A now something totally different...

I don't know what to make of this: [http://orwelldiaries.wordpress.com/].

I have genuine respect and admiration for Orwell. Through his life, involvement and writings, Orwell represents a amalgam of many of those people on the left of the political spectrum who are genuinely touched by injustice, unfairness, have a realistic understanding of the world and are not swayed by rhetoric, and hold their friends to the same standards as their "enemies".
I am part of a diaspora of sorts caused by political turmoil. I know how simple things are on one hand (how can you not fight against regimes that kill and torture?) and how complicated they can be on the other hand (do I have the right to bring my whole family into exile because of my ideals? Is it right for me to risk the welfare of my kids because of my belief system?). But while it's true that the real choices are significantly less obvious than idealists would like, there are some clear universal principles that are worth standing up for.
What I read from Orwell, what I read about him (read Hitchens [http://www.amazon.com/Why-Orwell-Matters-Christopher-Hitchens/dp/0465030491]and [http://www.amazon.com/Unacknowledged-Legislation-Writers-Public-Sphere/dp/1859843832/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218157821&sr=1-29]), increases my admiration for the writer.
His lucidity and his ability to convey reality clearly dazzles me, and I am not easily impressed. Read his essay on how the language is perverted for political purposes in everyday discourse: [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm].

But my respect and admiration are not blind - what about Orwell's delivery of a list of crypto-communists to the Foreign Office towards the end of his life? Well, as I wrote earlier, things are never as simple as they seem. This whole story has been hotly debated, and I am in no way qualified to argue but am ready to believe he did draft such a letter. That list reflects essentially his fierce anti-communism, his realistic choice of one evil versus another (I am not necessarily agreeing, I am stating a fact), and his public statements. While the list did name names, its purposes was to identify cultural agents that could not be trusted with anti-communism propaganda. Still a vile list, and it does not make me like Orwell-the-man better. But participating to those activities is the kind of decisions many brilliant and otherwise admirable people end up taking - something that I would really like to read more about. Borges is another such case.

Back to the blog that will open. According to what I understand, it's an interesting exercise: an attempt to blog through a few years using material from Orwell's journal in chronological order, starting 8/9/1939. This means the blog will go on from now to 2012.

I am glad we will get to know more about the writings - the raw writings. I understand some of what will be published is not-yet-published material.
And I wonder whether the new format, the blog, will somehow alter the message - make it resonate more, or less. I am certain the observations Orwell makes remain relevant - but will the blog medium used to deliver them change how they are received?

In any case, a very interesting project. Check it out!