Alec Birri's Blog

Orwell: The New Life by D. J. Taylor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Never Meet Your Heroes

A deeply researched and engagingly written portrait of arguably the twentieth century’s most iconic literary figure. Yet by the end, one is left with a troubling impression: George Orwell, the great defender of truth and decency, wasn’t a particularly decent man himself. D. J. Taylor does not avoid this reality, but for this reader the conclusion was unavoidable: Orwell is a hero I’m glad I didn’t meet.

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Another Orwell book that has left me with mixed feelings.

Not that I was expecting my favourite dystopian author’s personal account of the Spanish Civil War to be historically accurate, or the prose was lacking in some way. No, it’s the faint whiff of ‘pull up a sandbag’ about the account.

My fellow veterans will know what I’m talking about – there was something not quite right about the recollections, some of which, for me, tipped dangerously towards ‘stolen valour’ territory.

For example, why ...

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A must-read for anyone puzzling over why there appears to be so much inequality in the world. I wouldn’t say it lets warmongers off the hook but I won’t look at a map of the world again without acknowledging Diamond’s wide v tall continent theory.

In summary: To put a man on the moon, invent the internet or find a cure for cancer one needs the following:
1. Lots of healthy individuals with plenty of spare t...

Be careful what you wish for…

The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 killed an estimated 230,000 people across 14 countries. Given many were babies or children too young to understand let alone be capable of sin, theologians generally agree this could only have been the work of The Devil.

Now, as God not only failed to stop the evil but has still yet to resurrect any of Satan’s victims, one can only assume that of the two unseen entities, the latter is by far the more powerful. Logically therefore, w...

Bad people vote right and good people vote left.
And by ‘bad people’ I mean men, and by ‘good people’ I mean women.
And by ‘men’ I mean white men, and by ‘women’ I mean feminists.
And by ‘white men’ I mean capitalists, and by ‘feminists’ I mean ‘woke’.
And by ‘capitalists’ I mean fascists, and by ‘woke’ I mean activists.
And by ‘fascists’ I mean ‘terrorists’, and by ‘activists’ I mean freedom-fighters.
And as one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom-fighter…

The post Bad People appeared f...

Climate change or establishment change protesters?   ‘Go on, then.’ ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ ‘What’s the matter? Anyone would think you were scared.’ ‘That’s equally nonsensical – I’m a celestial body, and you are a by-product of my activity. The very idea of entering into competition with each other is laughable.’ The North Wind looked at the Sun and then at the man walking on the Earth’s surface below. He puffed at the man’s cloak and it flapped open. ‘Tell you what. I’ll shift some of thes...

‘By her own admission, my next guest has led an unconventional life. Born into privileged American society, and educated at some of Europe’s finest finishing schools, a life of fashion shows, A-list galas, political fundraisers and other well-heeled charity events was never going to satisfy the young Karen Bradley. No, this rebellious teenager had another career in mind and one that could not have been more opposite – pounding the beat as a humble police officer. Fast-forward forty years, and...

‘By her own admission, my next guest has led an unconventional life. Born into privileged American society, and educated at some of Europe’s finest finishing schools, a life of fashion shows, A-list galas, political fundraisers and other well-heeled charity events was never going to satisfy the young Karen Bradley. No, this rebellious teenager had another career in mind and one that could not have been more opposite – pounding the beat as a humble police officer. Fast-forward forty years, and...

Five Quick Questions…

Q. Were Alt Truths to become a film, who would be your ideal actors to play Sarah and Richard?

A. I can see Karen Gillan relishing the chance to play the part of our pagan, mother-earth worshipping, anti-establishment heroine (Think Disney’s Merida and her single-minded determination – red hair too!) whereas Richard would have to be played by someone who couldn’t be more conservative if he tried. I don’t know why, but a young Harrison Ford comes to mind. How about Alden...

I am expecting a knock on my door one day. A conversation will ensue during which the visitor will accuse me of being an accessory to murder. The accusation won’t come as a surprise and neither will I be able to deny the claims. For I witnessed the planning and conduct of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and did nothing to stop it.

Think my arrest unlikely? It’s nothing that wouldn’t make perfect sense to Oskar Groening. Oskar was once an office clerk who, along with the thousands of other Nazis dee...