54-546: George Robert Gissing ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ s ɪ ŋ / GHISS -ing ; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. In the 1890s he was considered one of the three greatest novelists in England, and by the 1940s he had been recognised as a literary genius. Gissing's best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include The Nether World (1889), New Grub Street (1891) and The Odd Women (1893). He retains
108-552: A chill on an ill-advised winter walk. He is buried in the English cemetery at Saint-Jean-de-Luz . Veranilda was published incompletely in 1904. H. G. Wells, after a Christmas Eve telegram, came to Gissing at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in his final days and helped to nurse him. Wells characterized him as a "flimsy inordinate stir of grey matter", and wrote of Gissing's "poor vexed brain—so competent for learning and aesthetic reception, so incompetent, so impulsive and weakly yielding under
162-413: A fictionalised biography of Gissing, The Private Life of Henry Maitland , his friend Morley Roberts commented: He had once, as he owned, been touched by Socialism, probably of a purely academic kind; and yet, when he was afterwards withdrawn from such stimuli as had influenced him to think for once in terms of sociology, he went back to his more natural despairing conservative frame of mind. He lived in
216-419: A finer type of society. It was for that reason that he was a conservative. But he was the kind of conservative who would now be repudiated by those who call themselves such, except perhaps in some belated and befogged country house. Gissing's early novels were ill-received, but greater recognition came in the 1890s in England and overseas. The increased popularity affected his novels, the short stories he wrote in
270-558: A freelance journalist until he was offered the editorship of The Observer by Lord Northcliffe , the weekly newspaper's new owner. Harrison proved an able editor, using his position to warn his readers of the growing threat posed by the German empire to British security. Yet the paper continued to lose money, prompting Northcliffe to replace Harrison with J. L. Garvin at the end of 1907. Despite his dismissal, Harrison remained with The Observer as literary editor, simultaneously working at
324-516: A general malaise." After separating from Edith, Gissing revisited Italy in 1897–1898, as told in a travel book, By the Ionian Sea (1901). While in Siena he wrote Charles Dickens: a Critical Study . In Rome he met H. G. Wells and his wife and did research for a romantic novel set in the 6th century, Veranilda . Meanwhile The Town Traveller , written in the final months of his marriage in 1897,
378-409: A once-struggling writer who has inherited a legacy enabling him to retire in the countryside. It brought Gissing much acclaim. Apart from fiction, Gissing followed up his study of Dickens with further writings, including introductions to editions of Dickens's works, articles for journals and a revised edition of John Forster 's Dickens biography. Gissing died aged 46 on 28 December 1903 having caught
432-661: A position with The Times . Harrison was sent to their Berlin bureau, but he soon ran afoul of their bureau chief and was dismissed. He later found positions with the Manchester Guardian and Reuters , where he enjoyed greater success. Chafing at the restrictions imposed by the German foreign ministry , Harrison resigned from Reuters in 1904 and expressed his concerns about the Kaiser in his first book, The Pan-Germanic Doctrine . Returning to London, he worked briefly as
486-779: A relationship with Smith, Elder & Co. , which published him until New Grub Street in 1891. The novels he wrote in this period depict a conservative view of the working class. Gissing used £150 earned from the rights to The Nether World in 1889 to fund a long-awaited trip to Italy to pursue his interest in the classics. His experiences there formed a basis for the 1890 work The Emancipated . On 25 February 1891, Gissing married another working-class woman, Edith Alice Underwood. They settled in Exeter but moved to Brixton in June 1893 and Epsom in 1894. They had two children, Walter Leonard (1891–1916) and Alfred Charles Gissing (1896–1975), but
540-553: A six-week stay in a sanatorium in Nayland , Suffolk . The couple settled in Paris, but moved to Arcachon when Gissing's health deteriorated. The final years of his life were spent in the villages of Ciboure , near St Jean-de-Luz , and Ispoure , near Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port . Gissing's relations with Fleury provided inspiration for his 1899 novel The Crown of Life . He wrote several novels during his third marriage, including Among
594-530: A small but devoted group of followers. Gissing was born on 22 November 1857 in Wakefield , West Yorkshire, the eldest of five children of Thomas Waller Gissing, who ran a chemist's shop, and Margaret (née Bedford). His siblings were: William, who died aged twenty; Algernon , who became a writer; Margaret; and Ellen. His childhood home in Thompson's Yard, Wakefield, is maintained by The Gissing Trust. Gissing
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#1732772154481648-531: A traveling theatre and shows talent, but her plans are thwarted by a rival actress who, jealous of Clara's success, disfigures Clara's face with acid . Clara is admitted to a hospital, and Joseph informs John anonymously of her whereabouts. Clara is taken home, but now that all her hopes for better life are ended, she starts re-evaluating her ungratefulness towards her father and Sidney, and also contemplates suicide . Meanwhile, Michael reveals his secret separately to Jane and Sidney and emphasizes his plan for how
702-496: A well-to-do business clerk , thus accepting a life of toil. Bob Hewett largely abandons his wife and children and dies fleeing arrest for forging coins. Clem is accused of trying to poison her mother and is tried in court . Joseph's fortune is squandered in the financial markets of the United States, a misfortune that he cannot survive. The Nether World opens near Clerkenwell Close in central London, and throughout
756-521: Is elusive at this distance in time. Gissing took revenge (or acted to protect their older child from continual violent assaults, since he stated in letters his safety was in danger) in April 1896, when Walter was spirited away without Edith's knowledge and sent to stay with Gissing's sisters in Wakefield. Gissing pleaded Edith's violence, but he strongly disliked the way she presented him to his son. Alfred,
810-476: Is employed as a household drudge. Jane's father, Joseph, is another son of Michael's who disappeared a few years ago in search of work, leaving Jane with the Peckovers. Michael nurtures a plan to bestow his fortune on Jane after his death, but he wants Jane to spend this money on charity and social work rather than on her own needs. He engages Jane in charitable activities and everyday work even before he reveals
864-723: Is indexed by the Modern Language Association, reviewed annually by The Year's Work in English Studies and regularly mentioned in the Times Literary Supplement. The contents up to 2008 can be read on The Gissing in Cyberspace website. Citations Bibliography The Nether World The Nether World is a novel written in 1889 by the English author George Gissing . The plot concerns several poor families living in
918-594: Is that Émile Zola was a primary influence on Gissing, but Jacob Korg suggests that George Eliot was a greater influence. The Gissing Journal , a quarterly single-author journal devoted to the life and works of George Gissing, publishes essays, and book reviews. It appeared in January 1965, with Jacob Korg of the University of Washington as editor until December 1968. He was followed from January 1969 to April 2013 by Pierre Coustillas, emeritus professor of English at
972-558: The Chicago Tribune . He lived in poverty until he met a travelling salesman in need of an assistant, and Gissing demonstrated his products. These experiences partially inspired his 1891 novel, New Grub Street . In September 1877, Gissing left America and returned to England. After returning to England, Gissing settled in London with Nell, writing fiction and working as a private tutor. He failed to get his first novel Workers in
1026-582: The University of Manchester . There he continued his intense studies, and won many prizes, including the Poem Prize in 1873 and the Shakespeare scholarship in 1875. He also began a relationship with Marianne "Nell" Harrison. When he ran short of money and stole from his fellow students, Gissing's academic career ended in disgrace. The college hired a detective to investigate the thefts, and Gissing
1080-400: The slums of 19th-century London . Rich in naturalistic detail, the novel concentrates on the individual problems and hardships which result from the typical shortages experienced by the lower classes —want of money , employment and decent living conditions . The Nether World is pessimistic and concerns exclusively the lives of poor people: there is no juxtaposition with the world of
1134-474: The "soundest of the Dickens critics, a man of genius". George Orwell admired him and in a 1943 Tribune article called him "perhaps the best novelist England has produced," believing his masterpieces were the "three novels, The Odd Women , Demos , and New Grub Street , and his book on Dickens. [The novels'] central theme can be stated in three words — 'not enough money'." The traditional view of critics
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#17327721544811188-492: The Dawn accepted by a publisher and published it privately, funding it with money from an inheritance. Gissing married Nell on 27 October 1879. Their marriage was plagued with poverty and they were frequently separated while Nell was hospitalised for poor health. One of his friends was a fellow author and Owens College alumnus Morley Roberts , who wrote a novel based on Gissing's life, The Private Life of Henry Maitland , in 1912. He
1242-536: The Northcliffe-owned Daily Mail as drama critic. At the end of 1908, Harrison accepted an offer from Alfred Mond to assume the editorship of the newly acquired literary magazine The English Review . Recently started by the author Ford Madox Huffner (later Ford) , it had proved critically successful but a business failure. Though his practices irritated some, Harrison soon boosted circulation, which had been at only 1,000 when he assumed
1296-658: The Prophets , which remained unpublished and has not survived, Our Friend the Charlatan (1901) and Will Warburton (published posthumously in 1905). Gissing worked on his historical novel Veranilda , but it was unfinished when he died. In 1903, he published The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft , written in 1900–1901 and appearing initially as a serial entitled "An author at grass" in the Fortnightly Review . It consists of imaginary autobiographical essays from
1350-464: The University of Lille, and from July 2013 by Malcolm Allen of the University of Wisconsin. However, Allen was only able to produce six issues and it ceased publication in December 2014. Markus Neacey, a regular contributor and independent Gissing scholar, restarted The Gissing Journal as editor in January 2017. He had in 2016 written a history and index of The Gissing Journal . The Gissing Journal
1404-505: The author and jurist Frederic Harrison and his wife Ethel Bertha Harrison . Initially tutored by George Gissing , Harrison attended St Paul's School and Harrow School . After leaving school, he went to Switzerland and Germany to study foreign languages in preparation for the Foreign Office exam, which he subsequently failed. With a career in the civil service now unlikely, Harrison's father used his connections to find his son
1458-406: The editorship, to 18,000 by 1911. Such was his success that he bought out Mond in 1915, assuming ownership while continuing to serve as editor. During this time he broadened the range of contributors, publishing works by authors as diverse as Anton Chekhov , Hermann Hesse , Katherine Mansfield , Aleister Crowley , Edward Gordon Craig , George Bernard Shaw , and William Butler Yeats . Politics
1512-580: The fortune should be spent. At first, Sidney seems to like the idea of life's work for charity, but later believes that Michael's plan is futile and that the money should rather be spent on Jane's education and her enjoyment of life. Disagreeing with Michael's plans, and feeling that his dignity is compromised by Joseph's broaching the question of the old man's money, Sidney reduces his relationship with Jane and instead offers marriage to Clara who accepts it gratefully. Jane, heartbroken and uncertain of her firmness to carry out Michael's plan, becomes disfavored by
1566-466: The fortune to the young couple. He therefore develops a plan to make Clara Hewett, Sidney's former love, more fond of Sidney, and catalyze their marriage. Clara Hewett is a young attractive woman who left her poor family with an intention of becoming a famous actress and escaping poverty. Clara's brother Bob, a promising artist , chooses to remain in the same social class: he marries a poor and unfortunate girl, Pennyloaf, whom he does not love. When Clara
1620-446: The fortune with him. Joseph, pestered by his disappointed wife, also believes that Michael is rich, and tries to win his father's respect by improving relations with Jane. He also befriends Jane's older friend, Sidney Kirkwood. Sidney, an honest and sympathetic character, apparently intends to marry Jane in the future, unaware of Michael's fortune. Joseph fears that if Sidney, Michael's favorite, marries Jane, then Michael will leave most of
1674-408: The marriage was unsuccessful. Edith did not understand his work and Gissing insisted on keeping them socially isolated from his peers, which exacerbated the problems. Whereas Nell was too sick to complain about his controlling behaviour , some historians believe Edith stood up to him argumentatively. She may have gone into violent, uncontrolled rages as Gissing claimed in letters to Bertz, but the truth
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1728-557: The novel focusses on the Clerkenwell area, then largely working class and a centre of workshop and small factory trades. The novel is remarkable for its very strong sense of place. Austin Harrison Austin Frederic Harrison (1873–1928) was a British journalist and editor , best known for his editorship of The English Review from 1909 until 1923. Born in London, Harrison was the son of
1782-595: The old man. After his explanation with Jane, Michael destroys his will , contemplates the matter, but before he can compose a new will he suffers a stroke and dies. In the absence of a will, the scheming Joseph inherits all the money. His wife is making plans to kill him, but Joseph escapes abroad with the money, content to leave Jane only a small pension . The novel has a tragic end for all its characters. Sidney and Clara have an unhappy marriage exacerbated by material wants. Jane rejects her father's pension after discovering his intrigues and declines an offer of marriage from
1836-448: The past, and was conscious every day that something in the past that he loved was dying and must vanish. No form of future civilisation, whatever it might be, which was gained by means implying the destruction of what he chiefly loved, could ever appeal to him. He was not even able to believe that the gross and partial education of the populace was better than no education at all, in that it must someday inevitably lead to better education and
1890-537: The period include Born in Exile (1892), The Odd Women (1893), In the Year of Jubilee (1894) and The Whirlpool (1897). From 1893, Gissing also wrote short stories, some of which were collected in an 1898 volume, Human Odds and Ends , and others in volumes published after his death. In 1895, he published three novellas , Eve's Ransom , The Paying Guest and Sleeping Fires . This too reflected changing tastes in
1944-452: The period, and his friendships with influential, respected literary figures such as the journalist Henry Norman , author J. M. Barrie and writer and critic Edmund Gosse . By the end of the century, critics placed him with Thomas Hardy and George Meredith as one of the three leading novelists in England. Sir William Robertson Nicoll called him "one of the most original, daring and conscientious workers in fiction". Chesterton saw in him
1998-402: The reading public, away from three-volume novels . In 1897 Gissing met H. G. Wells and his wife, who spent the spring with him and his sister at Budleigh Salterton . Wells said Gissing was "no longer the glorious, indefatigable, impracticable youth of the London flat, but a damaged and ailing man, full of ill-advised precautions against the imaginary illnesses that were his interpretations of
2052-417: The real stresses of life", adding: "He was a pessimistic writer. He spent his big fine brain depreciating life because he would not and perhaps could not look life squarely in the eyes — neither his circumstances nor the conventions about him nor the adverse things about him nor the limitations of his personal character. But whether it was nature or education that made this tragedy I cannot tell." Will Warburton
2106-405: The rest of his life and after his death, she helped to support Edith and the children. Gissing's work began to be paid better. New Grub Street (1891) brought him £250. In 1892 he befriended and was influenced in his work by a fellow writer, George Meredith . In the 1890s Gissing lived more comfortably on his earnings, but his health suffered, which limited the time he spent in London. Novels from
2160-436: The rich. The old Michael Snowdon returns from Australia to London after inheriting a substantial sum of money from his deceased son. Despite being able to live a comfortable, if not luxurious life, he spends only on necessities and lives like a poor man, keeping his fortune secret. In London he finds his granddaughter, Jane, a weak child whom he rescues from the tyranny of the Peckovers (mother and daughter), in whose house she
2214-417: The secret of his wealth to her, trying to inculcate to her the principles of benevolence. Joseph Snowdon returns suddenly to London. Formerly he argued with his father and is not on amiable terms with him. Joseph is preyed upon by the young Clem Peckover who marries him after she and her mother begin suspecting that Joseph's father is rich. Michael receives Joseph reservedly, without revealing intent of sharing
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2268-406: The side of those who believe in an aristocracy of brains, as against the brute domination of the quarter-educated mob." In The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft , Gissing reflected, "To think I once called myself a socialist, communist, anything you like of the revolutionary kind! Not for long, to be sure, and I suspect there was always something in me that scoffed when my lips uttered such things." In
2322-520: The time and energy to support her through increasingly chronic ill-health. He continued to pay a small alimony until her death in 1888. Between his return to England and publication of The Unclassed , Gissing wrote 11 short stories, but only "Phoebe" appeared at the time, in the March 1884 issue of Temple Bar . The years after the publication of The Unclassed brought great literary activity. Isabel Clarendon and Demos appeared in 1886; Demos began
2376-411: The younger child, remained with his mother. The couple separated in 1897, though this was no clean break - Gissing spent time dodging Edith and afraid she might seek a reconciliation. In 1902, Edith was certified insane and confined to an asylum. At this time Gissing met and befriended Clara Collet who was probably in love with him, although it is unclear whether he reciprocated. They remained friends for
2430-599: Was "a book I constantly take up for impulse, when work is at a standstill'. According to his pupil Austin Harrison , from 1882 Gissing made a decent living by teaching; tales of a fight with poverty, including some of his own remembrances, were untrue. Gissing often claimed poverty to his family, whom he largely supported, in order to discourage them from asking for assistance, and the issue of his supposed poverty may be explained by Gissing's attitude to teaching, which he felt to be an inferior profession, somewhat beneath him. He
2484-481: Was also a topic addressed in the pages of The English Review , and Harrison continued to warn readers about the threat posed by Germany in the years leading up to The First World War . The death of one of his brothers at the battle of Battle of Festubert turned the Liberal editor into a passionate critic of the government during the subsequent munitions scandal . Harrison also supported a lenient peace with Germany;
2538-431: Was also guilty of extravagance and poor management of his finances. Gissing's next novel, Mrs Grundy's Enemies , remained unpublished like the first, although bought for publication by Bentley & Son in 1882. George Bentley decided against publishing it despite revisions that Gissing made. Before his next novel, The Unclassed , was published in 1884, Gissing and his wife separated, largely because Gissing would not give
2592-699: Was also skilled at drawing. Gissing's father died when he was 12 years old, and he and his brothers were sent to Lindow Grove School at Alderley Edge in Cheshire, where he was a solitary student who studied hard. In 1872, after an exceptional performance in the Oxford Local Examinations, Gissing won a scholarship to Owens College , the forerunner of the Victoria University of Manchester , subsequently merged with University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form
2646-469: Was educated at Back Lane School in Wakefield, where he was a diligent and enthusiastic student. His serious interest in books began at the age of ten when he read The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens and subsequently, encouraged by his father and inspired by the family library, his literary interest grew. Juvenilia written at this time was published in 1995 in The Poetry of George Gissing . He
2700-521: Was friends with Eduard Bertz, a German socialist with whom he became acquainted in 1879. Gissing spent much time reading classical authors at the British Museum Reading Room , as well as coaching students for examinations. He took long walks through the streets of London observing the poor. In his reading, John Forster's Life of Dickens particularly interested him. He wrote in his diary entry for 23 January 1888 that Forster's work
2754-468: Was living with her family, she, proud and ambitious, scorned the attention of Sidney. Sidney is a friend of her father John and the two quarrel because of Clara after she left. John believes that the loss of his daughter is Sidney's fault. Later, when John's sickly wife dies, Sidney helps the struggling Hewett family with some of his savings, and John becomes contrite about his earlier misunderstanding of Sidney's nature. In search of fame and fortune Clara joins
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#17327721544812808-547: Was prosecuted, found guilty, expelled, and sentenced to a month's hard labour in Belle Vue Gaol , Manchester, in 1876. In September 1876, with support from sympathisers, he travelled to the United States, where he spent time in Boston and Waltham, Massachusetts , writing and teaching classics. When his money ran out, he moved to Chicago , where he earned a precarious living writing short stories for newspapers, including
2862-633: Was published in 1905, as was his final volume, the short-story collection The House of Cobwebs . Gissing is prominent in Russell Kirk 's The Conservative Mind . He was also said to be George Orwell ’s favorite writer. His conservatism was rooted in his aristocratic sensibility. After a brief youthful flirtation with socialism, Gissing lost faith in the labour movements and scorned the popular enthusiasms of his day. In 1892, he told his sister Ellen, "I fear we shall live through great troubles yet... We cannot resist it, but I throw what weight I may have on
2916-574: Was published. After a short stay with his friend Bertz in Potsdam , he returned to England in 1898 and moved to Dorking in Surrey. In July 1898, Gissing met Gabrielle Marie Edith Fleury (1868–1954), a Frenchwoman who approached him for permission to translate New Grub Street . Ten months later, they became partners in a common-law marriage , as Gissing did not divorce Edith. They moved to France, where he remained, returning to England briefly in 1901 for
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