Orwell anniversary

There's a piece over at Poumista today to mark the anniversary of George Orwell being shot on this day in 1937 whilst serving with the militias in the Spanish Civil War. 

I vividly remember discovering at the age of sixteen a copy of Homage To Catalonia in the most unlikely of places - the library of my Catholic school. I took it out again and again and re-read it many times over.

I'm not sure why - probably the teenage romantic notion of being a revolutionary  - but it had a profond affect on me that has stayed ever since.

However it goes no way at all to explaining why I should ever have concluded that it was a good idea to join the YCL at the age of 18. Fortunately it only took my six months to realise what a fucking dumb idea that was ...