Monday, June 11, 2012

Down and Out in Paris and London

 Writing about being homeless and poor is not easy for somebody who has never been in that situation. George Orwell, however, wrote about these subjects from his own personal experience. He had to suffer the consequences of starvation and social ostracism when he was homeless in the early thirties, during the aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street crash. Orwell's Down and Out in London and Paris delves into this theme with honesty and interesting facts. I wrote about this book here:
Down and Out in Paris and London

Not surprisingly, Orwell died of tuberculosis when he was only 46 years old. (It's his 109th birthday in June, so reviewing some of his books is a good way of remembering him).

12 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Yes, many people have read 1984, but 1984 is a novel. Down and Out in Paris and London is non-fiction and it has resonance today; the aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street crash is analogous to the aftermath of the 2008 Wall Street crash.

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  2. Wow, Julia, I didn't know about this essay. I loved Animal Farm and 1984... 1984 especially. I remember reading this just before '84. Yikes, guess I shouldn't say that. : )

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  3. I didn't know about it either but the editor of GringoLandiaSantiago recommended it to me. It is a book of relevance these days.

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  4. Julia, you are good with words.
    R

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  5. Thanks for the kind compliment, Rick.

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  6. Oh my goodness, I so need to re-read this again!! Thanks Julia! Take care x

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  7. Hi lovely Julia!! A fab bloggie pal, Hilary Melton Butcher is trying to contact you? She tried to leave a comment here but it hasn't turned up.

    Her email address is:

    hilarymeltonbutcher(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    Take care
    x

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  8. Here is Hilary's comment: Hi Julia .. I've linked across to you from my blog post today .. this was so fascinating ..

    Thanks so much for highlighting this essay especially at this time ..

    So interesting and opened my eyes to so much - great read .. cheers Hilary

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  9. I received the comment but we don't see it here. I don't understand why this happens. You would be surprised to learn all the issues I am encountering with blogger right now. It is very annoying. I was ELATED to read Hilary's comment and I will take my time to read her interesting blog entry and to comment on it. Here is the link:
    http://positiveletters.blogspot.com/2012/06/george-orwell-never-seconds-blog-by.html

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  10. Thank you Hilary, and thanks Old Kitty, again!

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I appreciate each and every comment. Thank you.