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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
challenging
informative
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tense
medium-paced
For what I saw in her face was not the ignorant suffering of an animal. She knew well enough what was happening to her -- understood as well as I did how dreadful a destiny it was to be kneeling there in the bitter cold, on the slimy stones of a slum backyard poking a stick up a foul drain-pipe.
When I first started this book, it reminded me heavily of the fourth book of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (The Miserable Mill), where the three orphans came to live in a lumbermill. Everything from the dark and cramped rooms, the never ending grime, the tiny food portions, the ridiculous wages and heavy work, the characteristics of their roommates/coworkers, and even the freak accidents at work. And then I remembered that in that book, they had an optometrist named Dr. Georgina Orwell, referencing George Orwell's book 1984. I'm not surprised if The Road to Wigan Pier also referenced this book, seeing how similar the two are.
And once I continued to read this, my stomach grew heavier at the thought of the three minor orphans living in such a dismal place. The working conditions were abysmal, it was downright inhumane. But it is reality. And that's why Orwell's works are always so tough to stomach.
He wrote of poor living conditions, the run-down housings, breaking down the average wages, nutrition deficiency, the differences between single and married households, and I can't help but have the sinking feeling that all these problems he spoke of, are still ongoing until now. Which is a terribly bleak realisation.
The second part of the book was tougher to swallow, for he wrote more on socioeconomical analyses. Where part one spoke of the problems in society, part two was his answer to them, which is socialism. It got more complicated to read up on, but I enjoyed his examinations on literary books regarding multiple theories.
informative
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medium-paced
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
informative
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fast-paced
Excellently written, funny, and timeless observations. I especially like the defences of socialism. By the end, unusually for Orwell, it does get a bit repetitive and (more usually for him) cranky.
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced