I first came across George Orwell in school and have read 1984 and Animal Farm and some of his essays. I recently picked up and read his mainly factual account of poverty first in Paris then in London, which first appeared in 1933 and was Orwell's first full length work. I love his lean style. He's very journalistic. The book has the distinction of having been rejected by T S Eliot.
While in Paris he is on the breadline working as a plongeur in hotels. In London he is a fully fledged tramp for 30 days. The two halves are not a neat join and the Paris section is probably more interesting. Apparently the supposed order of events is fictional.
The book reminded me a little of W H Davies' Autobiography of a Supertramp but when I checked that came out some 15 years before. Davies did review it favourably. Orwell mentions Jack London in the book and was apparently an admirer of hiss People of the Abyss about life in London's east end, which came out in 1903.
The book is interesting for opening the door on other worlds and the many anecdotes it contains. The thought that some people are wholly occupied simply with feeding themselves, working and sleeping is sobering. Perhaps some of us have too much time on our hands.
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