John Bills reads books VII: Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Great book, fully believable characters. A lot of the book is general Orwell fare, apathy to society, a disdain for humanity whilst truly desiring to be a passive part of it, muted resistance to the norms of the world. There is nothing particularly outstanding about this book, nothing that would recommend it above other Orwell books like '1984' or even 'Burmese Days', but even so, its a great little read. By no means long, the characters develop sufficiently to keep you interested. Rosemary's affection and love for Gordon, even in the face of humiliation, does fill you with a sense of hope in the idea of love. This has done no good for my attempts to live in the real world and not in the wonderland of fiction, but still, it don't 'arf put a nice feeling in your tummy.

The most worrying part of this book for me however, was the lines I could draw between Gordon and myself. This was particularly true of the chapter where he receives money and proceeds to blow it all in one foul swoop on alcohol and pointless fun, before waking and wanting the world not so much to swallow him, more to allow him to sink to a position so low that his actions would become meaningless and there would be no place for him to be 'burdened' by expectation. Oh so many times over my last 6 months in Liverpool did this scenario seem ideal, a night of drinking and doing very silly things before waking up and just wanting to slink off into the undergrowth. It isn't healthy, not in the slightest.

This book is strange for Orwell however, in that it has something resembling a happy ending. I don't mean to spoil the book, but I will, so here we are. At the end, Gordon receives news that presents him with 2 choices. Either avoid it and continue his miserable existence, or embrace it and force himself back into society, and for want of a better term, grow up. He chooses the growing up option, and the reader feels genuinely happy for him, and even relieved. It made me want the safety of marriage, family and a normal steady job. Time to grow up indeed.

I don't enjoy writing these book reviews, if you could even call them that. I just don't know what to do with them, do I tell you everything that happens in the book, or just a synopsis? Does anyone actually read this? You poor thing!

'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' is a good book. End.