that true happiness is elimination of both the drive
and the dissatisfaction, they may be right but I'm too driven in my personal
work to follow that path ;)

~~~
masklinn
> On the more grand scale, when Michael Jackson released Thriller, the first
> album I believe to outsell the Beatles, all those around him thought his
> next album should be just a simple collection of covers so he could take a
> break, but he was determined to out do it, dissatisfied with his current
> success

It's unclear whether you're talking about Thriller itself or about Bad, but
Thriller was definitely driven by dissatisfaction with himself (he was
extremely lonely according to his bios) and with the world at large: Jackson
was frustrated by Off The Wall not having gotten Album of the Year (and felt
it was unfair), and he was annoyed that the music industry and its press did
not care about black people in general and him in particular (e.g. in 1980
Rolling Stone refused to do a cover story on him).

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udp
Amusing that when referring to a possible typist, it was automatically a
"she". :-)

 _"On the other hand a skilled typist under my eye could do it easily enough.
If you can think of anybody who would be willing to come, I will send money
for the journey and full instructions. I think we could make her quite
comfortable. There is always plenty to eat and I will see that she has a
comfortable warm place to work in"_

~~~
user24
well, it would have been a she, especially in post-war England.

------
bloggergirl
I love that he thought Sartre was "a bag of wind".

Do any writers really, truly like other writers?

~~~
canop_fr
Sometimes, yes. Sartre, speaking of him, had friends and followers, among them
Vian and Camus, who liked him more for his role as moral mentor full of wisdom
(he was older and lead a different and less animated life) than only as a
writer.

------
gcb
First world problems. I read it all scrolling sideways back and forth on my
phone... To find out a transcript after the image

