Introductory

I've named this weblog after a column written by the great British author and journalist George Orwell (1903-1950) on a weekly basis from 3 December 1943 to 16 February 1945, and then sporadically until 28 March 1947, for the weekly UK newspaper the Tribune. The title expressed the new freedom he experienced as a writer in becoming the paper's literary editor. The title also expresses the freedom that I and all bloggers have in writing almost anything (i.e. anything not violating the terms of service) that we please. It is not used to mean that this will be some kind of appreciation blog for the author of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1948) and Animal Farm (1944), though my appreciation of him will doubtless come through from time to time. Nor do I aspire to replicate his level of writing, though I would hope to have his clarity. If I manage to sound like him at all it will likely only be like George Orwell after a few drinks, as I join the cyberspace Republic of Letters, often it seems with many posts, four letters.