George Orwell (failed hobo, but would have done well as an elephant hunter).
Balzac might take the prize for the number of failed ventures outside of writing (legal apprentice, publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician; as his Wiki entry helpfully notes “he failed in all of these efforts.”)
Karl Marx’s one attempt at gainful employment was his application to work as a clerk for a railway company; this was rejected as his handwriting was illegible.
Orwell is more properly described as a Tory Anarchist, coming as he did from an upper class background. (See Peter Wilkins' interesting book on the subject). I must read Balzac.
V true, although I think it’s more precise to say Orwell was raised *among* the upper classes rather than being *of* them as such; he attended Eton as a King’s scholar and described his parents as belonging to ‘the upper lower middle class’, meaning they would have been materially better off just doing the dishes themselves but instead nearly went bankrupt supporting live-in staff and paying for young Eric’s prep school fees. (Ironically Marx had a similar problem - according to Francis Wheen’s bio his stipend from Engels would have been more than sufficient for a basic standard of life, but he insisted on pricey French and ballet lessons for his daughters and so on and so was always in debt).
Haven’t read Balzac myself but get the sense he’s an enjoyable read.
George Orwell (failed hobo, but would have done well as an elephant hunter).
Balzac might take the prize for the number of failed ventures outside of writing (legal apprentice, publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician; as his Wiki entry helpfully notes “he failed in all of these efforts.”)
Karl Marx’s one attempt at gainful employment was his application to work as a clerk for a railway company; this was rejected as his handwriting was illegible.
Orwell is more properly described as a Tory Anarchist, coming as he did from an upper class background. (See Peter Wilkins' interesting book on the subject). I must read Balzac.
V true, although I think it’s more precise to say Orwell was raised *among* the upper classes rather than being *of* them as such; he attended Eton as a King’s scholar and described his parents as belonging to ‘the upper lower middle class’, meaning they would have been materially better off just doing the dishes themselves but instead nearly went bankrupt supporting live-in staff and paying for young Eric’s prep school fees. (Ironically Marx had a similar problem - according to Francis Wheen’s bio his stipend from Engels would have been more than sufficient for a basic standard of life, but he insisted on pricey French and ballet lessons for his daughters and so on and so was always in debt).
Haven’t read Balzac myself but get the sense he’s an enjoyable read.