Autobiography – 210 pages – my copy (paperback; 1989) bought for £2 from a delightful bookshop in Exeter near Xmas 2010
#37 of 2011-12 - #158 of All Time
- 4 nods out of 5 -
George Orwell’s reputation continues to grow, year after year: the man of the influential and much read and quoted books Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. But it is his non-fiction work in which his fans trumpet and hold dearest to their hearts: Homage to Catalonia and The Road to Wigan Pier. This book, Down and Out in Paris in London, came before all, bar one.
In short, this is the younger Orwell as a true down and out in these two capital cities during the late 1920s. He recounts his time scrubbing pots and pans in the dirty restaurants of Paris, existing on minimal amounts of sleep and food; before returning to Blighty to walk the streets as a hobo. Throughout it all, Orwell acts social correspondent, detailing the peculiarities and hardships which for many others were ignored or simply unheard. As the introduction to this volume – written by Dervla Murphy – notes: ‘It is this white-hot reaction of a sensitive, observant, compassionate young man to poverty, injustice and the callousness of the rich. It offers insights, rather than solutions; but always insights have to precede solutions’
Such insights are clearly noted in the London segment of the book: Orwell writes of the non-stop swearing and filth of homeless life, existing on a poor diet of bread and margarine. Orwell remains negative about the plight of the hundreds of homeless, until an encounter with the street philosopher, Bozo:
Orwell: ‘It seems to me that when you take a man’s money away he’s fit for nothing from that moment.’
Bozo: ‘No, not necessarily. If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor. You can still keep on with your books and your ideas. You just got to say to yourself, “I’m a free man in here”’ – he tapped his forehead – ‘and you’re all right.’
However, it is his time as an energetic plongeur in Paris that really excites the reader, as opposed to the grinding depression of his hungry sojourns on the London roads. It is in Paris where he writes about his friend Boris, an enigmatic Russian émigré, as well as his life at Hotel X:
‘It was amusing to look round the filthy little scullery and think that only a double door was between us and the dining-room. There sat the customers in all their splendour – spotless table-cloths, bowls of flowers, mirrors and gilt cornices, and painted cherubim; and here, just a few feet away, we in our disgusting filth. For it really was disgusting filth. There was no time to sweep the floor till evening, and we slithered about in a compound of soapy water, lettuce leaves, torn paper and trampled food. A dozen waiters with their coats off, showing their sweaty armpits, sat the table mixing salads and sticking their thumbs into the cream pots.’
And what of his acquaintances in the kitchen:
‘English, eh? He said. ‘Well, I’m in charge here. If you work well’ – he made the motion of up-ending a bottle and sucked noisily. ‘If you don’t’ – he gave the doorpost several vigorous kicks. ‘To me, twisting your neck would be no more than spitting on the floor. And if there’s any trouble, they’ll believe me, not you. So be careful.’
Yes, this was the life or Orwell as a plonguer; what he deems doing work that is ‘more or less useless’. Orwell writes on the matter: ‘I believe that this instinct to perpetuate useless work is, at bottom, simply fear of the mob. The mob (the thought runs) are such low animals that they would be dangerous if they had leisure; it is safer to keep them too busy to think.’
It is this humour (no matter how dark) coupled with the social commentary that makes this book such an intriguing and enjoying read. Orwell fans don’t need to heed the call to plunge into his back catalogue; but for the un-initiated, Down and Out in Paris and London is a perfect entrance into a point of view of the world that we may have missed.
Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paris-London-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141184388/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332511683&sr=1-1
