Status Updates From Down and Out in Paris and L...

Čas čitam, čas ne čitam ovo... :S

I read very little but studied a lot in these past few months.

That’s twice now I have skipped a chapter in an Orwell book because IT IS THAT BORING! The only reason I haven’t stopped is so I can say I read it and can be one step closer to finishing my 2020 Reading Challenge! But I can say for sure that I’ll never read a a George Orwell book again!

Am I the only one finding Orwell’s writing too cold, too cynical and too pompous to connect with?

You know when you’re bored of a book but you keep going just to see how much you dislike the writer’s style or even in the high hope that it might get a little better or just more exciting? Yeah this is that very book for me!

It is curious how people take it for granted that they have a right to preach at you and pray over you as soon as your income falls below a certain level.

“We know that poverty is unpleasant; in fact, since it is so remote, we rather enjoy harrowing ourselves with the thought of its unpleasantness. But don’t expect us to do anything about it. We are sorry for you lower classes, just as we are sorry for a cat with the mange, but we will fight like devils against any improvement of your condition.”

‘When one comes to think of it, it is strange that thousands of people in a great modern city should spend their waking hours swabbing dishes in hot dens underground.’

Shocking to hear how women are treated...

I find this book has gotten horribly boring after leaving Paris for London. I think this is where I step off the train.

"إن جرب امرؤ الحب الحقيقي.. فهل سيبقى في العالم غير ما يبدو محض شبح المبهجة؟" ص11
التهمت 66 صفحة في جلسة واحدة هذا دليل تصاعد الأحداث وإبداع المؤلف الذي شهادتي فيه مجروحة من قبل! أعتقد أنها ستعجبني في النهاية..

I just cant like Orwell 🤦🏻‍♀️

Themes and annual coverage aims:
Fiction - life and living, Politics, Life changes

Commentary and quotes:
“...what torture unemployment must be to him. People are wrong when they think that an unemployed man only worries about losing his wages...an illiterate man, with the work habit in his bones needs work even more than he needs money - an educated man can put up with the enforced idleness... no means of filling up time ...faces poverty with a blank resourceless mind...”

Planned reading format and settings:
Format: Audible 1.5x speed
Settings: Early mornings, late nights, around work and normal life

Reason for choice:
Type: Audible - long ago purchase, finally finding time for it!
Reason: Chain reading theme - natural follow on from a tale of chefs working in cities dealing with all types of people and lives

George Orwell, why did I only read your works this year?

Potatoes!

Goodness getting a bit anti-Semitic there George. 😬

نمی‌دونم بخندم از دستشون یا غصه بخورم!!

I've had this on my reading list for a long time, being a fan of Orwell. But I think I might give this a miss. There are some books you simply have to let go. After a grisly description of the rape of a young woman sold into prostitution while held captive in a woman's basement, and then the rampant and vicious antisemitism exhibited by the people around Orwell, my brain is tired and doesn't want to bother anymore.

Really preferred the part set in Paris to the chapters set in London..

‘Most of my Saturday nights went this way. On the whole, the two hours when one was perfectly and wildly happy seemed worth the subsequent headache. For many men in the quarter, unmarried and with no future to think of, the weekly drinking-bout was the one thing that made life worth living.’

Looks like some things haven’t changed for the working class between the 20th and 21st century...

Didn't read much this week. Very interesting hearing about London in this time!

Starting to get into reading this book a bit more.

Ugh

Orwell's log of the time he spent living in poverty , these first chapters are Paris chapters. He described vividly his way of life on the backstreets slums of Paris, and as usual in impoverised setting he met some very interesting characters. A generally fun read.

Getting a bit more into it but I'm still struggling a bit

Can't seem to focus reading this book but I am enjoying it so far. It's been a while since I've read something that written so long ago.