
TS Eliot refused to publish George Orwell's Animal Farm - robg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/30/eliot-george-orwell-animal-farm
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asciilifeform
I find it curious that no one is commenting on the craven, cowardly and
intellectually dishonest nature of the rejection itself. "It wouldn't do to
publish this." "I'm not sure if that is the thing that needs saying now." "It
might upset our Russian friends."

Pick up the complete set of Orwell's essays ($20 or so) and enjoy his
masterful flames (yes, he reads stylistically like classic Usenet or the best
of modern blogging) where he obliterates the castrated, sniveling, power-
worshiping pseudointellectuals of his day.

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ableal
The Arts and Letters Daily (at <http://www.aldaily.com/> ) covers these topics
well. Usually just three new links per day. They hit this one Monday.

(satisfied customer since 1997 or so ... digging foxhole in anticipation of
"web 0.1 design" outrage ... "works great for me" defense ready ...)

P.S. scan down ALDaily's first column for the tale of Orwell's son. Not
literary, but tells the mettle of the man, which is also good to know.

~~~
gruseom
Yes, it can be interesting to learn about the family life of famous people.
Often it contradicts the public side. Gandhi's is a striking example.

I found the article about Orwell's son a good read. Not sure why the author
assumes having Orwell as a father would be "pretty grim", though.

~~~
ableal
Nineteen Eighty-Four is not exactly sunshine and roses. It is forgivable to
surmise the author would not be a happy camper. I was glad to know Orwell
shared some happiness with his tyke in his final years.

(On the other hand, the great spreader of sweetness and light, P.G. Wodehouse,
who I also like, seems to have been pretty quiet and unadventurous in person.)

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nazgulnarsil
I plug this every time George Orwell comes up. A Fantastic piece on writing,
language, and how language influences thought.

<http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm>

~~~
ATB
The popular linguistics blog "Language Log" had some interesting commentary on
"Politics and the English Language" written in a calmly analytical style
(interspersed with some judicious jibes) that I think many YC.HN readers will
find rather agreeable:

<http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=992>

The entire 'Prescriptivist Poppycock' category at Language Log is generally
good reading:

<http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?cat=5>

~~~
nazgulnarsil
I think all the things criticized were intentional. It's hard not to think
that a writer of Orwell's caliber would say something without meaning exactly
what he said. A careful read becomes: "these are good general rules, and in
describing them I'll also show you how to break them when appropriate". It
would be fitting with Orwell's style in his fiction writing.

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ojbyrne
I think "damning" is a little hyperbolic. Anyway poets are generally not very
astute politically (c.f. Ezra Pound).

~~~
omouse
As a counter-example, I present Lord Byron!

~~~
ojbyrne
From wikipedia:

A strong advocate of social reform, he received particular praise as one of
the few Parliamentary defenders of the Luddites: specifically, he was against
a death penalty for Luddite "frame breakers" in Nottinghamshire, who destroyed
textile machines that were putting them out of work. His first speech before
the Lords was loaded with sarcastic references to the "benefits" of
automation, which he saw as producing inferior material as well as putting
people out of work.

Other than the death penalty thing, support of the Luddites seems hardly
defensible.

~~~
easp
What's your beef with the "Luddites?" Byron was supporting the original
Luddites, not the knee-jerk technophobes the term has come to represent.

I don't condone their use of violence, but I don't find it any more morally
appalling than a society that is happy to reap the benefits of progress while
washing its hands of the very real harm that progress can inflict on a
minority of its members, particularly in a society with limited economic and
social mobility.

