Well, happy Orwell's birthday. Yes, I feel a little like Schroeder in "Peanuts" with his lonely sign: "Only 20 Shopping Days Left To Beethoven's Birthday..." Commemoration seems pretty light this year per Google News. But in this household at least we raised a Jura whisky toast in honor of poor old Eric. Cheers to others who may be doing similar.
Posted by Martha Bridegam at June 25, 2004 01:29 AMIt's also the birthday of Lord Mountbatten (three years Orwell's senior), the last Viceroy of India amongst other things. Must be some historical resonance there.
Posted by: Alan Allport at June 25, 2004 06:17 AMHere's word from Orwell's birthplace in Motihari. It seems the spot is honored by poets on an occasion like his 101st birthday but otherwise not especially glorified -- as seems dimly appropriate:
Ironically, Orwell's birth place in this town is in a slum area and it has no meaning for the people in general or the government. No effort is being made to preserve this heritage. The district administration or municipal corporation does not even care to fix a marble plaque on this house so that the foreign tourists may not face any difficulty in reaching here.Better that than the mallification of Cannery Row and Wigan Pier.