Down and Out in Paris and London

George Orwell (whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair btw, in case you didn't know, I found out only just now) seems to me one of those authors who is virtually synonymous with his best-selling novel, 1984 in this case. It has been a long time since I read that dystopian vision of his future (and our past I guess), but I had also admired Animal Farm when I read it as an adolescent. Additionally, Down and Out in Paris and London seemed to be a good precursor to my move to Paris, so...I picked it up on my dad's shelf.

Orwell describes his life as a menial worker in France and as a tramp in England (in the areas surrounding London). It does not seem to be quite certain, whether he inadvertently tumbled into such a dire financial state that he was forced to lead that kind of life, or whether he exposed himself voluntarily to it in order to obtain a glimpse to a world which would otherwise be closed for him. In either case, the novel (is it even a novel?) is written very prosaic, Orwell is not one to impress with convoluted phrases, thoughts or ideas, yet this seems to fit his subject matter more anyway. The book is a very good read, what is problematic is that it's a very journalistic work, one which doesn't necessarily contain a lot of lessons or information on today's world. It offers a snapshot of poverty in Paris and London in the 1920s. Nothing more but then of course nothing less.

Lost Highway

Leon Payne: Lost Highway

London, well, what can one say. A massive city, crazily impressive. It seems a little like an amazing mixture of New York, Paris and Berlin (the three coolest cities I know). It is as big and full (and racially diverse, which is always a plus with me) as New York. It is as pretty (in parts) and historical as Paris. And it actually has parks that are as big and nice (and prettier, because so much better kept) as Berlin.

Especially the historical part impressed me. The graves in Westminster simply left me awe-struck. So many people I actually know are buried there, usually in a place like this there is like one relevant person. In Westminster we are talking Elizabeth I, Mary Tudor, Mary Queen of Scots, Charles Dickens, Dylan Thomas (not that I know anything about him, but hey Robert Zimmermann took up his name, so he basically has to be cool too) and, my personal favorite, Oliver Cromwell. Really the only bad thing that can be said about London (apart from the prices that is) is that they still live under a monarchy there. Such folly, if not stupidity.

Definitly recommend a trip for anyone who hasn't been there and the one we did (2 1-2 days) is completely ludicrous. You need at least like a week.

On m way back to Berlin this morning (meaning on the bus to the airport at 4am) I met this Polish girl, who was sitting next to me. We got to talking and she told me that she had been studying in London for three years now, that made me wonder why her English was so crappy. She seemed to be incapable of expressing herself with a coherent sentence (meaning correct grammar and the such) and finally it struck me like a bolt of lighning on a clear day (hmm, this whole prose thing doesn't relly seem to work for me) she was not actually talking bad English, she was speaking Jamaican all the time.

Turns out she studies Carribean Studies, hangs out with Jamaicans all the time and spend a year at the university in Kingston. Too fucking weird, here I was sitting the whole time wondering why her English was so sucky when in reality she was simply speaking in an amazing manner I might add a different dialect. Kind of a pointless story I know, but I was so dumb-struck when I realized I was sitting next to a Polish girl talking patois, that was just too much for me.