Down and Out in Paris and London
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Any presentable woman can, in the last resort, attach herself to some man. The result, for a tramp, is that he is condemned to perpetual celibacy. For of course it goes without saying that if a tramp finds no women at his own level, those above—even a very little above—are as far out of his reach as the moon. The reasons are not worth discussing, but there is no doubt that women never, or hardly ever, condescend to men who are much poorer than themselves. A tramp, therefore, is a celibate from the moment when he takes to the road. He is absolutely without hope of getting a wife, a mistress, or any kind of woman except—very rarely, when he can raise a few shillings—a prostitute." --Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) by George Orwell “You have talked so often of going to the dogs — and well, here are the dogs, and you have reached them, and you can stand it. It takes off a lot of anxiety.”--Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) by George Orwell |
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Down and Out in Paris and London is George Orwell's semi-autobiographical account of living in poverty in both cities. The narrative begins in Paris where Orwell lived for two years, attempting to subsist by giving English lessons and contributing reviews and articles to various periodicals. He ended up working as a plongeur (dishwasher and kitchen assistant) at a hotel/restaurant where he earned barely enough to survive- but he got free red wine while he worked. Next Orwell moved to London where along with writing and tutoring he worked as a bookshop assistant, an experience which would inspire his later novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
The book was first published in 1933.
