George Orwell: A Life in Letters (59 page)

With love

George

[XVIII, 3027, pp. 339–4
0; typewritten]

1
.
Sally McEwan came to Barnhill with her child. She and Avril were united in dislike of Paul Potts. He left suddenly in the night. At first it was thought it was either because he was told to do so by Avril or because he chanced to see something hurtful about him written by Sally McEwan in a letter (Crick, pp. 512–14). This account was corrected by Sally McEwan and Susan Watson, interviewed by Ian Angus in February 1984. Susan Watson confirmed that Sally McEwan had not left anything hurtful about Paul Potts where he might read it. The reason for Potts’s sudden departure was quite different: there was no newspaper left with which to get the fire started, so Susan Watson used what she took to be scrap paper; unfortunately, this turned out to be a draft of something Potts was writing.

To Sir Richard Rees*

5 July 1946

Barnhill

Isle of Jura

Dear Richard,

Thanks for your letter of the 1st. I have sometimes thought over the point you raise. I don’t know if I would, as it were, get up to the point of having anything biographical written about me, but I suppose it could happen and it’s ghastly to think of some people doing it. All I can say is, use your discretion and if someone seems a B.F., don’t let him see any papers. I am going to include among my personal papers, in case of this happening, some short notes about the main events in my life, chiefly dates and places, because I notice that when people write about you, even people who know you well, they always get that kind of thing wrong. If I should peg out in the next few years, I don’t really think there’ll be a great deal for you to do except deal with publishers over reprints and decide whether or not to keep a few miscellaneous documents. I have named you as literary executor in my will, which has been properly drawn up by a lawyer, and Gwen O’Shaughnessy, who will be Richard’s guardian if anything happens to me, knows all about it. Richard, I hope and trust, is well provided for. I had managed to save a little over the last year or two, and having had this stroke of luck with the American Book of the Month people, I can leave that money untouched, as it is so to speak over and above my ordinary earnings.

I have been up here since the middle of May and am now well settled in. I haven’t done a stroke of work for two months, only gardening etc. My sister is here and does the cooking, and Susan and Richard came up a few days ago. I suppose I shall have to start work again soon, but I’m not going to do any journalism until October. This is a nice big farmhouse with a bathroom and we are making it quite comfortable. The only real snag here is transport— everything has to be brought over 8 miles of inconceivable road, and I’ve no transport except a motor bike. However it’s only necessary to do the journey once a week, to fetch bread and the rations. We’re well off for food. We get milk in any quantity and a fair amount of eggs and butter from a nearby crofter, our only neighbour within 6 miles, and we catch quantities of fish in the sea and also shoot rabbits. I’ve also got a few geese which we shall eat off by degrees. The house hadn’t been inhabited for 12 years and of course the garden has gone back to wilderness, but I am getting it under by little and little,
¹
and this autumn I shall put in fruit bushes etc. Getting the house running has cost a bit, but the rent is almost nothing and it’s nice to have a retreat like this to which one can disappear when one likes and not be followed by telephone calls etc. At present it’s about a 2-day journey from London, door to door, but one could do it in a few hours if one flew to the neighbouring island (Islay), which we shall be able to do another time because we shall leave clothes and so forth here. If you’d like to come and stay in for instance September we’d love to have you here. If so let me know and I’ll tell you about how to do the journey.* It isn’t really a very formidable one except that you have to walk the last 8 miles.

Yours

Eric

*P.S. You might find it rather paintable here.
²
The colours on the sea are incredible but they change all the time. You could do some studies of real Highland cattle. They’re all over the place, just like in Landseer’s pictures!
³

[XVIII,
3028, pp. 340–1; typed

with handwritten postscript]

1
.
‘by little and little’ means gradually; ‘He that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little,’ Ecclesiasticus, xix, 1.

2
.
Rees was living in Edinburgh at the time and painting. He made several oil paintings at Barnhill including one of Orwell’s bedroom (now in the Orwell Archive, UCL).

3
.
Sir Edwin Landseer (1
802–1873) was best known for his pictures of dogs and deer; his ‘Monarch of the Glen’ (1851) was highly regarded in its time. Although his pictures have now become more popular, they were less appreciated when Orwell referred to them. He sculpted the lions at the foot of Nelson’s column (1867) in London. Orwell mentions them in
Nineteen Eighty-Four
, when Winston and Julia meet in Victory Square (p. 120).

To Yvonne Davet*

29 July 1946

Barnhill

Isle of Jura

Chère Madame Davet,

I would, of course, be very pleased if
Homage to Catalonia
were accepted by M. Charlot.
¹
If it is, there are several mistakes (typographical errors etc.) which need correcting and which I’ll point out to you. I also think that it would be better to add an introduction by someone (a Spaniard, if possible) who has a good knowledge of Spain and Spanish politics. When the book is reprinted in England, I plan to take out one or perhaps two chapters and put them at the end of the book as an appendix. It specially concerns the chapter giving a detailed picture of the May fighting, with quotations from the newspapers etc. It has a historic value, but it would be tedious for a reader with no special interest in the Spanish Civil War, and it could go at the end without damaging the text.
²
As for the title, it would probably be better to alter it. Even in English the title doesn’t mean much. But perhaps you have some thoughts on the subject. I think it’s impossible to choose a title in a foreign language.
³

Unfortunately, I have no novel to give to M. Charlot.
Burmese Days
,
Animal Farm
and
Coming Up For Air
are all being translated,
⁴
and there aren’t any more. That is, I did write two other novels, but I’m not very proud of them, and I made up my mind a long time ago to suppress them. As for the novel I’m beginning now, that will possibly be finished in 1947. I’ve only just started it. For nearly three months I’ve done nothing at all, that is, I’ve written nothing. After years of writing three articles a week, I was dreadfully tired, and I very much needed a long holiday. Here in Scotland we are living in a very primitive fashion, and we’re quite busy shooting rabbits, catching fish etc. to get enough to eat. I’ve just started writing a long article for
Polemic
,
⁵
and after I’ve finished that, I hope to work on my novel for two months before I go back to London in October. In October I’ll start doing journalism again, but if I’ve written at least a few chapters of the novel I’ll probably be able to finish it sooner or later. The difficult thing is
starting
a new book when you’re busy for five or six days a week.

I’m staying here till the beginning of October, or perhaps a few weeks later. After that my address in London will be as usual. The address of my publishers (for
Homage to Catalonia
)
is Messrs. Secker and Warburg Publishers 7 John Street London W.C.1.

Très amicalement

Geo. Orwell

P.S. I enclose a copy of my pamphlet
James Burnham and the Managerial Revolution
, which first appeared as an article in
Polemic
with the title ‘Second Thoughts on James Burnham.’ I suppose it is possible that one of the monthlies might think it worth translating.

[XVIII, 3036, pp. 360–3; typewritten]

1
.
Charlot saw the French translation of
Homage to Catalonia
through the press.

2
.
These and other changes listed by Orwell were made for the
Collected Works
edition, Vol. VI.

3
.
The French edition (1955) simply translated the title
Homage to Catalonia
into French. For the changes made for the French edition, and Orwell’s additional notes, see
CW
, VI, Textual Note.

4
.
The proposed translation of
Coming Up for Air
may be a reference to
La fille de l’air
.

5
.
‘Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of
Gulliver’s Travels
’,
Polemic
, No. 5, September–October 1946 (see XVIII, 3089, pp. 417–32).

To Lydia Jackson*

7 August 1946

Barnhill

Isle of Jura

Dear Lydia,

Thanks for your letter. If you’d like to come up here, there would be room in the house in the second half of August, say any time between the 15th and September
1st. Somebody else is coming on the latter date, I think. [
Details about travel: see
16.6.46
]
¹
Try and give me several days° notice, won’t you, so that I can arrange about hiring the car. I think Susan’s little girl is coming up on Friday the 16th, in which case I shall go to Glasgow to meet her, but it’s not certain yet.

Thanks so much for sending on the boots. We need all the footwear we can get here because of course one is constantly getting wet, especially when we go fishing. Latterly the weather has been foul but whenever it’s decent we go out at night and catch a lot of fish which helps the larder.

As to the repairs.
²
As I am supposed to be the tenant, it might be best if you sent Keep’s bill on to me and let me pay it, and I will then send the receipted bill to Dearman and see what I can get out of him. I don’t suppose we’ll get the whole amount, but anyway we can square up afterwards. I don’t suppose Keep will charge an enormous amount from what I know of him.

Love to Pat.

Yours

Eric

[XVIII, 3044, pp. 369–70; typewritten]

1
.
Orwell also asked Lydia to bring ‘some bread and/or flour’. The shortage of grain for bread grew worse during 1946 (partly because grain was needed for those near starvation in Continental Europe). The wheat content of bread was reduced in March 1946; in April the size of loaves was reduced from 2lbs to 1¾lbs – but the price was
not
reduced – and there was a 15% cut in grain for brewing beer; in June bread was rationed despite the fact that that had not proved necessary throughout the war. Near the opening of
Nineteen Eighty-Four
(IX, p. 7) Winston Smith finds he has only ‘a hunk of dark-coloured bread’ to eat but that had to be saved for the next morning’s breakfast. The draft manuscript is even more specific for it is there described as ‘a single slab of bread three centimetres thick’ (
Facsimile
, p. 15).

2
.
The repairs are to The Stores, Wallington, not Barnhill. Mr Dearman was the landlord. (See Shelden, pp. 260–62.) Keep was, presumably, a local builder.

To Anne Popham*

7 August 194
6

Barnhill

Isle of Jura

Dear Andy,

You see this time it’s me who delays weeks or is it months before answering. You didn’t have to be so apologetic—I know only too well how difficult it is to answer a letter and how they rise up and smite one day after day.

I thought over your letter a lot, and I expect you’re right. You’re young and you’ll probably find someone who suits you. Any way° let’s say no more about it.
¹
I hope I shall see you when I am back in London (probably about October). I heard from Ruth
²
about a week ago, as she kindly took in and is looking after some books which were being sent and which I didn’t want to follow me up here. We’re all flourishing here and Richard is beginning to talk a little though he’s still far more interested in doing things with his hands and is becoming very clever with tools. My sister is here and does the cooking, and Susan looks after Richard and looks after the house, while I do the gardening and carpentering. For two months I did no writing at all, then last month I did write an article,
³
and I
may
begin a novel before returning to London but I’m not tying myself down. I had to have a good rest after years of hackwork, and it has done me a lot of good. So far I haven’t even had a cold while here, in spite of getting wet to the skin several times a week. We have to catch or shoot a lot of our food, but I like doing that and as a matter of fact we feed better than one can do in London now. This is a nice big house, and if I can get a long lease which would make it worth while to furnish it more completely and instal an electric light plant, one could make it really comfortable. In any case I’m going to plant fruit trees this autumn and hope I shall be here to get the benefit of them. It’s also a great treat to be in a place where Richard can run in and out of the house without being in any danger of getting run over. The only danger for him here is snakes, but I kill them whenever I see one anywhere near the house. This winter I shall send him to the nursery school if there is a vacancy.