The Comstock Conundrum
Gordon Comstock is the last hope of his once prosperous, middle-class family. After failing in their own endeavours, the remaining relatives invest the cash they have left in his education, anticipating this will lead to a 'good job', marriage and a Comstock renaissance. Unfortunately, the family's lack of fortune and status teach him to despise them and all they stand for; the pursuit of wealth, conformity and respectability. Bored with his dull but steady advertising job, he casts it aside in favour of working part-time in a bookshop and writing poetry. As his girlfriend Rosemary, sister Julia and friend Ravelston look on with dismay, he sinks into poverty, stubbornly refusing to see beyond his prejudices and consider there could be another way.
Nineteen Eighty-Foreshadowing
The first thing that struck me about this book was how much it worked as a companion piece to Orwell's most famous work, 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'. Structurally, it begins with a description of the protagonist's day - in fact it starts with a clock striking! - just like the later novel, followed by a potted family history and illicit sex in the countryside. A nerdy observation perhaps, but it will be interesting to see if there are similar parallels when I read other Orwell stories. Perhaps Gordon is an ancestor of Winston Smith?
Introducing Gordon Comstock
Gordon Comstock is a --------. A snob, stubborn, unpleasant and selfish, he's unsympathetic to those for whom poverty is not a choice, melodramatic, narrow-minded and, quite frankly, a pain. If you met him in real life, he'd either drive you to drink or violence. You'd certainly try to avoid him in future. Consequently, I'm a bit surprised that at no point did I want to ditch the book and spend my time with someone more appealing! To the end, I wasn't sure where Orwell was going with his character and story - the author himself thought of the book as an exercise rather than something publishable - nor what I hoped would happen, which I suppose was what made it a page-turner.
Great Expectations
While Gordon is a big part of the problem, the pressure from his family doesn't help. Society dictates what should happen - the boy must make good - and they stubbornly ignore other opportunities, such as investing in Julia, who had potential in hospitality. The conflict between expectations and Gordon's creative impulses drive him to extremes, but he is ultimately his own worst enemy. When he does have money, he prioritises middle-class largesse over everyday practicalities, and time freed up by a cancelled party is spent seething about being rejected rather than getting down to the business of writing. I spent much of the book wanting to shake him by the shoulders, something which the other characters were too polite to do, so had to watch as he sank deeper into a crisis of his own making.
London Poverty
Orwell is famous for his journalism and non-fiction writing on politics and poverty in the 1930s. His knowledge and experience feed into the vivid and tactile descriptions used in 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying'. The bone-chilling cold, the ingrained grime, the lack of access to things we're now fortunate enough to take for granted; education, culture, healthcare, food. The sense of place is both heart-breaking and captivating.
Overall
When trying to categorise 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying', I feel it lies somewhere between social commentary and coming of age story. I found it absorbing, educational, and thought-provoking, features that I enjoy in any book I read. Gordon is a victim of circumstances beyond his control, but also stubbornly unwilling (or too socially indoctrinated) to use the privilege and opportunities he does have to stray from the norm and create something new and better. Simultaneously, he is both the problem and the solution, which makes him interesting as well as infuriating. The ending feels a bit of a cop out and I got the sense that he would be driving everyone nuts again in a few year's time, but there were only really two places that the plot could ultimately go, and the alternative would have been beyond depressing. On the whole, if you can bear to put up with Gordon, I think he's worth spending time with, although I can't promise you won't want to punch him.
Now, what next...?
'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' by George Orwell was originally published in 1936. This post is based on the Penguin Modern Classics paperback edition published in 2000.
