Decent Orwell Article.

[Ken Brown]

For those who haven't seen the page, the idea is that Blair chose the
date 1984 as the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Fabian Society
(British centre-left policy organisation dedicated to state socialism,
that once included HG Wells, Edith Nesbit, and George Bernard Shaw).  I
think that anyone who can get worked up about the Fabian Society is on
the verge of reds-under-the-beds paranoia. As Evil Conspiracies go it is
just a little bit public and a little bit wet. 

The  Iron Heel  is set in 1984, but that, in turn, might derive from
Chesterton's  The Napoleon of Notting Hill, also set in 1984.  It seems
to have been the traditional year of the future... OTOH Orwell said 1984
was just 1948 reversed & why not? (Do we believe Clarke about
HAL=IBM-1?) 

Ken Brown

Michael Motyka wrote:
> 
> An interesting read in which the author delves into some details of
> Orwell's life and possible origins and targets of his satire. Includes
> some neat stuff regarding the dates 1984 and 2000. Time to go read Iron
> Heel by Jack London.
> 
> http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm/include/detail/storyid/158445.html