From: rhino1@NOSPAM.sympatico.ca   
      
   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.   
      
   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   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)