The Whirlpool by George Gissing tells the story of upper-middle class late-Victorian families following the collapse of a bank. This is Gissing's last big novel written in 1897. The story revolves... More > around Alma, a young girl of 20, who's father's shameful performance lead to the banks losses and his suicide. She has to go abroad to make plans and further her questionable musical career; she has two admirers follow her Cyrus Redgrave a wealthy bachelor (who makes an indecent proposal in the most understated Victorian way imaginable) and Harvey Rolfe (the nice one whom she ends up marrying). Harvey has a close friend Hugh who marries Sibyl. The underlying and all too subtle catalyst is what are Sibyl and Alma may or may no be prepared to do to have Cyrus as a friend and patron?< Less
Thyrza by George Gissing deals with poverty and the working classes, as seen at first hand in his life. The descriptive narrative reveals the hard facts of the contemporary society.
In the opening... More > scene of the novel, Mr. Newthorpe, his daughter Annabel, and their visitor (Annabel's Cousin), Miss Paula Tyrrell are sitting at the breakfast table. It was a small, low, soberly-furnished room, the walls covered with carelessly-hung etchings and water-colours, and with photographs which were doubtless mementoes of travel; dwarf bookcases held overflowings from the library; volumes in disorder, clearly more for use than ornament. The casements were open to let in the air of a July morning. Between the thickets of the garden the eye caught glimpses of sun-smitten lake and sheer hillside; for the house stood on the shore of Ullswater.
The story begins to unfold in layers and keeps the readers completely absorbed.< Less
The Unclassed, by George Gissing, was published in 1994. There is an obvious improvement in style and characterisation if compared to the earlier works of the writer.
The Unclassed is often classed... More > with Gissing's contemporary Hardy and other giants of the era. At times, the hand is a bit too heavy. Largely, the primary reason for reading this book is for another peek into the manners and values of late 19th century England. A glance at Gissing's biography explains much of his emphasis on transcending the shackles of position, and pounding points of honor and virtue.
A layman might find the reading bit too much, for the reading might demand a bit of academic exercise. If you rejoice in reading serious classic literature, this is the book for you.< Less
Will Warburton was George Gissing's last novel. It was published in 1905, three years after Gissing's death.
Will Warburton is a young gentleman of means, a man of commerce, who, losing everything... More > in speculation, is forced into the life of a grocer, a thing he finds, at first, enormously tragic.
Will keeps his fate secret from his friends and his family and lives a life of humiliation and privation. It is only when the woman with whom he is falling in love discovers he is a grocer, and throws him over, that Will realizes that there is no shame in being a grocer.< Less
The Emancipated by George Gissing is the novel which was written in the later years of the writer’s life. In the year, 1888, the author moved to Italy and he spent several months there. In the... More > year 1989, he started writing the novel “The Emancipated” and it was different from his earlier novels.
The Emancipated tells a story about free thinking English expatriates. The covers every minute detail of their lives abroad and the narrative is full of descriptive details. The story is highly compelling and it keeps the readers absorbed till the very concluding part.
The book is worth reading if you are interested in classic literature.< Less
In the Year of Jubilee by George Gissing begins in the year1895. The story is basically dominated by dialogue, supported by the narrative passages, which maintain the flow of the story.
The book... More > begins: At eight o'clock on Sunday morning, Arthur Peachey unlocked his front door, and quietly went forth. He had not ventured to ask that early breakfast should be prepared for him. Enough that he was leaving home for a summer holiday-the first he had allowed himself since his marriage three years ago.< Less
Denzil Quarrier by George Gissing is a classic Modern American story. Tobias Liversedge was a man of substance, but in domestic habits he followed the rule of the unpretentious middle-class.... More > Breakfast at eight, dinner at one, tea at five, supper at nine -- such was the order of the day that he had known in boyhood, and it suited him well enough now that he was at the head of a household. The fare was simple, but various and abundant; no dishes with foreign names, no drinks more luxurious than sherry and claret. If he entertained guests, they were people of his own kind, who thought more of the hearty welcome than of what was set before them.< Less
Eve's Ransom by George Gissing was first published in 1895. The story deals with the two prominent issues of late Victorian fiction, money and marriage.Maurice Hilliard works as a draughtsman,... More > drawing an endless series of machine designs and details for two pounds a week, while dreaming of great architecture and of living without having to work, as he believes a truly free man does. Hilliard gets his chance after a chance meeting on the train with Mr. Dengate who once owed Hilliard's father money. Hilliard's father died while Dengate was in bankruptcy and since the debt was too small, Dengate never repaid it. Young Hilliard shames Dengate by repeatedly insulting him. To prove his own worth, Mr. Dengate repays the entire sum, 436 pounds. Dengate believes Hilliard will waste the money on drink and says so, but Hilliard has other plans. He intends to live as a free man, without working, for as long as the money will last.< Less
This book “Born in Exile” is different from the other works of the author. In Born in Exile perhaps we have one of the first credible tales of the "Outsider" in literature. It... More > is credible because it is written by a man form the lower middle class allowed to rise into literary aspiration and skill by grammar school education. This book shows how he tries to break into their world and sadly how he tries to disguise what he truly is for the sake of this acceptance. It can be said that Gissing lived this book. Anyone who has had to lift him or herself up by their bootlaces and conquer their humble or difficult circumstances in life may well appreciate what this book describes, so early in the day of social transition. Also the intellectual strifes of the day - religion v. science, the idea of the "Two Nations" - form an exciting backcloth to this novel. A highly enlightening book for the readers of all classess!< Less
The Crown of Life by George Gissing is one of the classics by the author. It is a love story which has the autobiographical touch.
The Crown of Life was inspired by writer George Gissing’s... More > feelings for the young author Gabrielle Marie Edith Fleury, whom he met in 1898 while he was estranged from his wife Edith.
The story is highly rich in detail and the narrative is highly emphatic and descriptive. The novel concludes on an optimistic and happy note. The author seems to be conveying that happiness is possible even if there is turmoil in life.< Less
