Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell
My rating: 4 / 5
I picked up this book with the sole intention of getting more familiar with Orwell's writing, having read only "Animal Farm" and "1984" before and ended up liking it far more than I thought I would.
As the name suggests, this book, semi-autobiographical, revolves around Orwell's experience among the down-and-outs first in Paris and then in London. It presents an honest view of how someone without a penny to their name could survive in such cities back in the 1920s. Despite portraying all the horrors that poverty brings about, Orwell does a splendid job at demonstrating the humanness of these down-and-outs he lives among, explaining how it's usually poverty that turns men bitter, not the other way around and how big a role the system plays in them not being able to improve their living conditions.
During reading this, I felt like I myself was living the life the author was describing. It helped me understand poverty on a level I hadn't before and reshaped my perception of the poor and the homeless thoroughly. It got me thinking about how easily we reduce a person’s character, either consciously or unconsciously, to "being extremely poor" without considering all the other aspects of who they are. There are chapters where Orwell reflects upon his experiences, what he's learned and what he thinks can be done, which personally felt like talking to a friend about after he's been back from a long trip.
The difference between how Paris and London treated such people back in the day was totally tangible as well, something worthy of note in my opinion.
This also made me have even more respect for Orwell, for his views on his experiences and his willingness to put himself through even worse to understand the core of poverty and what it does to us humans.
My rating: 4 / 5
I picked up this book with the sole intention of getting more familiar with Orwell's writing, having read only "Animal Farm" and "1984" before and ended up liking it far more than I thought I would.
As the name suggests, this book, semi-autobiographical, revolves around Orwell's experience among the down-and-outs first in Paris and then in London. It presents an honest view of how someone without a penny to their name could survive in such cities back in the 1920s. Despite portraying all the horrors that poverty brings about, Orwell does a splendid job at demonstrating the humanness of these down-and-outs he lives among, explaining how it's usually poverty that turns men bitter, not the other way around and how big a role the system plays in them not being able to improve their living conditions.
During reading this, I felt like I myself was living the life the author was describing. It helped me understand poverty on a level I hadn't before and reshaped my perception of the poor and the homeless thoroughly. It got me thinking about how easily we reduce a person’s character, either consciously or unconsciously, to "being extremely poor" without considering all the other aspects of who they are. There are chapters where Orwell reflects upon his experiences, what he's learned and what he thinks can be done, which personally felt like talking to a friend about after he's been back from a long trip.
The difference between how Paris and London treated such people back in the day was totally tangible as well, something worthy of note in my opinion.
This also made me have even more respect for Orwell, for his views on his experiences and his willingness to put himself through even worse to understand the core of poverty and what it does to us humans.