George Gissing at Work: A Study of His Notebook "Extracts from My Reading" (1880-1920 British Authors Series)

Coustillas, Pierre and Bridgwater, Patrick

ISBN 10: 0944318010 / ISBN 13: 9780944318010

Published by ELT Press, 1988

About this Item

Seller Inventory # ABE-1704799139860

Bibliographic Details

• Title: George Gissing at Work: A Study of His Notebook "Extracts from My Reading" (1880-1920 British Authors Series)
• Publisher: ELT Press
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0944318010
• ISBN 13: 9780944318010
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature

About this title

Review

At first glance this is a book only for the most committed Gissing scholar. Although Gissing is rapidly being recognized as one of the major Victorian novelists, presumably only a specialist would be interested in the 172 quotations (only one from Gissing himself) that constitute Extracts from My Reading. In fact Coustillas and Bridgwater provide amazingly detailed and labyrinthine annotations and commentary that are fascinating in their own right. Thus, extract number twenty, a passage from Euripides (quoted in the original but then translated as "Who knows if life is death, and death life?"), is followed by information on Gissing's schoolboy training in ancient Greek, where he received it, and the prizes he won. We learn about his attitude toward the Greek tragedians, and where he referred to Euripides in his own work. The entry concludes with a discussing of Gissing's attitude toward metaphysics in general. Gissing read Greek, Latin, Gent an, Italian, and French, as well as English. He was in every sense a "man of letters," a writer for whom books truly were the soul and substance of the universe. Coustillas and Bridgwater follow his maze of interests with great care, and the result is a kind of intellectual biography. Whatever its value for scholars, George Gissing at Work is a fascinating book to read. -- From Independent Publisher