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

"Good has but one style; evil a thousand."
§XIX, Ch. IV. p. 43.

Excellent

To sum up two hundred pages with this quote: “The mass of the rich and the poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit.”

He had a curious theory about this. Life on earth, he said, is harsh because the planet is poor in the necessities of existence.

It's utterly brilliant.

A man receiving charity always hates his benefactor, it is a fixed characteristic of human nature.

"Beggars vary greatly."

Excellent so far.

A very interesting insight into poverty in that period of time in Paris

A adorar demais.

"the power of swallowing quarts of wine, and then sweating it out before it can do much damage, is one of the compensations of their life."

"Poverty frees them from ordinary standards of behavior, just as money frees people from work.” Poor middle class, between work and behavior standards, went lost and corrupted.

75

A man with brains can't starve.

المرء الذي يتقبل الإحسان يكره المحسن عادةً وهي طبيعة ثابتة في الشخصية البشرية. وعندما يكون مع المرء مائةٌ يساندونه، يكشف هذه الطبيعة.

لقد حررهم البؤس كم المقاييس المألوفة للسلوك، تمامًا مثل ما يحرّر المال الناس من العمل.

An unexpected five stars for me. This novel was an eye opening recount of a young writer's poverty in Paris and London. I couldn't believe the hardship the homeless suffered during those times. Here in American, similar economic trouble plagued society during the Great Depression. What did I learn: I have new respect for having a job and a home, and I'm afraid to eat out.

Interesting, I wasn't expecting this.

Fantastic book so far

"The current London adjective, now tacked onto every noun, is 'fucking'. No doubt in time 'fucking' like 'bloody', will find its way into the drawing-room and be replaced by some other word."

Finished!

"Essentially, a 'smart' hotel is a place where a hundred people toil like devils in order that two hundred may pay through their nose for things they do not really want."

Absolutely loving this book.

Fun to read and very amusing.

"أمر مهلك أن تبدو جائعا. إنه يجعل الناس يركلونك"

"إنه لأمر ذو غرابة، ارتطامك الأول بالبؤس"

French destitution is much more fashionable (not really) than American destitution. At least it involves more wine.

George had left l'hôtel-X in pursuit of work in a new restaurant but the promises were empty and, after a fortnight of working 10-15hr 7 days a week, he wrote a friend in London who sent him a fiver and promised an easier gig as soon as he arrived. But the new job evaporated as quickly as the £5 and George was down and out yet again. But at least it was more familiar territory...

Chapter XX