George Orwell: Down and out in Paris and London

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, written in late 20s and published in early 30s. It is a personal account of the author who lived in poverty in the two cities. The first part is an account of living in Paris and the experience of casual labour in restaurant kitchens. The second part is a memoir of living on the road around London from the tramp's perspective, with descriptions of the types of hostel accommodation available and some of the characters to be found living on the margins.

Down and out in Paris and London is brief and it's so engaging you can easily read it in an afternoon, after work with a cup of tea and some buttered toast {be sure you'll appreciate those buttered toasts much more while reading the book}. The first person perspective and the social commentary that runs through the narrative, makes George Orwell's first book the excellent tool to sharpen your empathy skills.

You can download the book here for free

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On a different note...

3 of the best open lines of books:

1. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.” The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald 

2. “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." The Metamorphosis and Other Stories, Franz Kafka

3. “ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE is scrawled in blood red lettering on the side of the Chemical Bank near the corner of Eleventh and First and is in print large enough to be seen from the backseat of the cab as it lurches forward in the traffic leaving Wall Street and just as Timothy Price notices the words a bus pulls up, the advertisement for Les Miserables on its side blocking his view, but Price who is with Pierce & Pierce and twenty-six doesn't seem to care because he tells the driver he will give him five dollars to turn up the radio, ‘Be My Baby’ on WYNN, and the driver, black, not American, does so.” American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis