Coming Up for Air

Before World War II in England, the protagonist of “To Catch a Breath,” George Bowling—known as “Fatty”—wins 17 pounds at the races and decides to return to his hometown, Binfield, to escape everyday life, do his favorite thing—fishing—and remember the past. However, the village has changed, and George’s idyllic dreams are shattered, taking away the cozy English setting of the past. The novel was published in 1939 and is considered the most perfect of Orwell’s early works. It raises themes of memory, nostalgia, disappointment, and fear of modern troubles—industrialization, capitalist exploitation, and war.