Splinters

Here's fun: Orwell Today provides the entire text of 1984 online, with annotations on each chapter linking to news articles that have parallels with Orwell's allegorical tale. Even a quick skim makes for chilling reading, providing concrete proof that 1984's vision is becoming more and more a reality. It's commonplace to say this, but it doesn't make it any less true. The manipulation of the media over Iraq, for one, offers enough doubletalk and instant history rewriting to fuel a score of Phds.

Actually, is anyone doing that?

A link here to my recent review of Emma Larkin's superb Secret Histories: Finding George Orwell In A Burmese Teashop, which I've now placed on its own page outside this blog.