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<![CDATA[Jessica added 'Down and Out in Paris and London']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59650470
to: Down and Out in Paris and London (Paperback)byGeorge Orwell bookshelves: classics,
travel
I have had this book on my shelf since the end of high school. It was, throughout college, one of those "Oh, right, that other Orwell book, I should read that . . ." but was largely forgotten during my fast living 20's.
I finally picked it up because Anthony Bourdain made a reference to it in one of his books. I was on a jag of reading foodie and travel non-fiction so I decided it was time to finally give this a go.
I was not prepared for this book. I was not prepared to be disgusted by what I had suspected about working in kitchens (okay, so in the 70+ years since the publication of this book things must have gotten a little more sanitary, right?) and I was not prepared to suddenly be so perversely nostalgic for my subsistence living of a few short years ago.
I was blown away.
Orwell's sort-of fictional, but not really, story follows the narrator from a bohemian life, on the fringe of the gutter, in Paris to completely destitute living in London. Chasing the next paycheck, then the next meal, then the next bed we are led through living conditions no one wants to believe have ever, or possible continue to exist. But despite being a knife's edge away from complete and irrevocable poverty, the narrator, and we his audience, are kept from true despair. Especially because of the wonderfully drawn characters - Boris and Charlie in Paris and the tramps Bozo and Paddy in London. Their stories and voices are the diamonds in the rough of this wonderful little novel/memoir.
There is also an underlying tone of social criticism, especially in his descriptions of life as a plongeur and his experience with various charity organizations in London. These caste systems evolved not to help those at the bottom of the social/economic ladder, but rather to keep them there and perpetuate the status quo. Someone like the narrator, or even me, someone who has chosen to avoid a traditional career path and has had to sometimes live on the margin and hand-to-mouth, still has by virtue of education or birth or whatever a choice to move up, to get out. Orwell makes it very clear that at a certain point and for certain people there is no choice - they are stuck. It is a subtle critique, and he offers no preaching or easy answers, merely sympathy and a window into a way of life too many would sooner forget goes on.
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<![CDATA[Jessica added 'A Year in Provence']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60535757
to: A Year in Provence (Paperback)byPeter Mayle bookshelves: non-fiction,
travel
I would really give this 3.5 stars.
I do not believe that the author intended to write a book with a plot. Nor do I believe that he intended to provoke our sympathies by simply recounting the various day to day activities of renovation of the house and exploration of the country. There was no underlying tone of "feel sorry for us". I did, however, find myself thinking, may I be so lucky as to have the problems faced by this obviously wealthy couple.