From: bridegam@pacbell.net   
      
   Rhino wrote:   
      
   > Thanks to all who replied to my question. There is apparently not a lot   
   > written by Orwell about his purpose behind 1984 but it this is not   
   > surprising considering how he died only a few months after publication and   
   > was presumably quite ill for those last few months.   
   >   
   > The letter cited by Mabel is very informative and goes a long way towards   
   > answering my question(s).   
   >   
   > Rhino   
      
   "Mabel?" It's Martha. One of those old-fashioned sitcom wife names, yes, but   
   not "Mabel."   
      
   Orwell wrote a lot of things that shed light on his intentions for *1984* --   
   notably that Burnham essay -- but you have to read between the lines and   
   there are a lot of longstanding arguments about which writings are most   
   relevant. And then a few of his later letters to friends and editors mention   
   *1984* specifically, though often just in passing. For example, this in June   
   1949 to the writer Julian Symons re: Symons' review of *1984* in the Times   
   Literary Supplement: "...You are of course right about the vulgarity of the   
   'Room 101' business. I was aware of this while writing it, but I didn't know   
   another way of getting somewhere near the effect I wanted..." Or this to Sir   
   Richard Rees: "...'1984' has had good reviews in the USA, such as I have seen   
   of them, but of course also some very shame-making publicity..."   
      
   As far as the chronology goes on the composition of *1984*, he finished   
   typing out the fair copy in December 1948 -- a huge effort for him because of   
   his illness, especially considering it was a manual typewriter, but he was   
   living on the remote island of Jura and no typist could be found to go there   
   and do the typing for him. He died in January 1950. In between, the Complete   
   Works Vol. XX contains 181 pages of essays and correspondence (mostly   
   correspondence, it's true -- he *was* ill). Besides that, some of the Vol. XX   
   appendices, such as the notes for his uncompleted novel "A Smoking-Room   
   Story," would presumably have been worked on during that final year.   
      
   Vol. XX can be ordered by itself in paperback, I think. You might try Random   
   House directly, or the U.S. or U.K. versions of Amazon. But that also has a   
   lot of small detail about his health, translation and serialization   
   arrangements for *AF*, his son's starting school, etc., etc. It might be more   
   satisfying to go back to his earlier full-length books and the good old 1968   
   four-volume "Greatest Hits" edition, the *Collected Essays, Journalism and   
   Letters*, which is now back in print, and decide for yourself what's relevant   
   out of his major works.   
      
   Hope this helps,   
      
   /M   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)