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| Title | : | Down and Out in Paris and London |
| Author | : | George Orwell |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 213 pages |
| Published | : | March 15th 1972 by Mariner Books (first published 1933) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Classics. Autobiography. Memoir. Biography. Travel. Literature. History |
George Orwell
Paperback | Pages: 213 pages Rating: 4.11 | 55697 Users | 3794 Reviews
Narrative In Pursuance Of Books Down and Out in Paris and London
This unusual fictional memoir - in good part autobiographical - narrates without self-pity and often with humor the adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-outs of two great cities. The Parisian episode is fascinating for its expose of the kitchens of posh French restaurants, where the narrator works at the bottom of the culinary echelon as dishwasher, or plongeur. In London, while waiting for a job, he experiences the world of tramps, street people, and free lodging houses. In the tales of both cities we learn some sobering Orwellian truths about poverty and of society.Describe Books As Down and Out in Paris and London
| Original Title: | Down and Out in Paris and London |
| ISBN: | 015626224X (ISBN13: 9780156262248) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Paddy, Bozo, George Orwell, Boris |
| Setting: | London, England,1933 Paris,1933(France) |
Rating Out Of Books Down and Out in Paris and London
Ratings: 4.11 From 55697 Users | 3794 ReviewsEvaluate Out Of Books Down and Out in Paris and London
this book isn't going to cause anyone to have the huge revelation that "poverty is hard!" or anything, because - duh - but it also doesn't piss me off the way morgan spurlock pisses me off, because orwell makes his story come alive and there is so much local color, so many individual life stories in here that this book, despite being horribly depressing, is also full of the resourcefulness of man and the resilience of people that have been left by the wayside. it is triumphant, not manipulative.I've loved everything I've ever read by Orwell, including this book which is very autobiographical "fiction", written in the first person. The temporal setting of the "novel" is sometime in the 1920s I think. This is actually not a bad book to sample Orwell with, of course nowhere near as famous as Animal Farm or 1984, but it reads much like a memoir (a very interesting one) and hence can be experienced as a sample of Orwell's writing style and views on society, without those things being masked
This was a very powerful book, and while I didn't care for the first part of it when he finally got a job in a restaurant, I felt I had to read the details of his job and the abuse he received while working there. The remainder of the book was very good, especially when he moved to London.This and the book "Nickel and Dimed" would be good for high school teachers to give to their students to read and to discuss. It may change some people's views that the poor are lazy or all are drug addicts. In
Do not read this book if you are unemployed.Do not read this book if you are homeless.Do not read this book if you are worried about the tanking economy.Do not read this book if you have no retirement savings.Do not read this book if you don't like eating stale bread and margarine.Do not read this book if you like eating in restaurants.Do not read this book if you are sensitive to foul odors.Do not read this book if you are one of those people who carries a hand-sanitizer at all times.Do not
What I learned from this book (in no particular order):1. There is hardly such a thing as a French waiter in Paris: the waiters are all Italian and German. They just pretend to be French to be able to affect that certain hauteur and charge you exorbitant prices for that mediocre Boeuf Bourgignon.2. Some of them are spies. Waitering is a common profession for a spy to adopt. It is also a popular profession among AWOL ex-soldiers and wannabe snobs.3. Real scullery maids do curse like a scullion
Orwell demonstrates his social conscience and empathy for the poor, which I think, makes his more famous attacks on totalitarianism more credible. This is also an interesting novel to read for a glimpse into Paris and London of that time, between 1900 and 1930. Orwell worked in some restaurants and his view from the kitchen is far less romantic than Hemingways perspective from the table.Not really a classic or a masterpiece, but a book that should be read.
Orwells take on destitution was every bit as good as I expected it to be: beautifully phrased, meticulous, honest, funny, but also moving, and along with his own vivid experiences of living a hand to mouth existence he blends the testimonies of other refugees and homeless people in Paris and London. This book might not have even come about had it not been for a thief who pinched the last of an ailing Orwells savings from his Paris boarding room in 1929, thus leading him to search for dishwashing
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