Fun Orwell facts!

Cory Doctorow 12:00 pm Fri Jun 12, 2015

14 bits of interesting trivia about Nineteen Eighty-Four, including the fact that he was under surveillance for his communist sympathies while he wrote it.

Missing from the list, and most depressing: Orwell wrote a list of his friends whom he considered to be secret Stalinists and turned it over to a UK domestic surveillance unit so they could be placed under watch themselves.

14. ORWELL DIED ONLY SEVEN MONTHS AFTER NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR WAS PUBLISHED.

Although Orwell had seen success as a broadcaster, journalist, nonfiction writer, and as the author of Animal Farm, he unfortunately never got to witness the incredible influence that his most popular piece would have on the world. Orwell died on January 21, 1950, due to complications from tuberculosis.

14 Things You Might Not Know About 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' [Michael Arbeiter/Mental Floss]

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