Rating: 
Summary: Aims itself towards unfulfilled geniuses.
Review: Unlike Geo. Orwell's later, more famous works- and unlike his humanist essays, Keep the Aspidistra Flying is seemingly aimed at the small sub-strata of the population that buries itself in the detritus of its genius and imagination.Everyone of us knows of (or is) a person who is so creative and so imaginative that they can't get out of the mundane routine they're in. The character Mr. Comstock could stand for any of us- a character who values his humanity too much to use it for his own personal benefit. He fights the eternal fight, and much like punks today, attempts to not sell out. In the end, this is what makes the ending of the book so unsatisfying- he *does* sell out. One imagines that Mr. Orwell was asked by his publisher to make the story morally suited and palatable to a specific audience- but it comes across as nothing but a complete sell-out. After the build up in the book, and the fight for individual freedom and creativity, Mr. Comstock goes against all logic and becomes what he despises. In the narrative of Mr. Orwell's story, this development seems rather illogical and tacked-on. The story is a good one; depending on whether you choose to accept the ending as written effects whether the story is a great one... I feel that the story was a great one, if one avoids the latter portions. To each his own.
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