Winston

This morning, I have been reminded of Winston - the name of the narrator in 1984, reference 1, perhaps mischievously named for our war-time Prime Minister - doing his exercises to the telescreen. A contraption which enabled him, at 0715 in the morning, from the dingy comfort of his own flat, to see the instructor for his morning exercises, and which enabled her, the instructor, to see him, and presumably all her other charges as well.

I find that although we still have some books by Orwell, we don't have this one any more, more or less compulsory reading for grammar school boys in the mid 1960's, but a few clicks gets me to reference 2, from where I can download a serviceable pdf for free.

Quite quickly, I am in chapter 3, where we have, I think for the first time, the morning exercises. Much screeching and squawking of whistles. Coughing and spluttering. Instructor shouting at Winston that he must do better. He must touch his toes without bending his knees - something which I don't think I have managed for many years now. Not that I even try very often.

All most unpleasant. And to think that now, thanks to lockdown and zoom, we can do this for real, rather than just read about it. Prescient chap this Orwell, even if his timing was a bit out.

Reference 1: 1984 - George Orwell - 1949. Published in the year of my birth. Clearly significant.

Reference 2: https://pdforall.com/.