George Orwell on his first night sleeping rough

Tony Pro

Tony Pro

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#1
I've been reading through Orwell's letters and this one about his first night (of many) sleeping in a field I found pretty charming. He was 17 at the time and a student at Eton, the most prestigious school in England. It foreshadows the rough life he was to lead in later years living homeless-by-choice in spite of his middle-class upbringing. He became disgusted with middle-class mores, and immersed himself among those dregs of society who had been left behind in Britain's imperialist expansion.
I think we can all relate to this experience.

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#2
Anyone who has not read Orwell's monumental Down and out in Paris and London needs to right now; the You Can't Win of France/Britain, with less crime, but the same old-time bum vibe.

The first half is about being a kitchen peon in Paris, the second half about being homeless in London.

One of the best books you will ever read.
 
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#4
Awwwww! Poor guy only got about 5 hours sleep and had to walk 4 miles!

I'm not flexing muscle, but really, he could have had it much worse. It's a great read, and I've enjoyed a few of his books (not Down and Out, but I plan to) but that's a pretty easy first experience on the road. I'm glad he saw it as an adventure, at least.
 
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#6
So gooood. Reading Orwell, London, and Kerouac when I was a kid was probably the the most influential in my desire to travel.

For anyone who has spent time in kitchens Down and Out is a poignant recap of kitchen life.
He talks about how good it smells when you final get off and out and breathe that smell of petrol and life.
and how it never occurs to you that somebody is actually going to eat what you are making. Youre just making it to specifications of how it should look. Such a great book!
 
#8
Kind of inspiring that he went from a 17 year old kid at a prestigious school proud of sleeping 5 hours and walking 4 miles (but would not repeat it), to somebody getting into the shit of the Spanish Civil War.
 
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