Reviews

Orwell described A Clergyman's Daughter as a 'silly potboiler' that he ought not to have published. The blurb reminded me a lot to Down and Out in Paris and London cause of its theme of unemployment, poverty and hunger in the 1930s (during Depression England)-- the same social critics and satirical approach but quite 'fancy' and melodramatic.

Dorothy's life turned upside down after a sudden episode of amnesia-- from a dutiful daughter and bullied housekeeper of a Rector in Knype Hill to landed penniless in the street of London. Dorothy learned to live by her own, begging for food and wandering miles a day for shelter while facing some devastating incidents (getting arrested and scammed) with flashes of past memories haunting her.

Love the heart-rending narrative and how it portrayed the struggle of lower-middle class people during the depression years (the hop-picker part was my favourite, and I really love Nobby but he gets arrested and just disappeared). It highlighted issues on authoritarian treatment, critics on education system (the view of education in private schooling during the 30s was quite intriguing although according to Orwell he needs to tone down a bit on this matter as requested by his first publisher), capitalistic and horrible abused of labouring, morality and religion.

Even though Orwell accused it as 'bollocks' and just an experimental writing cause he needs money, I still think it was a great fiction-- atmospheric view and vivid narration, characters with various behaviours (as much as I was glad that Warburton came to get Dorothy, I still hate him) and Dorothy overall thought on her faith and life were grippingly raw and poignant.

"Those things don't really matter. I mean, things like having no money and not having enough to eat. Even when you're practically starving-- it doesn't change anything inside you."

"... it's beastly while it's happening, of course; but it doesn't make any real difference; it's the things that happen inside you that matter... things change in your mind. And then the whole world changes, because you look at it differently."

Love the ending, like a parallel version of the end in chapter one before Dorothy wakes up and suffered the amnesia (Orwell did not explained much on this amnesia part which left me still clueless about it). Tragic but interesting.

charlie_barr's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

davood's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

rosekk's review against another edition

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3.0

The book had some things going for it. I liked the circular shape of the plot, with the main character arriving back where they started and the question of how their changed view points and experiences may actually affect their day to day life left to the reader to consider. It highlights the way the moment to moment aspects of life usually take precedent over the things that we would consciously think of as important.

Other aspects of the story did not work as well for me. The amnesia element of the plot annoyed me. Amnesia is a common (and frequently abused) trope, and usually I'm able to suspend disbelief when it comes to things like that. In this instance it came so suddenly out of nowhere, and got the most half-hearted explanation, that the whole idea seemed to loom over the book for me, even though it isn't all that important in relation to the rest of the story.

There's a section in the middle of the book where the style changes from a fairly standard 3rd-person past-tense, to snatches of conversation from a range of different characters, many of whom appear nowhere else in the book. On the one had, this actually does a fairly effective job of giving a sense of what that setting is like, and what the lives of people living like those characters might be like. On the other, it's a random one-off interruption to the book, and gives a window into a kind of life the main character quickly escapes and never really looks back to or reflects on. So while the idea worked in principle, the execution in the context of the rest of the book betrayed it.

So on the whole, there were ideas to admire in the book, but plenty else that held it back.

mobyskine's review against another edition

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4.0

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