Keep the Aspidistra Flying
A struggling writer declares war on money and respectability, in Orwell's mordant comedy of ambition and compromise.
Gordon Comstock, a talented but self-pitying poet, quits a comfortable advertising job to wage private war on the money-worship he sees everywhere, symbolized by the humble aspidistra plant on every respectable windowsill. His descent into poverty is both principled and absurd. Orwell’s comic, sharp-edged novel tests the romance of the starving artist against the ordinary human wish for security and love.
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