However, the book is not long, and left me feeling incredibly satisfied when I reached the end. Gordon needlessly hurts people who are close to him, both because he lacks money, and much more painfully, because he is constantly obsessed with his lack of money and his feelings of inadequacy that derive from his poverty. Much of the book is painful to read because our protagonist makes horrible mistakes repeatedly. This book depicts the painful struggle of consenting to sell oneself to promote the aims of a corporation or institution. Just the right amount of self important sneer in his voice and just the right tone of undeserved and unappreciated privilege in his delivery. Richard E Grant's performance is excellent. This is certainly no "Animal Farm" and "Coming up for Air" is a friendlier read (next please Audible) but it certainly repays the listening time. If you don't love Orwell you need to work your way through all of his work so that you eventually will. If you love Orwell you need to work your way through all of his work. And Gordon does finally redeem himself for the most human of all reasons. At one point I nearly abandoned the book because he is such an unsympathetic persona. Whining, self pitying, grasping (of everything but money) he is almost completely devoid of human sympathy. Gordon Comstock may just be the least appealing character in any book I have ever read.
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