Sunday, June 25, 2017

George Orwell's adopted son was brought up by Tolstoyans

One sometimes gets the impression that the mere words "Socialism" and "Communism" draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, "Nature Cure" quack, pacifist, and feminist in England.
So wrote George Orwell in The Road to Wigan Pier.

You wouldn’t include “feminist” in a list like that today, but otherwise it still seems fair comment.

So I was amused to learn from this morning's From Our Home Correspondent that Richard Blair, Orwell's adopted son, lived with relatives at a Tolstoyan commune in Gloucestershire after Orwell's death.

Richard Blair has written about those days for The Orwell Society.

That segment starts at 13:00, but the whole thing is worth listening to. There is a sobering piece on diabetes and a very Edsmithian one by Ed Smith on cricket captaincy.

No comments: