MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Other Non-Fiction Orwell, George: The Road to Wigan Pier. V2. 08 Aug 2010

neilmarr · 08-07-2010, 04:22 AM

A thousand thanks, Billingd, for your generosity.

I spent most of my schooldays in Wigan and must have read this excellent piece of Orwell reportage a hundred times (he was as good a reporter as he was a novelist). I still have several paperback copies on my shelves along with all his other books, short story collections and essays, but this will be my first read in ebook.

As a youngster, I became very good pals with a local librarian, the late Carlton Melling. He was a wonderful and brilliant chap and had teamed with Orwell to research *The Road to Wigan Pier*. It's horrifying to think that the terrible conditions Orwell describes in such stark detail in the book are within living memory. Very best wishes and thanks again for your time and care in presenting this digital copy. Best wishes. Neil

PS: Another superb piece about Wigan, set earlier than *Road to Wigan Pier* is the fiction novel *Rose* by Martin Cruz Smith. It was released in hardback about twelve years ago and then in paperback, but I'm not sure if it's legally available yet in digital form.

*Wigan Pier*, by the way, was so named as a music hall joke by the father of uke-playing actor and singer George Formby. George senior and his son were both born in Wigan. I got to know George senior's widow and George junior's mother when she was living in her old age at nearby Warrington, where I was a cub reporter on the Lancashire Evening Post.

She was over 100 years old when we first met. There was a George Formby film season running on television at the time, but she was so poor that she could afford a TV. A few local newspaper pals and I clubbed together to buy her a set. It was before the days of colour television in the UK, but that didn't matter because all her son's movies were in black and white anyway. N

This work is assumed to be in the Life+70 public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. Copyright laws differ throughout the world, and it may still be under copyright in some countries. Before downloading, please check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work.

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08-07-2010, 04:22 AM	#2
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	A thousand thanks, Billingd, for your generosity. I spent most of my schooldays in Wigan and must have read this excellent piece of Orwell reportage a hundred times (he was as good a reporter as he was a novelist). I still have several paperback copies on my shelves along with all his other books, short story collections and essays, but this will be my first read in ebook. As a youngster, I became very good pals with a local librarian, the late Carlton Melling. He was a wonderful and brilliant chap and had teamed with Orwell to research The Road to Wigan Pier. It's horrifying to think that the terrible conditions Orwell describes in such stark detail in the book are within living memory. Very best wishes and thanks again for your time and care in presenting this digital copy. Best wishes. Neil PS: Another superb piece about Wigan, set earlier than Road to Wigan Pier is the fiction novel Rose by Martin Cruz Smith. It was released in hardback about twelve years ago and then in paperback, but I'm not sure if it's legally available yet in digital form. Wigan Pier, by the way, was so named as a music hall joke by the father of uke-playing actor and singer George Formby. George senior and his son were both born in Wigan. I got to know George senior's widow and George junior's mother when she was living in her old age at nearby Warrington, where I was a cub reporter on the Lancashire Evening Post. She was over 100 years old when we first met. There was a George Formby film season running on television at the time, but she was so poor that she could afford a TV. A few local newspaper pals and I clubbed together to buy her a set. It was before the days of colour television in the UK, but that didn't matter because all her son's movies were in black and white anyway. N This work is assumed to be in the Life+70 public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. Copyright laws differ throughout the world, and it may still be under copyright in some countries. Before downloading, please check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work. To report a copyright violation you can contact us here. Attached Images Last edited by neilmarr; 08-07-2010 at 04:27 AM. Reason: Trypo -- darned keyboard's in its death throes