Scan barcode
sjw_creates's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
paulataua's review against another edition
3.0
I really don't know what to think about this book. In trying to get over 'the Road to Wigan Pier' image of the working class, it puts together several essays by articulate intellectuals with 'working class' roots who are now making their livings as writers or in education or media, and who still consider themselves as working class. I guess it wants to change people's view about what it means to be working class, and there is a sense in which that is admirable, but it might have been more forceful had it looked at the people who have not 'escaped' through education, but the vast number of ordinary working people who remain in the blue collar belt but in no way resemble the characters Orwell describes in 'The Road to Wigan Pier'. I have working class roots and was a first generation university goer, and my experience of the working people i grew up with was one of people with wit, and art, and practical wisdom, and an intelligence that transcended the education that never captured it. Maybe that is one project Nathan Connolly might look to undertake in the future.
courtneysthoughts's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
hey_laura_mc's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this. The stuff on the North and accents was particularly interesting, but it also made me consider views and angles I’d never thought of before (e.g. the girl who grew up with two mums in the era of Section 28). I’m off to Google them all now - I definitely want to hear more of these marginalised working-class voices. Mission accomplished, lads!
tachelrhomson's review against another edition
4.0
Like all essay books, some essays were better/more appealing to me than others. And some made me cry! Overall I really liked this book and would recommend to any other working class person. I really appreciated how well the book conveyed the diversity of the working class.
nagornaya's review against another edition
4.0
Recommended reading for anyone wanting to understand what it means to be working class in the UK today. Such a wide variety of essays included here, and not a bad one in the bunch.
I took my time over this one, reading a couple of essays each week. There are so many interesting voices in this collection that it seemed a shame to sit down and try and listen to them all at once.
I took my time over this one, reading a couple of essays each week. There are so many interesting voices in this collection that it seemed a shame to sit down and try and listen to them all at once.