Chapter 15 Summary

In order to summarize this chapter without resorting to antiquated prices in English currency, it is safe to say that Orwell has discovered a year's consumption of alcohol and cigarettes would allow one to buy a rather decent of collection of books. In order to prove his point, Orwell painstakingly counts his book, his cigarette and his alcohol purchases and winds up with the sanguine conclusion that books are affordable.

The core of his point is that the price of a book, for him, is the cost of an expensive seat in the cinema. It is the least expensive of media pleasures, next to radio. And, to make matters even better, if you can do with second-hand books, you will have a stronger collection for the same amount of expenditure.

Orwell suspects, however, that all he is really doing is proving that the...