From: nonesuch@here.com   
      
   "Rhino"  wrote in message   
   news:cs%2d.20474$lb5.1485744@news20.bellglobal.com...   
   >   
   > Is anyone aware of any writings by Orwell himself - or interviews with   
   him -   
   > that describe his purpose in writing 1984?   
   >   
   > These days, writers often go on lengthy tours to promote their new books   
   but   
   > I have the sense that such activities were virtually unknown in Orwell's   
   > day. However, I don't know very much about book promotion in the 1940s in   
   > Britain so I could be wrong. Perhaps he was interviewed on whatever TV   
   talk   
   > show existed in those days - assuming Britain *had* TV in those days (it   
   was   
   > only very new in North America at the time)! - or, more likely, on the   
   > radio.   
      
      
   No, there were no promotional tours in those days, and not much   
   book-plugging on the radio either. (The BBC had a TV service in the 1930s   
   but closed it down during WWII. It didn't resume until the late '40s.)   
      
   But I do remember reading an answer or series of answers Orwell gave on the   
   subject, but had a vague idea that it was  a reply to someone's  letter. The   
   link given you by Martha Bridegam to the New York Daily News article points   
   at the likely source of my vague memory. I think that must be what I   
   remembered.   
      
   rjb   
      
      
   >   
   > Since he died only a few months after publication of 1984, I'm not holding   
   > out a lot of hope that he published a memoir or anything else that   
   described   
   > his motivations and inspirations in writing 1984. Nevertheless, it seems   
   > worthwhile to ask here.   
   >   
   > One of the things I'm most curious about is Orwell's level of optimism or   
   > pessimism that Ingsoc would truly survive. I've just re-read 1984 and   
   > noticed something about the Appendix that I hadn't seen before: the verb   
   > tenses in the first paragraph suggest that the Appendix may have been   
   > written from the point of view of an academic analyzing Ingsoc and   
   Newspeak   
   > *after* their demise. I wonder if Orwell might have intended the Appendix   
   as   
   > a ray of hope that the infinitely bleak and hopeless world of 1984 might   
   not   
   > actually endure?   
   >   
   > Naturally, there is great scope for readers to debate this point with a   
   > variety of persuasive arguments on either side; however, I would be more   
   > interested in hearing what Orwell himself said on the subject. This seems   
   > like the kind of question that might very well come up if the Oprah   
   Winfrey   
   > of his day had interviewed him.   
   >   
   > --   
   > Rhino   
   > ---   
   > rhino1 AT sympatico DOT ca   
   > "There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make   
   it   
   > so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is   
   to   
   > make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies." - C.A.R.   
   > Hoare   
   >   
   >   
      
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