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kristiealexis 's review for:

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
4.0
challenging informative reflective slow-paced
It was evident in some ways that Orwell wasn't truly "down and out" —if you read a bit about his life, you'll find that he had an aunt who occasionally gave him money in Paris and that he initially went to stay with family in England and, while those events were absent from the book, you could feel their edges in how he spoke about his experiences. His famous quote about how being truly down and out "takes off a lot of anxiety" didn't quite ring true because he wouldn't have had the true anxiety that comes with having no options. Even when he used the word "we", it seemed like he was writing about everything from a distance. I'd also be remiss to not make a note of his prejudices: while he was forward-thinking in regards to social policy, he was certainly a "product of his time" as they say.

That said, he was a sharp man and was able to turn his experiences into salient points, such as:

  …a plongeur is one of the slaves of the modern world. …he is better off than many manual workers, but still, he is no freer than if he were bought and sold. His work is servile and without-art; he is paid just enough to keep him alive; his only holiday is the sack. … Except by a lucky chance, he has no escape from this life, save into prison. At this moment there are men with university degrees scrubbing dishes in Paris for ten or fifteen hours a day. One cannot say that it is mere idleness on their part, for an idle man cannot be a plongeur; they have simply been trapped by a routine which makes thought impossible. If plongeurs thought at all, they would long ago have formed a union and gone on strike for better treatment. But they do not think, because they have no leisure for it; their life has made slaves of them. (118) 

 In practice nobody cares whether work is useful or useless, productive or parasitic; the sole thing demanded is that it shall be profitable. … Money has become the grand test of virtue. By this test beggars fail, and for this they are despised. …he has merely made the mistake of choosing a trade at which it is impossible to grow rich. (174) 

He also managed to accurately describe working in a 21st century restaurant almost to a T. They're usually cleaner now, but the culture and the hustle (and some of the mess) is still pretty on-point.
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