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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
"Life is a fuge farce, and the advantage of possessing a sense of humor is that it enables one to defy fate with mocking laughter."
Chapter 10, p 145
"My aim is to have easy command of all the pleasures desired by a cultivated man. I want to live among beautiful things, and never to be troubled by a though of vulgar difficulties. I want to travel and enrich my mind in foreign countries. I want to associate on equal terms with refined and interesting people. I want to be known, to be familiarity referred to, to feel when I enter a room that people regard me with some curiosity."
Chapter 24, p 329
"What are we - you an I?... We have no belief in immortality; we are convinced that this life is all; we know that human happiness is the origin and end of all moral considerations. What right do we have to make ourselves and others miserable for the sake of obstinate curiosity."
Chapter 31, p 441
"'Deserve! Why do i deserve it? Because I long for it with my heart and soul? There's no such thing as deserving. Happiness or misery comes to us by fate.'"
Chapter 36, p 503
Chapter 10, p 145
"My aim is to have easy command of all the pleasures desired by a cultivated man. I want to live among beautiful things, and never to be troubled by a though of vulgar difficulties. I want to travel and enrich my mind in foreign countries. I want to associate on equal terms with refined and interesting people. I want to be known, to be familiarity referred to, to feel when I enter a room that people regard me with some curiosity."
Chapter 24, p 329
"What are we - you an I?... We have no belief in immortality; we are convinced that this life is all; we know that human happiness is the origin and end of all moral considerations. What right do we have to make ourselves and others miserable for the sake of obstinate curiosity."
Chapter 31, p 441
"'Deserve! Why do i deserve it? Because I long for it with my heart and soul? There's no such thing as deserving. Happiness or misery comes to us by fate.'"
Chapter 36, p 503
It's a truism to talk about how much the English 19th-century class system dominated and limited the lives of those who lived it, but few books have made me feel the effects as well as this one. It focuses on the lives of those whose position in the privileged part of society was not secure, and makes their painful preoccupation with money and status all too comprehensible. Gissing presents many arguments that this has a detrimental effect on good impulses, and also shows how mismatches in wealth and status undermine marriages, which romantic love cannot stand up to. Gissing's case studies are drawn from the literary world, which he knew first hand, but certainly would have their counterparts in other sectors. (The purely literary aspects, which are less compelling to me, are discussions about "pure" art, ephemerality, and vulgarity.) Gissing lamented this bad state of affairs but had no thought of changing society. Also, no one in this book has any liking for "the vulgar", and I'm sure Gissing didn't either.
For the first few pages, I thought the novel would be tedious, but then I got really interested in the characters. They're almost all worth paying attention to. I hope that Edwin Reardon, the unsuccessful novelist, was not a self-portrait of the author, because his attitude toward his wife was quite selfish and demanding; but I suspect that that aspect of him, at least, wasn't autobiographical. Reardon's practical wife Amy, the ambitious Jasper Milvain who's very generous when it doesn't cost him much, Jasper's level-headed, kind-hearted sister Dora, the young Marian Yule who has to do some painful growing up, Marian's embittered, self-pitying father Alfred Yule, the idealistic, starving writer Harold Biffen (who makes the most dramatic contributions to the novel), various literary hacks -- all different, but not wildly caricatured; these and more enliven the pages. I also respect the author for pulling off a plot that has incident without seeming contrived.
For the first few pages, I thought the novel would be tedious, but then I got really interested in the characters. They're almost all worth paying attention to. I hope that Edwin Reardon, the unsuccessful novelist, was not a self-portrait of the author, because his attitude toward his wife was quite selfish and demanding; but I suspect that that aspect of him, at least, wasn't autobiographical. Reardon's practical wife Amy, the ambitious Jasper Milvain who's very generous when it doesn't cost him much, Jasper's level-headed, kind-hearted sister Dora, the young Marian Yule who has to do some painful growing up, Marian's embittered, self-pitying father Alfred Yule, the idealistic, starving writer Harold Biffen (who makes the most dramatic contributions to the novel), various literary hacks -- all different, but not wildly caricatured; these and more enliven the pages. I also respect the author for pulling off a plot that has incident without seeming contrived.
Shout-out to the character who ran into a burning building to save his manuscript, because same.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first page set the mood pretty well: there is great character study, a pinch of humor but it's pretty gloomy as well. I loved reading about the literature market of the late 1800s but I was even more fascinated with these characters, which, for the most part, aren't that likable. Especially the Reardons made me think a lot: while I didn't like either, I empathized with both a bit.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I found this book got better as I went along. Despite the terrible events that overtake many of the characters, despite the unresolved plotline with Marian, despite the way Gissing treats Biffin in the end, I really enjoyed the book.
The gist of this book is that writing is hard and makes you poor, but if you have no morals you might do okay.
I enjoyed Gissing's writing style, and I liked reading about the various characters who try to make a living through writing. They all have different approaches and let their desire for a literary career affect their personal lives in different ways. And some of them sink deep into poverty. Really deep. Gissing would mention how much money they had left in terms of pounds and guineas and shillings and crowns and pence and what do they all mean. I'll take your word for it, Gissing. They were poor or something. But also where is my Victorian England money chart.
I enjoyed Gissing's writing style, and I liked reading about the various characters who try to make a living through writing. They all have different approaches and let their desire for a literary career affect their personal lives in different ways. And some of them sink deep into poverty. Really deep. Gissing would mention how much money they had left in terms of pounds and guineas and shillings and crowns and pence and what do they all mean. I'll take your word for it, Gissing. They were poor or something. But also where is my Victorian England money chart.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
uhhh dnf at 15%
I’d only carry on with this if you paid me
I’d only carry on with this if you paid me
Ok, I'm not finished yet, but I'm pretty sure what's going to happen, and I really don't want it to happen, so... Yep, Wikipedia just confirmed my suspicions. Then again, this is a book about desillusion, so what was I expecting? It's so brutal and hopeless, and of course its critics of capitalism and materialism are clearly coded, but so is the idea that realistically, money comes first. So we should just settle.
I'm reading this for my History of the Novel class, and the whole point is for us to understand the sense of pessimism towards the end of the 19th century which reflected in the practical difficulties of characters. Same old meritocracy myth, except they were just finding out that no one became successful for his or her actual talents, but through unmerciful self-promotion and some luck. In this world, everthing is money. This is a work of realism, after all.
Why should art suffer through this? Why should we accept all twlights and 50 shades and whatever commercialized shit comes our way? This book is infuriating because it depicts reality.
And it's not some naturalistic bullshit in which all there is are bodies and pain and half-people, or factories and sex and cheating and shitting. No, there are feelings; strong feelings. They just aren't stronger than money.
There's no way out, really- you can't even judge them. Except for Jasper, but at least he wasn't a hypocrite, like everyone else. Oh, look, I just judged everybody. I may as well do it here, for judgement is frowned upon in academic literary analysis. Anyway, their positions, though revolting, were understandable.
I just don't agree with my professor that this book has a comical resolution in the sense that "one of the main characters is alright"- comical in the sense that a character has either accepted the distance between his ideals and reality. First of all, because Jasper's ideal is reality, and second of all, because how dare she say this is alright? No one is happy, they are content. Maybe I'm an idealist still- but it is more poetic to die rather than compromise oneself to a lifetime of mediocrity for money.
I'm reading this for my History of the Novel class, and the whole point is for us to understand the sense of pessimism towards the end of the 19th century which reflected in the practical difficulties of characters. Same old meritocracy myth, except they were just finding out that no one became successful for his or her actual talents, but through unmerciful self-promotion and some luck. In this world, everthing is money. This is a work of realism, after all.
Why should art suffer through this? Why should we accept all twlights and 50 shades and whatever commercialized shit comes our way? This book is infuriating because it depicts reality.
And it's not some naturalistic bullshit in which all there is are bodies and pain and half-people, or factories and sex and cheating and shitting. No, there are feelings; strong feelings. They just aren't stronger than money.
There's no way out, really- you can't even judge them. Except for Jasper, but at least he wasn't a hypocrite, like everyone else. Oh, look, I just judged everybody. I may as well do it here, for judgement is frowned upon in academic literary analysis. Anyway, their positions, though revolting, were understandable.
I just don't agree with my professor that this book has a comical resolution in the sense that "one of the main characters is alright"- comical in the sense that a character has either accepted the distance between his ideals and reality. First of all, because Jasper's ideal is reality, and second of all, because how dare she say this is alright? No one is happy, they are content. Maybe I'm an idealist still- but it is more poetic to die rather than compromise oneself to a lifetime of mediocrity for money.