The Road to Wigan Pier

By: George Orwell

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

When Orwell went to England in the 1930s to find out how industrial workers lived, he not only observed but shared in their experiences. He stayed in cramped, dreary lodgings and subsisted on the scant, cheerless diet of the poor. He went down into the coal mines and walked crouching, as the miners did, through a one- to three-mile passage too low to stand up in. He watched the back-breaking, dangerous labor of men whose net pay then averaged $575 a year. And he knew the unemployed, those who had been out of work for so long they had sunk beyond despair into an inhuman apathy.

In this searing yet beautiful account of life on the bottom rung, Orwell asks himself why Socialism - which alone, he felt, could rescue human values from the ravages of industrialism - had so little appeal. His answer is a harsh critique of the Socialism and Socialists of his time.

Public Domain (P)1993 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Very interesting book by a socialist in the 1930s!

This book is an interesting and detailed insight into the life of the working class in England in the 1930s, as well as into the thinking life of the intellectual socialists of that time. Mind you, most of the predictions Orwell made about the bleakness of the future of industrialization, and the inevitablility of socialism's adoption were way off-target, but then he didn't have the historical record of socialism's abject economic failures to draw upon as we do today, since it was almost all in the future at that time.

Nevertheless the way he analyzes from every angle, the thinking of socialists and non-socialists alike, is fascinating. What an intelligent man he was (I know, I know, if he was so intelligent, why did he get the future and the workability of socialism as an economic model so wrong? But I already addressed that in the last paragraph). Also, the details he describes in the everyday are a testimony to his incredible way with words.

The narrator's snobbish-sounding upper-class British dialect adds a lot to the reading, capturing the spirit of condescencion that Orwell clearly had for all sorts of groups he describes, whether socialists or non-socialists.

A first-class listen. I almost couldn't put it down.

Hard to believe that was so recent

Orwell starts by recounting the living conditions of, what Victor Davis Hanson has termed, the muscular class. Post-war England’s working poor (or not working) dealt with conditions that are hard to comprehend. Made me chuckle when I think of the American college student rebelling against the ‘slave wages’ of $12/hour. After listening to this you’ll look at your bathtub or shower and H&C faucets with a sort of lust and relief.

The end of the book is a recipe for winning the cultural/political battle against the rise of Fascism. Still apropos to this day.

Worth your time to be sure.

Oh, and pay attentions to the last few paragraphs of the first 6 chapters. He polished them to a mirror-like finish with a razor’s edge.

Still relevant

Enjoyed very much. Many of Orwell’s observations remain relevant today. Perhaps not the one about the working class smelling bad!

modestly interesting

repossessed by Jordan Peterson, the last few chapters about fascism, socialism, capitalism, etc, were the best. Neat insight into the common man's world at the time. typically I don't like this Blackstone narrator, but he didn't overly dramatized his accent in this treating, somehow.

Socialism

Written in the mid '30s Orwell interprets and then comments on the mindset of England at the pivotal point of their metamorphosis into a partner of the European family from a bully leadership role. As ever, Orwell's insight is stunning

background mumbling

I assume that multiple books are being recorded at the same time. In the background of the audio there’s a quiet but nonetheless noticeable voice of another book being read

Wow scary accurate

Orwell's observations and social commentary is just as accurate today as in the 1930's. Its like he is reading my mind and is describing my everyday surrounds albeit less dire. Well worth the read and in an amazing voice that is very comprehensible at x1.5.

An odd reading performance -- maybe the right one?

The recording dates back to the 1990s and it's odd -- a near caricature of an English gentleman's voice and accent. Initially it felt very much the wrong voice for this plain-spoken, unpretentious left-wing writer, whose loathing of so many aspects of the English upper-classes rings through his writings. But by the end of this brilliant book, my objections had lifted, for the second half of WIGAN PIER is a ruthlessly confessional insight into how class prejudices endure in all of us, including the writer, despite our best efforts, and the actor's upper class tones felt suddenly appropriate.

This is one strange book -- a deeply moving portrait of the miseries of English working-class life among the miners of Northern England, followed by a harrowing critique of socialism from a man who believed deeply in Socialism but was too honest not to attack its faults. A classic I'd heard about for decades and I'm so glad I know understand why it's a classic, one that has in no way lost its poliltical relevance.

Wigan Pier

Interesting read about the working class coal industry conditions in the 1930’s. The discussion of socialism relevant to that time period is interesting as well, helps one to understand the years between WW1 and WW2.

Author falls short but great narration.

I was very disappointed in Orwell almost immediately into this. He’s definitely a novelist and should leave commentary alone. The whole book is why socialism is relevant to the lower class and it needs a new PR campaign. Never once did he make an argument for why socialism is losing fans. He decries capitalism as horrible but never gives a reason why or how to defend the view. The reader is waiting for a punchline that never comes. But the narrator did a fabulous job! 10pts for him