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The Road to Wigan Pier (Penguin Modern Classics) Paperback – 26 Apr 2001

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George Orwell (Author)
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George Orwell (Author), Peter Davison (Editor), Richard Hoggart (Introduction)
4.3 out of 5 stars 160 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (26 April 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0141185295
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141185293
  • Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 1.5 x 19.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (160 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 6,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

* If 'peerless prose' could apply to one writer alone, I'd accord it to Orwell The Guardian * Jeremy Northam is superb. The manner is wholly entertaining yet maintaining an air of informative anecdote making the book so real and alive. The School Librarian on Down and Out in Paris and London * Simon Callow's remarkable narration brings out the many layers of Orwell's fable... Brilliant' The Observer on Animal Farm * Nineteen Eighty-Four is given fresh life through this vigorous narration The Observer on Ninteen Eighty-Four --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) was born in India in 1903. He was educated at Eton, served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, and worked in Britain as a private tutor, schoolteacher, bookshop assistant and journalist. In 1936, Orwell went to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War and was wounded. In 1938 he was admitted into a sanatorium and from then on was never fully fit. George Orwell died in London in 1950.

Inside This Book

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The first sound in the mornings was the clumping of the mill-girls' clogs down the cobbled street. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsBrilliant
By Troy Parfitt on 20 Dec. 2011
Format: Paperback
Published in 1937, George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier documents the grinding poverty of northern England, namely Lancashire and Yorkshire. As with Orwell's better-known and somewhat similar Down and Out in Paris and London, the author sets out to investigate the conditions of the poor by living among them and writing about his experiences. There is a chapter on coal miners and mines, and Orwell elucidates on the culture and mechanics of the industry; he goes down a mine to report, taking the reader with him. Orwell discusses unemployment (how it's misunderstood, etc.) and touches on how the upper classes view the lower ones.

That, more or less, makes for Part One, which I found engaging from a historical perspective as much as anything. It's meant to be a socioeconomic investigation (a description, a testimony), but because it's 75 years old, it's become a historical document. Part One isn't as lively or vivid as sections of Down and Out, perhaps because there's little dialogue and it lacks that diary-of-life-in-the-gutter quality. The conditions Orwell describes are awful, but, comparatively, there is a sense of detachment in the way he communicates them.

In Part Two, Orwell gears down, going from documentary to dissertation, and though historical, this part is timeless. "The English class system has outlived its usefulness," is the message he wants us to take from Part One, so what's the solution? The most obvious answer is socialism, but is socialism really the medicine society needs to take?

The section about machine-worship notwithstanding (time has proven Orwell, and probably many others, wrong about the future of machines and technology), Part Two makes for provocative, passionate, and insightful analysis.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsNotes on 'The Road to Wigan Pier'.
By Anita Treso on 1 April 2006
Format: Paperback
'The Road to Wigan Pier' is split into two parts. Part one is George Orwell's recording of his experiences in the North of England, meeting miner's families and reporting at first hand what he saw and heard. Orwell records with sincerity the working class condition. There is no blame or embellishment of what Orwell saw. Orwell's descriptions of the people in the boarding houses he was staying in, are wonderful. You really get a sense of the filth and depravation, and yet the people make you feel at home, to the point of marking your bread and butter with "a black thumb-print on it". I appreciate Orwell's candid writing. The stark reality of poverty is brought to life by Orwell, from his description of the conditions of working in the mines, to the weekly shopping bill and food consumption.
Part two is Orwell's polemic on what he saw and experienced. I found this part of the book filled with passion, anger and justifications. Orwell always makes sure to explain the reasoning behind his arguements and even apologises for his background. Part two consists of political theories, language, class distinction and the personal journey Orwell experienced whilst researching part one.
In my opinion, 'The Road to Wigan Pier' is a wonderful snapshot of a time and a place. It still has a place in literature today as a reminder to us all that there are still destitute people in the world and that things haven't changed as much as we hoped.
Comment 87 of 90 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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4.0 out of 5 starsAn eye opening view of 'Working Class Britain' in the 1930s.
By A Customer on 26 Feb. 2000
Format: Paperback
This novel is split into two parts. The first being an interesting description of working class Northern Britain in the 1930s. Orwell visited, amongst other places, Wigan in Lancashire where he stayed with 'working class' people. This really opened my eyes to the hardship and sense of family and community which, to a certain extent, still exist in Working class areas of The North. The second section is Orwell's analysis of his experiences. He concentrates on the legendary British sense of class and displays his Socialist tendancies, from the point of view as a member of (in Orwell's words) "the upper lower middle class". I found the first part of this novel very interesting - I didn't want to put it down. However, the second part is a more difficult read, although still quite interesting - displaying Orwell's views on the classes.
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4.0 out of 5 starsThe Picture Speaks for Itself
By Eric Anderson on 14 Nov. 2002
Format: Paperback
This book is divided into two sections. The first is a devastating account of the lives of coal miners in the north of England. While this account may be exaggerated it is completely conceivable that life in this time under such social and political conditions might have been like this. He goes to considerable length to explore the personal reactions and methods of endurance of the people he met. Orwell's dedication to exploring what life was really like for the coal miners was made at considerable personal discomfort and were as heroic as Jonathan Kozol's efforts in our present time.
The second half of the book is a long argument by Orwell of the negative aspects of socialism. He does this in order to provoke a serious discussion over how socialism can be implemented in our society. He understood well, as demonstrated in 1984, that many political parties use propaganda as a means of convincing the public that theirs is the right way. But, by taking the opposing view and criticising his own beliefs, he is able to bring the issues of the party into an open forum to consider implementations of change rather than party rhetoric. He does this most sincerely and in no way tries to hide the faults of the socialist political system of thought. In doing so he proves himself to be quite dignified in his system of beliefs. The juxtaposition of these two sections provides a striking idea of the immediate need for political reformation. He did not need to defend socialism because the need for a political change that could effect the lives of the lower class he investigated was obvious. This showed that Orwell's political ideas didn't exist on some ideological utopian plain, but were firmly rooted in the immense danger a political system could inflict upon a large population.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsTale of three towns in two halves

Through George Orwell's writing, Wigan Pier has become a symbol of deprivation and poverty. In 1936, when Orwell visited during the Depression, it really was a place of poor living... Read more

Published 23 days ago by History Geek
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

New book, quick delivery

Published 26 days ago by Fluff
5.0 out of 5 starsAn extraordinary diary of squalor.

A detailed look into the lives of working class people in Northern England at the end of the industrial revolution. Read more

Published 1 month ago by David Moreira
5.0 out of 5 starssome of his early work really is great and the attention to detail too

really interesting, some of his early work really is great and the attention to detail too.

Published 1 month ago by Mak
5.0 out of 5 starsSocialism

Very good read

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 starsAn ill-informed rant

I hadn't read this book since I was 12 or 13 when I had a George Orwell phase and read most of his published works. Read more

Published 2 months ago by MarmaladeQ
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Good value

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsHate the Tories

His observations are still pertinent today. Hate the Tories.

Published 2 months ago by Anne Burge
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

excellent

Published 2 months ago by gladys smith
4.0 out of 5 starsNot so Brave New World.

Informative, in these years of austerity, somethings never change. Orwell's vision for the Labour Party is still (sadly) far away.

Published 2 months ago by thomas smith

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