George Orwell

I just got through listening to an extensive biography of George Orwell. I didn't set out to listen to it, just happened to be the only thing interesting on tseemhe shelf at the time. The weird thing is that I found myself really identifying with him at times. He was paranoid about power, well duh, you say? Well, the origins of the paranoia I connected to, in a weird way. It also threw light on my own Darkwing world for me. I created an anarchistic future in contrast to his totalitarian world but I realize I am no less fearful of authoritarian power than he was. Not that I'm comparing myself to George Orwell but he is a model in some aspects, at least as a writer. He was able to criticize the left from the right and the right from the left. He was taken as anti-leftist when he was a leftist, just an anti-communist one. And the biographer said that he was only able to write a fully realized character as the main character which was always somewhat autobiographical. I wonder if I share this fault. I certainly don't think he was a model as a man. Very flawed but somehow heroic for all that. I realized 1984 affected me as a book more than I realized and I remember seeing the movie vividly. So, I need to keep pondering this man and think what other lessons he has for me.