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Title: Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell ISBN: 0-15-626224-X Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: March, 1972 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.27 (45 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: How would We react to this life?
Comment: I don't recall what possessed me to buy George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London after reading no Orwell since 1984 (which I read in 1987). It was probably one of the online recommendations, and if so, a very good one it was. As a young man, educated but out of work, Orwell found himself in Paris with frightfully little money. Thus began his adventures through the Paris slums and the shady underside of life there.
This was not, apparently, an attempt on Orwell's part to go out and discover how the other half lives. It is not discipline but rather simple helplessness that sometimes forced him to go days without food, to pawn virtually everything he owned for a paltry few coins, and to live in desperation. Likewise, when work came, it was by necessity that he worked the hideously long hours at menial work in order to earn a living. So it was with at least in part the eye of the truly poor that he put to print what he experienced there. In true Orwell style, he manages to find the story in everyone he meets, and his powers of observation are exceptional.
When he manages to make it back to London, the book enters its second half. I found the London portion less insightful and entertaining. Learning that his waiting job is postponed a month, Orwell becomes a tramp, and travels through the various lodging houses and what passed for shelters in 1930's London. It was here that the text also becomes a bit dated and colloquial. Whereas in the Paris portion, presumably the dialogues have been translated from French into Standard English, in the London portion Orwell mimics street talk: "Want a kip? That'll be a 'og, guv'nor." I've always thought this sort of thing just slows down the reading, does nothing for the story, and contributes to the inferiority of traditional English literature (American too, I'm not being a snob here). I also found the London bit more depressing and the characters less colorful and less sympathetic.
Actually, this is a point on which Orwell's future political leanings start to show. If his portrayals of some of these characters are correct, then I wouldn't want half of them working for me, either. A little professionalism, or just lack of criminal intent, can go a long way. Nonetheless, this book is meant more as a travelogue to the slums than as a deep analysis of societal problems. As entertainment, it is first rate, and as a look at a real aspect of life for many, it is a bit dated, but still first rate.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must Read!
Comment: The story begins in Paris, with a British writer, who loses all of his money, sells almost all of his clothes, nearly starves, and is about to be evicted from his apartment. He decides that he has no alternative, except to find work. After long of struggle he finds a job working as a dishwasher in the basement of a posh Paris hotel, he describes the filth of the kitchens, and the sad plight of those working in the kitchens. While there he works all day, often running around trying to do ten jobs at once, anyone who has worked at a place like McDonald's around lunch time knows what this is like, he then goes home, sleeps and comes back the next day. He can feel the work eating away at his life. He eventually moves to a new Russian restaurant and is worked half to death there also. He gives up there also and writes to a friend back in London about work. His friend tells him of a job as a translator that pays a decent salary, and the writer leaves for England. When he arrives in England he finds that his job opening has been postponed for a month. He accepts his fate and decides to become a tramp for the next month. He sells everything he has except for one pair of clothes, and buys some cheap tramp clothes. The nice clothes he saved he stores at the train station so that he can wear them when his job opens, then he spends the month wandering around looking for a bite to eat and a place to sleep. He begins to understand the ways of being a tramp, and while he doesn't live a life of luxury, he discovers that the tramps around him are people too. George Orwell tells the experiences of being down and out in Paris and London in a sometimes humorous, and always straightforward way. My favorite quote from the book is: "It is a feeling of relief, almost of pleasure, at knowing yourself at last genuinely down and out. You have talked so often of going to the dogs-and well, here are the dogs, and you have reached them, and you can stand it. It takes off a lot of anxiety." This is a great book. One I heartily recommend along with three other titles, Post Office by Bukowski, Tropic of Cancer by Miller, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez
Rating: 4
Summary: Classic Orwell
Comment: Great Read! This book follows the aimless journeys of an unemployed journalist in Paris and London. Orwell presents a clear and honest view into the 'underworld' of these great metropolises.
In traditional Orwellian style, this book flows; the writing style makes reading the book effortless. The anecdotes are entertaining and keep you reading for more. I think some of his longer expostulations into the evils of urban poverty were a bit overwrought, but it wouldn't have been Orwell without them. This book is heartily recommended.
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Title: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell ISBN: 0156421178 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: October, 1969 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell ISBN: 0156767503 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: September, 1973 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Burmese Days: A Novel (Harbrace Paperbound Library, Hpl 62) by George Orwell ISBN: 0156148501 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: May, 1974 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell ISBN: 0156468999 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 19 March, 1969 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: A Collection of Essays by George Orwell ISBN: 0156186004 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: October, 1970 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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