Victory over self
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.”
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(scroll down a very long way)
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“He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”
T H E E N D
The entire book is online here but for God’s sake buy it if you haven’t read it. It doesn’t cost much.
super-vinatge (Les Chats [The Cats] by Edouard Chimot, Paris, 1932)
A love of the broken and abandoned
Almost a virtual world for we who love abandoned places … figuring out how to explore it is part of the intrigue
And why are we drawn to such places?
Many possible factors, including misogyny, fatalism, a love of nature (which reclaims the buildings for itself), questioning “progress” and so much artifice, love of old things, nostalgia or a need to connect to the past.
And many more, I’m sure.


