I always enjoy reading Orwell's writing, mostly for the technical side. It is so fluid and clear. This was pleasing: It is not exactly forbidden to say this,

I always enjoy reading Orwell's writing, mostly for the technical side. It is so fluid and clear. This was pleasing: It is not exactly forbidden to say this, that or the other, but it is 'not done' to say it, just as in mid-Victorian times it was 'not done' to mention trousers in the presence of a lady. And as mentioned elsewhere, still applies today (i.e. the British media + the BBC's silence over Snowden, D-Notice or not). A few curiosities from a writing point of view, sticking to his advice about avoiding the traditional elementary school grammar rules: . 'Every-one' and 'everyone' in the same sentence. I can just about see how that could have a literary effect, but part of me thinks it could just be a quirk. . Starting sentences with 'and' and 'but'. Great! . A liberal use of commas. . The use of a single - dash - combo instead of brackets/parentheses. . The use of the now-American-only: Start everything after a colon with a capital letter. Nearly everything, anyway. . The editor's decision between s/or/of should IMO be 'of', if the style of the sentence is to match Orwell's style, and indeed if it is to make complete sense. . The use of 'traduce', to slander or defame, was fun. And educational... A quote to wrap up this rambling comment: The enemy is the gramophone mind, whether or not one agrees with the record that is being played at the moment. I am well acquainted with all the arguments against freedom of thought and speech - the arguments which claim that it cannot exist, and the arguments which claim that it ought not to. I answer simply that they don't convince me and that our civilization over a period of four hundred years has been founded on the opposite notice. Well worth a read!