“According to Boris the same kind of thing went on in all Paris hotels, or at least in all the big, expensive ones. But I imagine that the customers in Hôtel X were especially easy to swindle for they were mostly Americans, with a sprinkling of English-no French- and seemed to know nothing whatever aboutContinue reading “RKS Literature: Easily Swindled Americans at Hotel X in Paris (George Orwell)”
Tag Archives: George Orwell
RKS Literature: The Outlook of a Waiter (George Orwell)
“The waiter’s outlook is quite different. He too is proud in a way of his skill, but his skill is chiefly in being servile. His work gives him the mentality, not of a workman, but of a snob. He lives perpetually in sight of rich people, stands at their tables, listens to their conversation, sucksContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Outlook of a Waiter (George Orwell)”
RKS Literature: The Importance of Timing for a Hotel Chef (George Orwell)
“Undoubtedly the most workmanlike class, and the least servile, are the cooks. They do not earn quite so much as waiters but their prestige is higher and their employment steadier. The cook does not look upon himself as a servant; he is generally called ‘un ouvrier’ which a waiter never is. He knows his power-knowsContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Importance of Timing for a Hotel Chef (George Orwell)”
RKS Literature: “Down and Out in Paris and London” (George Orwell)
“Hotel work is not particularly hard, but by its nature it comes in rushes and cannot be economized. You cannot, for instance, grill a steak two hours before it is wanted; you have until the last moment, by which time a mass of other work has accumulated, and then do it all together, in franticContinue reading “RKS Literature: “Down and Out in Paris and London” (George Orwell)”
RKS Literature: The Russian Duke Military Scam (George Orwell)
“In general, the Russian refugees in Paris are hard working people, and have put up with their bad luck far better than one can imagine Englishmen of the same class doing. There are exceptions of course. Boris told me of an exiled Russian duke whom he had once met, who frequented expensive restaurants. The dukeContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Russian Duke Military Scam (George Orwell)”
RKS Literature: The Almost Pleasure of Being Down and Out (George Orwell)
“And there is another feeling that is a great consolation in poverty. I believe everyone who has been hard up has experienced it. It is a feeling of relief, almost of pleasure, as knowing yourself at last genuinely down and out. You have talked so often of going to the dogs-and well here are theContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Almost Pleasure of Being Down and Out (George Orwell)”
RKS Literature: In Poverty You Discover Boredom (George Orwell)
“You discover the boredom which is inseparable from poverty; the times when you have nothing to do and, being underfed, can interest yourself in nothing. For half a day at a time you lie on your bed, feeling like a jeune squelette in Beaudelaire’s poem. Only food could rouse you. You discover that a manContinue reading “RKS Literature: In Poverty You Discover Boredom (George Orwell)”
RKS Literature: In Poverty You Discover Hunger (George Orwell)
You discover what it is like to be hungry. With bread and margarine in your belly, you go out and look into the shop windows. Everywhere there is food insulting you in huge, wasteful piles; whole dead pigs, baskets of hot loaves, great yellow blocks of butter, strings of sausages, mountains of potatoes, vast GruyèreContinue reading “RKS Literature: In Poverty You Discover Hunger (George Orwell)”
RKS Literature: Soaking up Cheap Wine in the Slums of Paris (George Orwell)
“There was R., an Englishman who lived six months of the year in Putney with his parents and six months in France. During his time in France he drank four litres of wine a day, and six litres on Saturday; he once had travelled to the Azores, because the wine there is cheaper than anywhereContinue reading “RKS Literature: Soaking up Cheap Wine in the Slums of Paris (George Orwell)”
RKS Literature: Buying Pornographic Postcards in Paris? (George Orwell)
“There were the Rougiers, for instance, an old ragged, dwarfish couple who plied an extraordinary trade. They used to sell postcards on the Boulevard St. Michel. The curious thing is that the postcards were sold in sealed packets as pornographic ones, but were actually photographs of châteaux on the Loire; the buyers did not discoverContinue reading “RKS Literature: Buying Pornographic Postcards in Paris? (George Orwell)”
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