Review of Down and Out in London and Paris By George Orwell

Review of Down and Out in London and Paris By George Orwell
By J M Hart

 

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell is an

intriguing and entertaining tale concerning Orwell's experience

and observation of poverty. This vivid memoir eloquently and

intelligently describes his time spent with the destitute and

desperate of his society in Paris and London. The haunting and

moving way in which Orwell describes each character he meets

sticks in your mind, and although many doubt whether this novel

was a real autobiography, no one can ignore the unique

personality of each character such as Boris, Charlie and Bozo.

Orwell voluntarily entered the ranks of the poor and scarcely

surviving in Paris. His account is rich in its description of

sights, sounds and characters. When he isn't unemployed and

pawning his clothes, he works long days as a "plongeur".

Orwell's book fully demonstrates that the never ending cycle of

Poverty is "squalid and boring". He ends his Paris section by

speaking directly to the reader about the reasons for such

Poverty. Rather than claim any kind of nobility in his destitute

state, he shows that the appalling jobs he and his friends

perform are mostly useless and can easily be made obsolete,

which creates a dismal tone in the novel. Later he moves over to

London and joins the ranks of the English vagrants. This section

is less strong and reads more like a scientific study of

homelessness in Edwardian England.

The tense and dramatic atmosphere is accentuated in the detail

of the rapid descent into the heart of the seedy and

impoverished, portraying an entirely different attitude towards

two of the most famous cities in Europe. Contrasting with great,

romantic literary works of these cities, Orwell uses a

depressing and dark point of view to bring to light many of the

false generalizations and careless mistakes we have towards the

unfortunate of our society. This shocking revelation creates a

gloomy and appalled tone to the novel, making it more emphatic

and memorable.

The novel also gives emphasis to the power of words that Orwell

possesses, showing his talent through the thorough yet still

entertaining descriptions he gives throughout the script. Since

there is very little representation of spoken discourse in the

text, the story must be fleshed out by vibrant narrative which

is difficult to do well. However, in my opinion Orwell's fine

style and evocative attitude sets a tone of significance to

everything that is written on the pages. Through this, Orwell is

able to convey his inner thoughts and emotions to his audience

in a refined and subtle way. This air of secrecy is very

effective in the novel as it draws the reader in and leaves a

memorable atmosphere.

Altogether I feel that this is an interesting novel with some

strong key ideas about morality in the society of Orwell's time.

While much has changed since the 1930's, I believe that the

basic concept that Orwell is trying to get across are still

significant in today's culture. Rather than an actual story with

a beginning, middle and end, I did sense that the novel read

like a long journalistic article on society, due to the

interlude chapters concerning, for example, slang and Orwell's

personal opinions of the idea of Poverty. It seemed to me that

Orwell was trying to persuade us to accept and agree with his

view, which to be honest worked wonderfully. However, I would

not call this a typical novel, and I wonder if this part-

fictitious tale could even be categorized with other novels or

whether it should go under its own unique genre to match its

unique author.

If the novel had been written by any other author, it would have

been extremely dull, as the book is repetitive and the story

line is weak. However the art lies in the description for the

most part, creating a colorful image to relay to the audience

the effect of a place or person. I thought that more went on in

the Paris section of the novel than the London section, mostly

due to the fact that he didn't do anything but waste time trying

to survive on little money whilst in London. I feel he included

the London sections more to make a point about hardship in

English Poverty rather than entertain an audience.

Overall I genuinely enjoyed reading this novel and encourage

others to take a look. The novel looks dense and difficult, but

even through the treacherous hardship Orwell faces, he manages

to keep the tone light. To be honest, this is the sort of novel

that everyone should read at least once in their lives to help

educate the minds and inform them about the different aspects of

humanity.

Please check out http://spyfiles.blogspot.co.uk for more

articles by Your's Truly, as well as consecutive chapters from

the novel I have written. Email j.m.hart.spy@gmail.com if you

would like to ask me any questions or have any comments!