I remember watching Up and towards the end thinking, huh. Now there's a bunch of talking dogs in planes shooting up a giant blimp with machine guns that fire tranquilizer darts, while two very old men fight a duel. How did we get here, again?

Lips and tongues?

Lips and tongues?

That's good!

She got big old hound eyes.

She got big old hound eyes.

That's a good point. He was working on the very rough beginnings of another novel at the very end, if I remember right, and he did seem to think things were improving. So perhaps he's not the best example for this article, but I think the fact that he was desperately ill while writing 1984 had some influence. There's…

That's a good point. He was working on the very rough beginnings of another novel at the very end, if I remember right, and he did seem to think things were improving. So perhaps he's not the best example for this article, but I think the fact that he was desperately ill while writing 1984 had some influence. There's…

giant sleeves.

giant sleeves.

Ol George Orwell wrote 1984 as he was dying of tuberculosis, a pretty nasty thing to die of.

Ol George Orwell wrote 1984 as he was dying of tuberculosis, a pretty nasty thing to die of.