George Orwell Becomes a Blogger: Diaries Published ‘Real Time,’ 70 Years Late

To mark the 70th anniversary of the diaries of George Orwell they’re being published online “live” as a blog, 70 years to the day he wrote them. The project started August 9th, and so far the entries are about strangely bland stuff: the weather and the antics of catching some snakes at his home. More what you’d expect from Eric Arthur Blair (his real name) rather than deep insights into the mind that created Big Brother. This is his domestic diary, though… the political one (which starts September 7th) will make for very interesting reading. I wonder what Orwell would’ve thought of this idea, and indeed the slightly Orwellian society we seem to be living in.

Since Orwell spent some time as both journalist and teacher, I suspect he may have found the idea of blogging his journals intriguing, on an educational level. As for what he’d have thought of our society, it’s impossible to tell, though perhaps the proliferation of surveillance cameras (making “Big Brother is watching you” seem ever truer) would’ve struck a chord or two with the man.

I have a sneaky feeling he’d have disapproved of the Giz, though. Consider this guideline for good writing, one of six from his book Politics and the English Language: “Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.” [Orwell Diaries via Laughing Squid]