Down and Out in Paris and London

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It's a hit!

This is a semi-autobiographical novel about Orwell's wanderings in Paris & London, where he attempts to experience the lifestyle of the lower class... (show more)

This is a semi-autobiographical novel about Orwell's wanderings in Paris & London, where he attempts to experience the lifestyle of the lower classes by living in extreme poverty.

The first half of the book, in Paris, is superb, and left me laughing and smiling throughout entire chapters. He writes about life in the seedy underbelly of Paris in the 1940s with humor and vivacity. His description of working as a dishwasher in a Parisian hotel is classic and offers an entirely accurate expose on the attitudes of restaurant industry workers.

He focuses on the 'freeing nature' of poverty, indicating that it relieves you of the duty of following certain social norms. The second half of the book is set in London and is slow and a litte more bleak.

Here's a quote from the first half, set in Paris:
"And there is another feeling that is a great consolation in poverty. I believe everyone who has been hard up has experienced it. 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."

Read this book. You won't regret it. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook User

No, it's a flop!

Despite his socialist tendencies, Orwell manages to pull off a pretty good read with this one. Plot summary is provided by the title of the work. I... (show more)

Despite his socialist tendencies, Orwell manages to pull off a pretty good read with this one. Plot summary is provided by the title of the work. It is a description of being hard-up in 1930s Paris and London.

The major drawback of the book, however, is the pervasive racism, particularly anti-Semitism. It makes certain portions of the book essentially unreadable. Combine that with a chapter devoted to an explanation of 1930s swearing and vulgarity, and you've got one of those "I'm so liberal and dangerous, I can be crude!" novels that so defined part of the intelligentia of the time. Two stars. (show less)

 

 

by Ryan P. Long

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  One of my favorite books of all time. It illuminates the harshness and near-total social unacceptability of poverty in a way that many privileged people could hardly imagine, and it does so with humor and startling insight. Also refreshing is the fact that Orwell never acts like he deserves a cookie for 'slumming it'. Awesome.

   

  by Facebook User on Jun 29, 2008 at 05:26PM

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  Wow is what immediately comes to mind. This is an amazing memoir written by the author of the famous works 1984 and Animal Farm, both of which I read and enjoyed. My friend who wrote a prizewinning short story with a similar title recommended this book to me.

  It begins with the life of an Englander living 'down and out' in Paris. Struggling to find work in the hard times of the early 1900s. Going without money for days seems often easier than the relentless work they are exposed to in hotels... (show more)

  Wow is what immediately comes to mind. This is an amazing memoir written by the author of the famous works 1984 and Animal Farm, both of which I read and enjoyed. My friend who wrote a prizewinning short story with a similar title recommended this book to me.

  It begins with the life of an Englander living 'down and out' in Paris. Struggling to find work in the hard times of the early 1900s. Going without money for days seems often easier than the relentless work they are exposed to in hotels, 15 hour days (which he admits are short) and torrid working conditions of sweat, dirt and grime. We follow the central character through attempts at work, firstly as a lowly dishwasher in a huge hotel, then as a higher-up waiter in a new restaurant. It exposes the underclass of both of these lines of work, following days of starvation often because of a lack of funds, sleeping often on the floor of his workplaces or sharing a murky bedroom with his friend who is also in search of money. This section of the book ends with a look at the lowly jobs so many were exposed to, which were easily replaceable, highly unhealthy and often completely pointless. Orwell forces us here to take a look at a world where working your skin off is accepted, and next to nothing is paid for starving off of humanity. Even though this book was written for another world of post-industrial mass production, lessons can still be learned today in the torrid working conditions and payment which barely lets ends meet (and that's just in Western countries).

  Then with the offer of work in London, he travels there where of course the work is not available. He survives on near to nothing as a tramp in the streets of London, going from cheap to cheaper accommodations with little hope of a respite from this. He meets several colourful characters along the way who aid him in this life. Moving from one night shelter to the next - these shelters do not let any tramp stay more than a night at the given time. He speaks of stripping down for searches, watching his fellow tramps survive on little but cigarettes ends and finding out the structure even within a society of tramps. He ends this with a look at the society he has been living in and again forces the reader to take a look inside the lives of these people who have had their dignity stripped away, normally by uncontrollable circumstances. Again this was written in a far earlier time but last time I went to London (I was 5 so about 15 years ago), there were beggars all through the streets.

  This book forces you to look at how the other half lived, the ones who were either born into a sort of vagrancy or who fell on what were exceedingly bad economic times. However, this makes it sound depressing which it wasn't. Throughout the book new characters were introduced, their backgrounds explored and their circumstances explained.

  Amazing, amazing book. I highly recommend it to anyone for a look at what it was to be 'down and out.' (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook User on Nov 11, 2009 at 11:34PM

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