cos it was in the house, my dad had it. and i thought it was going to be, "oh, good, animals! "just like wind in the willows." talking animals? talking animals. what fun! er...but this is not what it was, and, of course, of the soviet union at that time, based on the show trials and so forth. because you were, what — nine, ten...? yeah, i had no knowledge of those things. so itjust ruined me, because here were these nice animals and they came to tragic ends, and it was very, very upsetting. when it came to 1984, then, what was it about that book that gripped you so much? having been born in 1939, two months after the onset of world war ii, i've always been pretty interested in dictatorships, and also world war ii. mm. so, by the time i got round to being plunged into history,