Play Book Tag discussion

In this mostly nonfiction memoir George Orwell recounts his years living in complete poverty in both Paris and London. In Paris he worked as a plongeur, a hotel dishwasher with other menial duties, who is definitely the bottom of the working class. Most days he worked from 15-18 hours in filthy conditions. I seriously wonder, after reading the way food and dinnerware were handled, that customers did not outright die at their tables. The money he earned was enough to pay rent in ramshackle boarding houses and buy some tobacco which seemed as much a necessity as food. When Orwell returned to London he joined the ranks of destitute tramps who constantly wandered the country in search of a bed and food. Legally banned from staying more than one night per month in any shelter the tramps were forced to travel constantly. Orwell posits a few solutions to the problem, one of them being that the shelters should become self-sustaining farms in order to grow their own food, allow the men to work and even stay as long as they needed. Although this is definitely not a pleasant read, it is interesting and thought-provoking.