George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London

A truly extraordinary book, in my opinion the greatest ever effort of a truly extraordinary writer.

Orwell manages to raise the very real issues of poverty and social class - and of society's pecking order - yet does it in a warm, funny and engaging way which feels as far away from a lecture as could be.

The issues are still relevant today.

Orwell speaks with authority on his subject, because he has truly lived it, and reveals incredibly insight after incredible insight on a poverty-stricken world many people will hope never to have to experience themselves.

The book is a blow to the senses - dispelling pre-conceived myths about the poor and needy and homeless, creating a situation where the reader feels suddenly emotionally involved with the characters in the book as well as the chracters in real life that they are based on.

Added to all this is a writing style that for me has never been bettered, and probably never will be.

Orwell was an absolute master of his craft, and this could well be his crowning glory.

Down and Out in Paris is a classic Orwell text and not to be overlooked in favour of the better known Orwell novels. It provides a brilliant political and social insight into the struggles of those at the bottom end of society in the two great cities of London and Paris during the social upheavals of the 1930s. It is also written with humour as Orwell goes 'undercover' visiting various flophouses and dingy apartments. Also contains the classic Orwell quote: "There is no greater snob than a waiter" based on his observations working in downmarket Parisian restaurants. Much favoured as a literary role model of the American beat writers of the sixties.

George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London (Essential.penguin S.): It was a while ago that I read it, but it is a very amusing description of living on no money in 1930 London and Paris, cockroaches and waiter's jobs. Not deeply meaningful, and only a day or two's reading, but very good.