George Orwell - Down and Out in Paris and London

Pros: really compelling writing on an unpleasant subject
Cons: a bit preachy

Most people who know of George Orwell will be familiar with 1984 and Animal Farm. These are the works that have been read the most. Orwell was a talented writer, though, who produced a lot of quality writing in his short life. ...

Pros: Fairly quick-moving, most always something new going on.
Cons: Couldn't bring myself to care. Par, no more. Absurd philosophy.

This is a travelogue of tatters. Set in the early part of the twentieth century, this novel tells two entirely disparate stories of events happening to the narrator. In the first half of the book he is penniless in Paris, in the second, penniless in ...

Pros: Wild tales of life on the breadline in 1930's Europe.
Cons: A little dated. Orwell's middle class attitude peeps through at times.

Down and Out in Paris and London was one of George Orwell's earliest published works (it dates from 1933). It also happens to be the first George Orwell book that I ever read, at the age of thirteen. Although the book has not aged as well as most of ...

Pros: A rare view of life at the bottom of the pile
Cons: Some digressions

George Orwell Down and Out in Paris and London Those who like to travel and stay in first-class hotels might not want to read this book, even though it was published over seventy years ago. Eric Blair, or George Orwell, as he is known from his ...

Pros: Interesting, humorous, and eye opening
Cons: none

This book was suggested to me by my Modern Europe professor at Utah State University. It was not a very long book, so I decided that it would not hurt to give it a try. What I found was a better appreciation for people who live in poverty, and a better...

Pros: Profoundly engaging and honest
Cons: None

If you've ever wondered what it's like to wear the same clothes for months on end, or eat a stale piece of three day old break and call it lunch and dinner, and be free of all material possessions, get Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell....