Down and Out in Paris and London (Published in 1933) - Authored by George Orwell

Published in 1933, Down and Out in Paris and London is author George Orwell’s first full length work. A 2 part memoir on the after effects of financial crisis the world over, especially after the Wall Street crash of 1929, this book is very different from most in its genre. The reason being that Orwell did not spout about the hardships of poverty and financial difficulties from the sidelines; but was very much living the nightmare - first in Paris, as a teacher, and then in London, where he recorded his travels.
The first half of the book deals with Orwell’s experiences in Paris, especially when he finds that he has only 450 francs on him. After putting a down payment of 200 francs as rent, he tells himself that he will somehow manage on 250 francs till he finds a better job than his present work situation, which offered him only 36 francs a week for teaching students. However, disaster strikes in the life of Orwell, in the form of a robbery. His remaining measly 250 francs get stolen from his room, leaving him with 40 odd francs which he had on himself. To make matters worse his students quit, leaving him 36 francs a week short. He explains vividly how it felt to be poor and on the brink of starvation every day.
Orwell describes for the readers how there was an abundance of food everywhere, staring at him through windows, making him dream and plot of grabbing a hot loaf and running, maybe even putting some in his mouth before anyone could catch up to him. Poverty and hunger are almost always accompanied by idleness.




Orwell finally turned to a Russian friend by the name of Boris, for help. However Boris was in a far worse state than Orwell, surviving on 2 francs a day and sleeping on the floor. But, the two get together and start looking for jobs. They find some luck when they are both given jobs as “Plongeurs”, at Hotel X. Their job is basically to wash the dishes and help serve the patrons. Orwell describes with revolting clarity how the richer the patrons were, the more unhygienic and dirty their food would be. While everything looks clean on the outside, the kitchens and other areas which were not open to guests, remained filthy and pest ridden.
They barely scraped by on the money from Hotel X. Soon after, both Orwell and Boris went to work for a Russian hotel, which was even worse. From there, Orwell managed to score a job in London. However, he arrived in London only to find that his to be employer has changed his mind. Once again homeless and jobless, Orwell now provides detailed descriptions of what it means to be jobless in London.
London, where a jobless wanderer cannot even sit on the pavement to rest his heels for fear of being arrested, turned out to be much worse during unemployment and financial distress than Paris. Forced to wander the streets, Orwell provides a very constructive view of the homeless people in London, known as “Tramps”. He believes they should be given small plots of land to farm and grow their own food. He does not think them to be lazy but those who are stuck in unforgiving circumstances.
While all the events that occurred in the book are stated to be true at some point or the other, Orwell has definitely taken some creative liberty in the arrangement of the events. Though entirely factual, the sequence of events and their narration for a more dramatic effect does make the book part fiction. But, overall the book is an authentic read on poverty and hunger during the world’s financial crisis, especially since it is not a third persons point of view but written by someone who was surrounded by these challenges himself.
Except for a bit of racial slurring, particularly where he describes people, the book is a must read. But then again, Orwell has compiled his memoirs at a time when racial slurring was not looked down upon with the same hatred as it is today. A must read for anyone who wishes to understand what a majority of the world’s population went through after the Wall Street crash of 1929.

Burmese Days (Published in 1934) - A book by George Orwell

A fictional novel based on the Imperial rule of Burma in the 1920’s, Burmese Days is yet another fine piece of work by author George Orwell. Having lived in Burma from 1922 to 1927, Orwell has created a fictional story based on his adventures, exploits and experiences of Burma under the British rule. This book took particularly long to get published. First on account of the many years it took Orwell to write it, and then on account of the fact that publishers, including Orwell’s usual publisher, shied away from publishing something which could be termed as libel. Eventually the book was published not in London or any part of Europe, but rather in the U.S in 1934.
The book was termed as inaccurate on many accounts especially by the Burmese people, who felt that Orwell’s account let their people down. Orwell had replied to this general outrage and feeling, by saying that it may have been harsh ad unfair, but most of it is him reporting things through the means of fictional characters, just the way he saw it.
The story begins with 3 central characters, a local corrupt Burmese magistrate by the name of U Po Kyin, who has been scheming for a place in the prestigious British club. However he knows that as long as Dr. Veraswami, a man of great reputation, stood in his way, he did not stand a chance. To make mattes more difficult, Dr. Veraswami is shown to be good friends with a pukka sahib, John Flory. And as long as the good doctor remains friends with this European man, U Po Kyin cannot be a member of the club.




He schemes to malign the name of the doctor, and even attempts to send a letter to John Flory subtly threatening him. He spreads rumors about how the doctor holds strong “anti-British” feelings and is disloyal to the British rulers. Meanwhile, John Flory’s story unfolds. He feels lost and alienated because of the many years he has spent in Burma. He feels the British are not there to be good administrators but to plunder and seek out their own vested interests. When he voices his concerns to Dr. Veraswami, the doctor is concerned and tries to steer him away from these negative thoughts.
Flory has also kept a Burmese mistress. However, his preconceived racial notions make him feel that it would be best to have a British wife. His dreams seem to be coming true when Elizabeth Lackersteen, the orphaned niece of a local timber firm manager arrives. He rescues her from a supposed attack of a water buffalo and the two of them instantaneously get along. They bond over the next few days and even go out shooting together, where he shoots a leopard and promises to give her the skin as a gift.
However, Flory does not know all that much about Elizabeth and how she secretly hates the foreign country and all its locals. She chooses to hide these facts from Flory when he is about to propose. However, the proposal gets cut short when Elizabeth’s aunt learns that a certain military police lieutenant by the name of Verall arrives. Her aunt feels that Verall would prove to be a better match for Elizabeth and throws a deliberate wrench in the “love” of Elizabeth and Flory by telling Elizabeth of Flory’s Burmese mistress.
Flory tries everything to get her back but to no avail. In the meantime some incidents spark up a riot in the small town. The anti-British riot is only gotten under control because of the work done by Dr. Veraswami and Flory. As a result Dr. Veraswami is given a seat in the prestigious club. Verall leaves unexpectedly and without informing anyone, leaving Elizabeth heartbroken. Seeing this as an opportunity, Flory swoops in and proposes to Elizabeth. She is thrilled and agrees to marry him.
However, U Po Kyin who had been seeking an opportunity to destroy Dr. Veraswami finds his chance at the wedding of Elizabeth and Flory. He sends Flory’s old mistress to create a scene at the wedding, which results in Elizabeth storming away and telling Flory she wants nothing to do with him. Heartbroken and miserable, Flory kills himself and his dog. Soon after, Dr. Veraswami is also released from his post in the British club, which he relinquishes to Kyin. But before Kyin plans on how he will atone for his sins now that he has been given this position of power, he dies of apoplexy. An interesting read which has a strong basis in reality. Many of the characters described in the book are said to be true. Orwell uses his experiences in Burma in the 1920’s, to create a story about the colonial life in a way which is as realistic and unsparing in its view of people, cultures and races. The book is a fine example of social metaphysics, which explains that what other people think will contribute and create reality.

Twelve Days of Terror: Shark Attacks in 1916 - Terror on the beach and in a creek

Shark attacks are one of the most scary horrors that people think of when they think of going into the water. The prospect of a perfect and unfeeling predator swimming silently to a person in the water, and biting large chunks of flesh, causing a death by horrific blood loss is bound to scare even the most courageous of people. The rattling off statistics that the number of deaths caused by shark attacks is mostly in the single digits worldwide and hence very unlikely to happen does not reduce the scare. Even now, the prospect of a shark in the waters can bring all the swimmers out of the water; although studies which show that sharks and people swimming side by side in the waters off Sydney show that sharks just don't attack people; there are some reasons why an attack would have happened.
But why this fear of sharks ? Why this unsettling feeling when there is even some news of a shark in the water ? A lot of people based it on a very popular movie called 'Jaws' (released in 1975, and based on a novel by Peter Benchley, published in 1974), which showed a small beach town terrorized by a great white shark and how people died in these attacks. The prospect of such a common pastime, going to the beach and swimming in the water, suddenly becoming so dangerous, stayed in the minds of people and caused the movie to become a major event (and a marked negative influence for the health of the many species of sharks). But the novel was not just fiction. It was based on attacks that took place in 1916, during the First World War, in the waters off New Jersey, where a great white shark not only killed people in the water off the coast, but even came inland in a creek and killed more people (for a total of 4 dead and one badly injured). These incidents have all been forgotten, if not for this book, whose author Richard Fernicola did extensive research on these attacks and describes these events in terrifying details.

Book: Twelve Days of Terror	Movie: 12 Days of Terror	Movie: Jaws

Doing research on these attacks was not easy. The attacks happened nearly a century back and recollection of these events was not easy. Further, the First World War was happening in that timeframe, which made research so much time later even more difficult, The book does not only describe the events which happened, but also provides a lot of information about sharks and why the attacks could have taken place. And how did the author get interested in this story ? He heard a conversation about these attacks, which caused him to get interested, and led to a lot of research and finally the emergence of this book.
The book also provides information about the nature of the attacks and describes the wounds caused on the dead and the survivor; something that most modern day attacks do not actually describe. What is most interesting is the research about why the attacks could have taken place, and if you see modern documentaries that research shark attacks, in a lot of cases, there are conclusions that it was some activity of man (or in some cases, natural causes) that in turn change the behavior of the shark and could cause these attacks.