We know George Orwell through Animal Farm and 1984. But you’ll be missing out if you don’t read his essays, nonfiction, diaries, and his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London. What you’ll find is an extraordinary person and writer who blends an engaging prose style with firsthand reporting.
I’ve been reading his Diaries and Down and Out in Paris and London at the same time. Down and Out, a memoir published in 1933, was his first book. His prose is seamless, and the sense of who he is comes through clearly: honest, intelligent, and open to everyone he meets.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read such a realistic portrait of poverty, in fiction or nonfiction.
It starts in Paris, where he lives in complete poverty. He goes days without food. It seems almost impossible to land a job. He pawns everything for a piece of bread. His room is filthy and filled with bugs.
He has a keen eye for the life around him. He meets a variety of characters, but it is Boris, a former Russian military man with waiting experience, who adds an abundance of color and humor to the down-and-out experience in Paris.
In London, the homeless aren’t allowed to stay in one place for more than a night or two, so Orwell wanders along with fellow “tramps.” Again, a variety of characters populate Orwell’s harsh world. There is stealing and deterioration, but also honesty and uplifting human connection. Particularly notable is Bozo, a crippled storyteller, philosopher, and street painter.
Of course, while reading Down and Out in Paris and London, Orwell’s dive into poverty and homelessness, I couldn’t help thinking about how much I have, especially when I got up to eat some blueberries I’d bought at Trader Joe’s.
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You might like Noovella’s George Orwell Diaries review as well as Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Books.
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