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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was all right. It had some interesting insights into the life of a writer, but it was also very depressing with no characters to really like. It got fairly repetitive as well.
Gissing is fast becoming on of my favourite Victorian writers. His writing is so strong, his description of people and his observations so well thought out and poignant. This is a story that deals will struggling writers within 1880s London, and is superbly and heart-breakingly written. Brilliant.
This was an extremely long novel about literary people in the Victorian Era. Frankly, being honest I found it a chore to read. Reminds me of The Grapes of Wrath...if anything can go wrong it will. Gissing is a gripping writer but can't say there is much to recommend it for me. Plenty of dark moments but few light. When a group of would be writers get together they make their hopes and dreams clear but act more like whiners and make excuses as to why they are not more successful. In stead of getting down to business they turn into procrastinators it's always some excuse. Pages come and go, chapters end and begin anew and it's rinse and repeat from cover to cover. Just when some one breaks out of the bunch and the reader thinks that their story line is going to be successful the character jumps out the window----splat. An ending word of note, the author's biography is far more interesting than his depressing novel.
had to read this for uni, I think it was good but just not my cup of tea
George Gissing's New Grub Street is about the trials and tribulations of a group of interlinked writers - some by blood and others by friendship or professional connection - in the late 19th century. Although Gissing is little known today, he is well regarded as a writer and has a number of books to his name.
This book was interesting in that it gave a real insight in to a profession at a time of great change. A profession in the process of modernising but also a tension between intellectual purity or populism. A tension in writing that hasn't really gone away. What it also has in its favour is a strong sense of place, giving a real feel for a very defined part of London - essentially from Camden south to Trafalgar Square. Virtually all of the places mentioned in the book exist and much of the narrative is moved on through people walking from one place to another. It is very much a London book, which is interesting as the reason I came across Gissing and then this book was after reading an article about his birthplace of Wakefield. One benefit of this particular edition of the book (Oxford World Classic) is the notes towards the rear, which helped me learn a great deal about the origin of certain phrases that I would not have known otherwise.
Despite these positive aspects to New Grub Street, I just couldn't love it. There weren't any characters in it that I liked or really cared about, and even those you think are the 'good guys' end up as selfish or self-aggrandising. There's also a snobbery towards people who are less 'cultured' or intellectual, and a streak of sexism that runs through the book (admittedly not something unusual at that time), although the latter is tempered by the way it covers many of the new rights that women had fairly recently gained in respect of property and money.
In summary, if you have a particular interest in the period or the development of writing and literature then I would recommend it. But as a passing reader, who doesn't feel that commitment there's other more interesting books out there.
This book was interesting in that it gave a real insight in to a profession at a time of great change. A profession in the process of modernising but also a tension between intellectual purity or populism. A tension in writing that hasn't really gone away. What it also has in its favour is a strong sense of place, giving a real feel for a very defined part of London - essentially from Camden south to Trafalgar Square. Virtually all of the places mentioned in the book exist and much of the narrative is moved on through people walking from one place to another. It is very much a London book, which is interesting as the reason I came across Gissing and then this book was after reading an article about his birthplace of Wakefield. One benefit of this particular edition of the book (Oxford World Classic) is the notes towards the rear, which helped me learn a great deal about the origin of certain phrases that I would not have known otherwise.
Despite these positive aspects to New Grub Street, I just couldn't love it. There weren't any characters in it that I liked or really cared about, and even those you think are the 'good guys' end up as selfish or self-aggrandising. There's also a snobbery towards people who are less 'cultured' or intellectual, and a streak of sexism that runs through the book (admittedly not something unusual at that time), although the latter is tempered by the way it covers many of the new rights that women had fairly recently gained in respect of property and money.
In summary, if you have a particular interest in the period or the development of writing and literature then I would recommend it. But as a passing reader, who doesn't feel that commitment there's other more interesting books out there.
"La nueva Grub Street" de George Gissing es una novela que ofrece una cruda visión del mundo literario y periodístico de finales del siglo XIX en Londres. Gissing explora con una meticulosa descripción los personajes y su entorno en la Londres victoriana, sumergiendo al lector en un ambiente realista y desalentador. Gissing presenta con maestría la lucha por la supervivencia de los escritores y periodistas, mostrando las dificultades económicas, la competencia feroz, la corrupción moral y las frustraciones que impregnan este mundo.
Sin embargo, la novela en algunos momentos se ralentiza, lo que puede hacer que algunos lectores pierdan interés en la trama. Además, la falta de personajes verdaderamente empáticos puede dificultar la conexión emocional del lector con la historia. Muchos de sus personajes no están del todo desarrollado. Además, la visión de Gissing sobre las mujeres puede resultar controvertida para algunos lectores.
En conclusión, "La nueva Grub Street" es una novela que ofrece una mirada penetrante y crítica al mundo literario y periodístico de su época. A pesar de sus desafíos narrativos, la obra sigue siendo relevante hoy en día por su exploración de temas como la ambición, la integridad y el sacrificio en la búsqueda del éxito en el mundo de las letras.
Sin embargo, la novela en algunos momentos se ralentiza, lo que puede hacer que algunos lectores pierdan interés en la trama. Además, la falta de personajes verdaderamente empáticos puede dificultar la conexión emocional del lector con la historia. Muchos de sus personajes no están del todo desarrollado. Además, la visión de Gissing sobre las mujeres puede resultar controvertida para algunos lectores.
En conclusión, "La nueva Grub Street" es una novela que ofrece una mirada penetrante y crítica al mundo literario y periodístico de su época. A pesar de sus desafíos narrativos, la obra sigue siendo relevante hoy en día por su exploración de temas como la ambición, la integridad y el sacrificio en la búsqueda del éxito en el mundo de las letras.
The English language shines in this book! Delicious prose doesn't make it any less depressing, as it describes how poverty shapes character. Quite an unknown author, not a single title of his listed at our library. I might donate this copy, if I didn't love it so much.