Book recommendation August 2026: Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
This is a story that will resonate with many creatives: the conflict between pursuing your passion into a life of poverty, or continuing in a profession that keeps you comfortable yet unfulfilled creatively.
What it’s about: Gordon Comstock earns a respectable (but unfulfilling) living as a copy writer for an advertising agency but decides to break free of the capitalist system he abhors to pursue his true calling as a poet. Rosemary, Gordon’s sympathetic, understanding, and (almost infinitely) patient girlfriend, stands by him during his descent into abject poverty as his writing endeavours prove desperately unsuccessful, challenging him when needed in miserable circumstances that test the very possibility of them having a future life together.
Why I love it: George Orwell was a fascinating man whose adventurous life inspired many of his works. I’m a big fan and recommending one of his books was long overdue. Aspidistra is one of his lesser known works, and I’m not saying it is his best, but it is a gritty, sad tale about rejecting the “capitalist system” and materialism to pursue your passion, but getting chewed up and ground down by the reality of trying to make a living from one’s art, not to mention the shame and stress and misery of poverty.
Orwell wrote Aspidistra around the time of The Road to Wigan Pier (non-fiction), which IS one of my favourite Orwell books, and that and his earlier work, Down and Out in Paris and London (also non-fiction), all portray the relentlessly brutal and bleak conditions of life for the (many) poor people in England in the interwar years. If you are in any way interested in themes such as poverty and inequality, you should pick up one of those books, or the struggle against totalitarianism (he was a vocal supporter of democratic socialism), then there are his most famous titles, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, as well as his personal account of his time fighting in the Spanish Civil War, Homage to Catalonia. Orwell is one of those writers whose work has never not been relevant, and if anything he (sadly) seems as relevant now as he was when these works were first published.
Beyond the book: Probably like all creatives, I faced the decision of whether to try and pursue a precarious career as a writer, likely living pay cheque to pay cheque and relying on odd jobs to pay the bills, or taking the more stable route on offer in a profession that would allow me to live comfortably (in a material sense) but where writing very much took a back seat. I read this book not long after I had made the decision to train as a solicitor, knowing it could mean my dreams to be a writer were buried. Though admittedly, at the time my dream of being a writer was almost like a dirty little secret I had only shared with my now wife, so the struggle was short lived.
Nevertheless, the struggle of Gordon Comstock in Aspidistra really resonated with me and how I felt and it offered a glimpse into the kind of life I might have had if I had been braver (or more reckless?) and chosen a creative path instead. As it is, I have a few publishing credits to my name and it is hard to know whether I would have had more had I chosen differently, but I think the sensible person would conclude that, given the fact so very few writers actually make a full time career of it, I chose correctly. I certainly have no regrets about it and I know I am in a very fortunate position where I can write for passion and joy without the pressure of writing to pay the bills.
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