Keep The Aspidistra Flying

Orwell’s darkly comic novel centres around the life of Gordon Comstock, onetime advertising copywriter turned bookshop employee and struggling poet. Gordon’s disdain for money and artistic compromise preclude his earning enough of a living to escape constant public embarrassment. On top of this, it gives him terrible trouble holding on to his girlfriend. Unwilling to dilute his stubborn stance on capitalistic pursuits, he constantly obsesses “money, money, money, all is money”. Gordon’s problems mount while his only published volume, “Mice”, gathers dust on a shelf, and his attempts at a new collection stagnate.
Written during Orwell’s time living in Notting Hill and set in London during “the year of blight, 1934”, the novel is a fine example of Orwell’s wit, and a masterpiece of fiction. It also hints towards themes about power and relationships that would colour his later works Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm.
Reader Richard E. Grant is one Britain’s best-loved actors, and best remembered for his role in Withnail & I. In 1997 Grant also appeared as Gordon Comstock in a film version of Orwell’s novel.