A night of Orwell without Big Brother

No “1984” and no “Animal Farm” but we still had an engaging discussion, online, on Tuesday April 21st when we considered “Keep the Aspidistra Flying” and “Homage to Catalonia” by George Orwell. More members were convinced of the classic status of “Homage to Catalonia” than “Keep the Aspiditra Flying”, but a divergence of opinions is what makes the meetings enjoyable. Among the topics we considered were:

Keep the Aspidistra Flying: Question 1

1. Is the character of Gordon Comstock believable? Or is he an excuse for Orwell’s views on money and success?
2. Is Philip Ravelston also partly a portrait of Orwell?
3. What’s the deal with the threepenny bit? [see below for answer]
4. Keep the Aspidistra Flying has been described as “a savagely satirical portrait of the literary life.“ Do you agree?
5. Is Gordon Comstock something of a predecessor of the Angry Young Men of the 1950s?
6. Is Gordon Comstock principled or stubborn?
7. Why did Orwell refuse to republish Aspidistra in his lifetime?

Homage to Catalonia

1. George Orwell’s Spanish civil war memoir is a classic, but is it bad history?
2. What did Orwell think he was going to achieve by going to Spain?
3. What was Orwell’s opinion of his opponents on the left and the right? Did he see them both as enemies?
4. What do you think of Orwell’s descriptions of life on the front line?
5. If you didn’t already know, would you realise both books were written by the same person?
6. Why is Keep The Aspidistra Flying not a satisfying or successful book when Homage to Catalonia is?

As always, you can add your own thoughts in the comments section below.

The yellow threepenny bit only existed as legal tender for fewer than 40 years. It gradually replaced the old silver threepence, the despised ‘Joey’ which features so much in George Orwell’s long, heartfelt complaint about the hell of middle class poverty,  ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying’. The ‘Joey’ was  a silver disc so small and thin that ( a bit like the modern, miserable 5p or the American dime) would stick to your fingertip and was worth so little that it was almost embarrassing to spend it, an admission that you were down to your last few pence.