This unusual fictional account, in good part autobiographical, narrates without self-pity and often with humor the adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-out of two great cities. In the tales of both cities we learn some sobering Orwellian truths about poverty and society.
Enjoyed it but have to admit, it left me with lots of questions about the author. Being memoirs I suppose this is okay. I’m putting his archaic and insulting conversations about gays and jews down to the times. Will read more of his but I’ll never be a massive fan. AND as a writer of memoirs myself, I can confidently lean back knowing mine are not at all that bad, in comparison. I know who’d have thought, I could compare a legend like Orwell to my own writing. Well I can say after reading him, I’m not so shabby.
READING PROGRESS
September 25, 2021 – Started Reading
September 26, 2021 –
2.0% “Just read the first chapter and I was practically salivating the prose is so deliciously descriptive, especially in comparison to the dirge style of Kafka, which I read previously.
Fantastically Poor – those two words alone are reward for my latest choice.”
September 27, 2021 –
4.0% “Wow chapter two was a bit of a shocker. Unexpected and somewhat disturbing. (if you’m delicate like me).”
September 30, 2021 –
10.0% “That Russian character is not nice about Jewish people. Shows you the sort of attitudes people had back then.”
October 4, 2021 –
30.0% “So realistic… had me checking online. Never knew this was memoirs. I can relate to much regarding his time working as a hotel plongeur (washer-uppera). Can’t wait till he hits London. I wonder if there are any similarities with sleeping rough in the 1980s. I spent five days on the streets, in august & it was freezing at night. Should have worn more than a t-shirt but I was a foolish child. Enjoying the read.”
October 18, 2021 –
60.0% “Gosh. slightly awkward, cringing at some of the, let’s call them observational opinions of the time. I mean homelessness putting people at the bottom of a pile, where homosexuality is a byproduct of not getting laid by women of a higher social standing. Really? Derogatory comments, coming from a liberal. (I think) I have to say… I still like the author but won’t be adding him to my Christmas card list.”
October 19, 2021 – Finished Reading
An interesting look at the times of the Great Depression and interim war periods in Europe.
I loved this book. Orwell’s storytelling — thinly veiled autobiography posing as a novel, so it seems — about his travails in Paris and London is fascinating. However, I also enjoyed his intermittent musings on poverty, work, and class/social status. Much of it rings true today.
Example, from page 120: “[There is an] idea that there is some mysterious, fundamental difference between rich and poor…But in reality there is no such difference. The mass of the rich and the poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit.”
And from page 174: “…The question arises, why are beggars despised? I believe it is for the simple reason that they fail to earn a decent living. In practice nobody cares whether work is useful or useless; productive or parasitic; the sole thing demanded is that it shall be profitable…Money has become the grand test of virtue. By this test beggars fail, and for this they are despised.”
But most of the book tells first-hand stories of experiences working as a “plongeur” in Parisian restaurants and spending time at “spikes” in London. Not an enviable life by any means, but Orwell brings it vividly to life, providing a humanizing look at those unfortunate enough to be thought of as existing at the lowest rung of society.