Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I don't know what the fruit juice drinker did to annoy Orwell but he does hold it against them
informative
Informative and thought provoking not his best work but still pretty good.
uses great imagery but it's a bit outdated and there are more diverse social studies to dedicate time to
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
First half contains Orwells memoirs of living among poverty in Wigan, which I really enjoyed. I grew interested in the characters and settings that he was involved with while staying in boarding houses in Wigan.
The middle section consists of a relatively precise description of the life of the miners and other working class men, inserting employment statistics, letters and other primary sources to illustrate his points.
Second half is his ramblings on ideology and politics, talking about how he is a socialist but struggles to leave his biases and opinions on the proletariat behind.
He is dubious about the concept of progress, however, from a mechanical and automated perspective. He wonders what people will do when machinery nullifies the need for many jobs, with humans resorting to a purely basic form, as the only absolute necessities are eating, drinking, breathing, sleeping and procreating.
He struggles to draw a line between work and play, making analogies of a pianist considering farming a pastime and playing the piano as a job, while a farmer would be the opposite.
He talks about how western men continue to innovate to make things easier for themselves as they always have done, making a socialist argument for innovation, claiming that big companies end up stifling competition and therefore innovation in a capitalist society.
The book is almost funny at times, as I struggled not to laugh at Orwell’s honest descriptions on the working class and how they often disgust him, despite his unwavering commitment to abolish the class system. I think he summarises this notion perfectly when he says that he will take up arms to fight alongside the working class for economic goals as he did in catalonia, but that socially he cannot bring himself to fully identify himself among them.
He interestingly notes that socialism has been decreasing in popularity in the last 10 years since he wrote this book. He also argues that socialism is necessary to fight and stop the spread of fascism in europe.
The middle section consists of a relatively precise description of the life of the miners and other working class men, inserting employment statistics, letters and other primary sources to illustrate his points.
Second half is his ramblings on ideology and politics, talking about how he is a socialist but struggles to leave his biases and opinions on the proletariat behind.
He is dubious about the concept of progress, however, from a mechanical and automated perspective. He wonders what people will do when machinery nullifies the need for many jobs, with humans resorting to a purely basic form, as the only absolute necessities are eating, drinking, breathing, sleeping and procreating.
He struggles to draw a line between work and play, making analogies of a pianist considering farming a pastime and playing the piano as a job, while a farmer would be the opposite.
He talks about how western men continue to innovate to make things easier for themselves as they always have done, making a socialist argument for innovation, claiming that big companies end up stifling competition and therefore innovation in a capitalist society.
The book is almost funny at times, as I struggled not to laugh at Orwell’s honest descriptions on the working class and how they often disgust him, despite his unwavering commitment to abolish the class system. I think he summarises this notion perfectly when he says that he will take up arms to fight alongside the working class for economic goals as he did in catalonia, but that socially he cannot bring himself to fully identify himself among them.
He interestingly notes that socialism has been decreasing in popularity in the last 10 years since he wrote this book. He also argues that socialism is necessary to fight and stop the spread of fascism in europe.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
A bleak, kind of depressing look into the daily lives and society of working class society in Northern England in the mid 1930s. Life of the working class has been affected by multiple factors such as the continuous increase in industrialism, even still the effects of WW1 of some of the population and the impending danger of WW2. Even though mid to late 1930s for the working class is a bleak and uncertain time, there are many new political ideas and societal changes such as the conflicts between Socialism and Conservatism, with Conservatism still being the majority of the population's political stance no matter the person's class. Orwell's purpose to write this is not only to bring to light the poor living conditions of the majority of the working class (even though it is highlighted by various media to be a time of prosperity and revival) but to also highlight every person's importance and contribution to building the new Britain. Written in 1936, it was also purposefully done to bring to the surface an important message (which some people didn't even acknowledge), that the working classes are also people just like everyone else and may even be better than the higher or middle classes, due to being faced with the harshness of life and recognizing what's truly important in life: the power of family and the community. The second part of the book covers the political spheres of Britain during this time, covering both the negatives of Socialism and Conservatism, with Orwell making it clear that he doesn't defend or stand against any political ideology but highlighting how different individuals behave contrary to their own political ideas and ways to behave in society. For readers in the 1930s, Orwell immensely brought to the surfaces the truths of the political and class injustices that many believed, not just the working class but also those of the higher classes like Orwell himself as he recognized the injustices of British imperalism in Burma (where he grew up and lived in his earlier years). His writing of course flows eloquently, which made everything flow very fluently. For me most of this is not new information, but it is important to ascertain that this book for a 1930s readers as well as young people today (that are getting into learning about history and politics at the time), is a very useful resource for learning and/or getting a deeper insider's perspectives on the lives of the working class and the political sphere of the Britain in the 1930s.
I may will like it much more if I read the English edition instead of the appalling Indonesian translation published by Meta Book. So many grammar errors and typo, and the translation feels "stiff" and rough. I have only read 3 chapters and will definitely continue once I get the English edition.
If I were a miner faced by posh boy Orwell coming into my house and then writing about me and my family as if we were animals to be pitied for we knew no better and were poorly treated by our betters, I might have punched him.
Who knows.
This book is oft-cited as a grounding in socialist principles, and it is that. But it’s also written in a really irritating style by Orwell who is trying hard to bring people of his class on board, and acknowledge the differences between the middle and lower classes, but I’m not sure that normalising a shuddering distaste for the lower classes is A Good Look. It’s a good grounding in why the poor remain poor and how the system is designed so that they remain so, some good All Landlords Are Bastards content, but I struggled with the
lumping together of ‘lower classes’ and speaking of them as if they’re a herd of cattle and the superior tone taken by the author.
One of the strongest sections for me is the start, where Orwell documents exactly what being a miner is like. The actual nature of the job, and some interesting insights I just didn’t have before of the physicality of the work. Obviously I knew it was tough, dangerous work but didn’t realise just how far from the shaft the coalface could be, the truly cramped conditions and that they were expected to walk the whole way rather than using a carriage or something? And the documentation of the living conditions is fascinating but a bit like he’s documenting how some rare birds live on a cliff face. And the furthest north he makes it is Yorkshire.
Who knows.
This book is oft-cited as a grounding in socialist principles, and it is that. But it’s also written in a really irritating style by Orwell who is trying hard to bring people of his class on board, and acknowledge the differences between the middle and lower classes, but I’m not sure that normalising a shuddering distaste for the lower classes is A Good Look. It’s a good grounding in why the poor remain poor and how the system is designed so that they remain so, some good All Landlords Are Bastards content, but I struggled with the
lumping together of ‘lower classes’ and speaking of them as if they’re a herd of cattle and the superior tone taken by the author.
One of the strongest sections for me is the start, where Orwell documents exactly what being a miner is like. The actual nature of the job, and some interesting insights I just didn’t have before of the physicality of the work. Obviously I knew it was tough, dangerous work but didn’t realise just how far from the shaft the coalface could be, the truly cramped conditions and that they were expected to walk the whole way rather than using a carriage or something? And the documentation of the living conditions is fascinating but a bit like he’s documenting how some rare birds live on a cliff face. And the furthest north he makes it is Yorkshire.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Knocked a star off bc the idea of Orwell cosplaying as a tramp and literally begging on the street for authenticity’s sake left a bad taste in my mouth, but overall I enjoyed it. Very compassionate, self reflexive and quite funny at times, good commentary on British class divisions that remains relevant today.