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Will Self

Adele Armstrong

A Point of View: Why Orwell Is the Supreme Mediocrity

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29/08/2014

Why Orwell Is the Supreme Mediocrity

BBC Radio 4 - A Point of View, Why Orwell Is the Supreme Mediocrity

Will Self takes on one of the nation's best-loved figures, George Orwell.

A weekly reflection on a topical issue. Will Self takes on one of the nation's best-loved figures, George Orwell, and braces himself for the backlash!

Will Self takes on one of the nation's best loved figures, George Orwell.....and braces himself for the backlash! "Not Orwell, surely!" he hears the listeners cry.

He uses Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" to make his point. This - he says - is often seen as "a principled assault upon all the jargon, obfuscation, and pretentiously Frenchified folderol that deforms our noble tongue". That - in Self's view - couldn't be farther from the truth.

Describing Orwell as a "Supreme Mediocrity", Self gets to work.....

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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