Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Keep the Aspidistra Flying, first published in 1936, is a socially critical novel by George Orwell. It is set in 1930s London. The main theme is Gordon Comstock's romantic ambition to defy worship of the money-god and status, and the dismal life that results.


''Gritty, growling, commonsensical and touching. [Orwell] never wrote a basically kinder or more human novel.'' --Time


''A delightful addition to the Orwell literature . . . A work Orwell enthusiasts will bracket with 'Down and Out in Paris and London.''' --San Francisco Chronicle


''A remarkable novel . . . A summa of all the criticisms of a commercial civilization that have ever been made.'' --Lionel Trilling