If you're looking for a book that will grab your attention and take you on a thrill-ride, this is not the book for you.
Gordon Comstock is not the most endearing of characters, and becomes increasingly less so as the book progresses. He has waged his own personal war on money, and yet is completely consumed by money and the impossibility of going through life on 2 quid a week. Gordon refuses to get a "good" job and instead lives in near poverty attempting to "write," become a "real" writer. His idea of creative hell consists of a "good job" a villa and an aspidistra in the window. Orwell confronts the age-old argument of money v. creativity. Can one be a writer, in the true sense of the word, while living by the "money-code"?
The first chapter is a hilarious must-read for anyone who has worked in a library or book shop. Gordon embodies dark, brooding irony. While darkly humorous, shades of the gritty realities of living in London on 2 quid a week shine through.
Excellently written, excellently ironic, and ultimately an interesting tale about growing up and having to face the world as an adult.
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