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Old 06-26-2007, 02:01 PM   #6
Hadrien
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Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.Hadrien understands the importance of being earnest.
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
The joke in the title is, of course, that Wigan is a northern industrial town that doesn't have a pier. It's only a few miles away from where I live.
Based on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier
Quote:
The name of the book comes from a music hall routine by a British comedian. Although a pier is a structure built out into the water from the shore, in Britain the term has the connotation of a seaside holiday. Wigan was a small grimy coal town on a canal accessed by boats via an offloading structure, although it primarily used land transport. Hence the music hall joke of a coal town with its own seaside resort, and Orwell's choice of title implied his belief that socialism could improve life to an unprecedented degree even in a coal town.

Orwell also mentions that Wigan did not actually have a pier because it collapsed some years before he visited.

All that remains of Wigan Pier is a section of raised railway track.
We've added a lot of Orwell's books on Feedbooks lately, that's why I remembered this: http://www.feedbooks.com/discover/view_author/204
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