The Journal of a Disappointed Man - Softcover

Barbellion, W.N.P.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1490400990 ISBN 13: 9781490400990

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013

Synopsis

Likened to James Joyce and Franz Kafka, W.N.P. Barbellion's Journal is one of the great diaries and caused a sensation when first published in 1919. Begun when its author was 13 years old, the Journal at first catalogues his misadventures in the Devon countryside - collecting birds' eggs, spying girls through binoculars - but evolves into a deeply moving account of his struggle with multiple sclerosis. Yet, for all its excruciating honesty, W.N.P. Barbellion has an extraordinary lust for life. As Zeppelins loomed above South Kensington, the humor and beauty he found in the world around him - in music, friendship, nature and love - deepens not just the tragedy of his own life, but the millions of lives lost during the First World War.

About this title

About the Author:

W. N. P. Barbellion ( Bruce Frederick Cummings)(1889-1919) was a naturalist by profession working at the Natural History Museum. He suffered ill-health from childhood, and, when rejected for active service in the First World War, discovered he was suffering from what is now known as multiple sclerosis. His distinctive pseudonym was created in the following way. The initials stood for three people he deemed failures: W(ilhelm) N(ero) P(ilate), and the surname, Barbellion, was taken from a sweetshop in Bond Street.

Review:

His work has permanent value -- Arnold Bennett Letter to Barbellion's widow Among the most moving diaries ever created -- Ronald Blythe Each Returning Day: The Pleasure of Diaries A furious, sometimes ecstatic, volatile little book -- William Atkins Guardian His is the greatest diary a man has written -- Thomas Mallon A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries As great in its own right as anything which James Joyce was to write -- James Mildren Western Morning News

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1490400990
• ISBN 13: 9781490400990
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 436