Scan barcode
A review by deardostoevsky
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
5.0
Vicisti, O Aspidistra!
Read it a few years back yet it feels as fresh as yesterday. One of the most underrated books for me. Or maybe so because I could relate with the protagonist at a very personal level. He dwindles between living off as a poor man but in pursue of his artistic calibre or to give up the dreams of the artist while sustaining a socially approved life. It is a satire on the money driven society which has forgotten to live.
It's not life, it's stagnation death-in-life. Look at all these bloody houses and the meaningless people inside them. Sometimes I think we're all corpses. Just rotting upright.
The metaphor of 'Aspidistra' to signify the commonness around was so beautiful. Throughout the story, the protagonist makes this plant, this Aspidistra, a symbol for his fight against the common life.
“My poems are dead because I'm dead. You're dead. We're all dead. Dead people in a dead world.”
He is bitter and troubled, and Orwell shines through this tale of broken dreams to achieve a broken life.
Yes, 1984 and Animal Farm are the obvious treasures, but if you relate with Orwell, this book is a gem as well, it is very different and unique, portraying Orwell in a very different light yet maintaining his criticism on the 'totalitarianism' aspect of money this time.
Read it a few years back yet it feels as fresh as yesterday. One of the most underrated books for me. Or maybe so because I could relate with the protagonist at a very personal level. He dwindles between living off as a poor man but in pursue of his artistic calibre or to give up the dreams of the artist while sustaining a socially approved life. It is a satire on the money driven society which has forgotten to live.
It's not life, it's stagnation death-in-life. Look at all these bloody houses and the meaningless people inside them. Sometimes I think we're all corpses. Just rotting upright.
The metaphor of 'Aspidistra' to signify the commonness around was so beautiful. Throughout the story, the protagonist makes this plant, this Aspidistra, a symbol for his fight against the common life.
“My poems are dead because I'm dead. You're dead. We're all dead. Dead people in a dead world.”
He is bitter and troubled, and Orwell shines through this tale of broken dreams to achieve a broken life.
Yes, 1984 and Animal Farm are the obvious treasures, but if you relate with Orwell, this book is a gem as well, it is very different and unique, portraying Orwell in a very different light yet maintaining his criticism on the 'totalitarianism' aspect of money this time.