Commonplace 75 George & Some of His Contemporaries.
George is often (well, at least once) described as a 'major late Victorian novelist' (we are expected to park the Ionian Sea and the Dickens and other essays to one side here), which may or may not be true - if you want to make your own mind up on that, please do. Seriously, he is often compared to the greats and placed next to Thomas Hardy - which would have miffed him!
I find it is too difficult to rank Art and Artists except along lines of I like/I dislike/I am indifferent to. Fashion sometimes dictates what is popular, and the vagaries of taste (whatever that is) often determines what is worthwhile but whatever I think is good says more about me than the Artwork. Of course, these sorts of terms are bogus, but where would academia be without them - or Amazon and google Play? Would George have described himself thus? I don't think so. Most of his novels and short-stories are interesting and thought-provoking, and obviously we all have our favourites, but sometimes, his prose can be a bit... wordy. George is not likely to light everyone's fire. Not that he wanted to - he wasn't interested in populism or popularity; he wanted a select readership club with very few members. (He's certainly got his wish haha!) If you 'get' Gissing, then you might be able to knock on the door of that club and gain entrance. But, just as with the Skull and Bones set, you might have to sell your soul to the Devil to fit in!
What of those who walked the Earth literally (well, metaphorically literally) in George's literary shadow? I mean, his contemporaries.
Let's take a look at one year when George was productive - 1898 (chosen, at random) to see what some of these peers were up to. This was the year The Royal Academy held a retrospective for their late member, John Everett Millais, who died in August 1896 - all these pictures are by Millais.
Dipping a toe into the rich sea of wikipedia throws up:
John Buchan - writer of popular ripping yarns, won the Newdigate Prize for 'The Pilgrim Fathers' this year. He went on to write 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' (made into films, most memorably by Alfred Hitchcock). If only Algernon had him for an older brother, what stories might have issued forth! click
Oscar Wilde - had won the Newdigate twenty years earlier for 'Ravenna'. In 1898, the Divine One released The Ballad of Reading Gaol onto our hearts and minds. Oscar Wilde is now a god. That's official. You don't need a click - if you do, then shame on you! But, here's one for the poem that gave us his line 'each man kills the thing he loves' click and click. (For those who don't know, Reading is pronounced Red-ing when it refers to the place).
Lewis Carroll died. Who hasn't weirded out on Alice? Major influence on the Surrealist Art movement. click Controversial re his photographs of Alice Liddell.
Stéphane Mallarmé - French Symbolist poet - died. Huge influence on the Dadaists and Futurist Art movements. click 'On the Road' would never have come into being without Mallarmé.
Eleanor Marx died - translator and socialist writer. Wrote essays - clarion calls! - and translated for her father, amongst others. Open your mind on all things nineteenth century and start your re-reading of Demos here click
Fred T Jane - published his 'Jane's Fighting Ships'. An odd bod, very jingoistic and a part-time eugenisist. A fascist at heart. Moved to Southsea - to tread the same streets as Dickens, Meredith, Besant, Kipling, Conan Doyle, HG Wells, Peter Sellers and A Fan - but, alas, not as creatively. Spawned this click
Thomas Hardy - published Wessex Poems and Other Verses. Who hasn't read a Hardy or seen a film adaptation of one of his works? There are still new film versions of, for example, 'Far From the Madding Crowd' and the topic of Hardy's Women is always on the feminist agenda. click
George Bernard Shaw - published 'Arms and the Man' - political satire and unbelievable yarns going hand-in-hand. Plenty of scope for musical interpretation. One of the Fabians. Famously wrote: Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself - right up George's alley. click
Emile Zola published 'Paris'. And battled the Dreyfus Affair, bless his beautiful heart, with his letter to the press: 'J'Accuse'. Don't believe what George said of him - that was just jealousy. click
HG Wells published 'The War of the Worlds'. Who would have thought he would end up being such a major influence on twentieth century-and-beyond cultural life? A legend and a cult hero. Not bad for a former draper's apprentice! click
Jules Verne - published 'The Mighty Orinoco' (but not about the Womble of the same name!). His books are still made into films, particularly of the sci-fi persuasion. Without Verne, there would be no Steampunk. (Think about it - a world without Steampunk? If only...) And no Alan Moore! And where would we be without his (and David Lloyd's) graphic novel 'V for Vendetta'? click And graphic novels in general.
Jerome K Jerome - published 'The Second Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow' - getting up the wind to write 'Three Men in a Boat', published the following year - one of (British) English literature's best-loved books. click
Henry James - published 'The Turn of the Screw'. Still has a massive following, but Edith Wharton may have overtaken him in his niche, certainly with feminists. click
Kenneth Grahame - published 'Dream Days'. Thinking up Toad and Co, for Wind in the Willows? Where would Alan Bennett be without Toad? click
Joseph Conrad - published 'Tales of Unrest'. The rest is history. click Probably the best of the bunch. As relevant today as then. 'The horror, the horror!' is now in common parlance.
Arnold Bennett - published 'A Man From The North'. Big fan of George's work though George would not have been that flattered - Bennett was never a social climber. A much-loved author during the inter-war years here in the UK. Not quite so popular now, but that doesn't mean he isn't a good read. If it was only about popularity... click
L Frank Baum - published 'By the Candelabra's Glare'. A book of poems so lavishly illustrated and finished that it bankrupted its publisher. But L Frank went on to make many Friends of Dorothy very happy. There is nothing quite like Oz. So, click your heels three times...
Mary Elizabeth Braddon - published 'Rough Justice'. Earlier success with 'Lady Audley's Secret' makes her an indispensable read for anyone interested in women writers click. Or mariticide (a Victorian obsession exemplified by Mrs Florence Maybrick! Shock! Horror! Read all about it click)
Also in 1898:
Eric Maria Remarque was born. His 'All Quiet on the Western Front' is one of the best-loved anti-war books, read by young people everywhere, and turns warlike souls lamb-like. “It is very queer that the unhappiness of the world is so often brought on by small men.” - a prophetic quote from 'Quiet'. click Men, in general, some might say haha.
CS Lewis was born - and soon, wardrobes would never be the same again. click and click.
1898 was a pivotal year for George. He began it ill in bed, whilst in Rome, and the whole year was blighted by ill-health. The end was looming. Edith was giving Miss Orme a run for her money back home. Fever and insomnia dogged him. Alphonse Daudet had died of syphilis the previous month, and George may well have been brooding over his own perilous brush with his bout of paresis, which was to flare up once more later in the year. He was dosing himself with Scott's Emulsion, a wonder cure for all ills made from cod liver oil. It is difficult for us to appreciate the universal popularity of cod liver oil - in an 'emulsion' to help it stay down in the stomach as the fish smell was impossible to remove in the manufacturing process, and usually came back as wind - fishy wind! It was potentially iatrogenic because it seemed harmless and so people took it more often than recommended, and it prevented certain vitamins from being absorbed in the body - excreting them double-quick via explosive diarrhoea! Bertz wrote recommending Creosotal - a new patent treatment claiming to cure consumption; of course, it did no such thing, and in fact did much more harm than good click. George bought some and tried it but needed more guidance on how to take the stuff - and wrote to the German TB specialist Dr van Leyden click (also a specialist in tabes dorsalis) for advice. Only George would write to the top man for guidance about how to take a spoonful of patent medicine!
In the February of that year, Miss Collet put the wind up George by sending one of her old private diaries for him to read (what was she thinking of?) HG and Jane Wells arrived to keep him company in Rome and they became firmer friends. Mrs Rosalind Williams called. George returned to England, and finally gave Edith the slip for good and all, though he couldn't divorce her (despite the anonymous letter he received about Edith cohabiting with a man friend - would any man really have taken her and Alfred on, or could it be that she was not half as bad as George wrote she was??? The work of the minions Miss Orme and Miss Collet, one wonders). George's health continued to decline, his writing became even more of a chore, he learned to ride a bike.
And then, it all changed. A certain Gabrielle Fleury came into his life to offer her services. And that was it - he had finally found his life raft. He grabbed at the chance to have a helper, a nurse, a housekeeper and personal assistant all rolled up in one desperate-to-be-married bundle. The poor girl was doomed.
 |
| Louise Jopling 1879 |
George is often (well, at least once) described as a 'major late Victorian novelist' (we are expected to park the Ionian Sea and the Dickens and other essays to one side here), which may or may not be true - if you want to make your own mind up on that, please do. Seriously, he is often compared to the greats and placed next to Thomas Hardy - which would have miffed him!
I find it is too difficult to rank Art and Artists except along lines of I like/I dislike/I am indifferent to. Fashion sometimes dictates what is popular, and the vagaries of taste (whatever that is) often determines what is worthwhile but whatever I think is good says more about me than the Artwork. Of course, these sorts of terms are bogus, but where would academia be without them - or Amazon and google Play? Would George have described himself thus? I don't think so. Most of his novels and short-stories are interesting and thought-provoking, and obviously we all have our favourites, but sometimes, his prose can be a bit... wordy. George is not likely to light everyone's fire. Not that he wanted to - he wasn't interested in populism or popularity; he wanted a select readership club with very few members. (He's certainly got his wish haha!) If you 'get' Gissing, then you might be able to knock on the door of that club and gain entrance. But, just as with the Skull and Bones set, you might have to sell your soul to the Devil to fit in!
What of those who walked the Earth literally (well, metaphorically literally) in George's literary shadow? I mean, his contemporaries.
Let's take a look at one year when George was productive - 1898 (chosen, at random) to see what some of these peers were up to. This was the year The Royal Academy held a retrospective for their late member, John Everett Millais, who died in August 1896 - all these pictures are by Millais.
Dipping a toe into the rich sea of wikipedia throws up:
 |
| Cinderella 1881 |
Oscar Wilde - had won the Newdigate twenty years earlier for 'Ravenna'. In 1898, the Divine One released The Ballad of Reading Gaol onto our hearts and minds. Oscar Wilde is now a god. That's official. You don't need a click - if you do, then shame on you! But, here's one for the poem that gave us his line 'each man kills the thing he loves' click and click. (For those who don't know, Reading is pronounced Red-ing when it refers to the place).
Lewis Carroll died. Who hasn't weirded out on Alice? Major influence on the Surrealist Art movement. click Controversial re his photographs of Alice Liddell.
Stéphane Mallarmé - French Symbolist poet - died. Huge influence on the Dadaists and Futurist Art movements. click 'On the Road' would never have come into being without Mallarmé.
Eleanor Marx died - translator and socialist writer. Wrote essays - clarion calls! - and translated for her father, amongst others. Open your mind on all things nineteenth century and start your re-reading of Demos here click
Fred T Jane - published his 'Jane's Fighting Ships'. An odd bod, very jingoistic and a part-time eugenisist. A fascist at heart. Moved to Southsea - to tread the same streets as Dickens, Meredith, Besant, Kipling, Conan Doyle, HG Wells, Peter Sellers and A Fan - but, alas, not as creatively. Spawned this click
Thomas Hardy - published Wessex Poems and Other Verses. Who hasn't read a Hardy or seen a film adaptation of one of his works? There are still new film versions of, for example, 'Far From the Madding Crowd' and the topic of Hardy's Women is always on the feminist agenda. click
 |
| The Martyr of The Solway 1871 |
Emile Zola published 'Paris'. And battled the Dreyfus Affair, bless his beautiful heart, with his letter to the press: 'J'Accuse'. Don't believe what George said of him - that was just jealousy. click
HG Wells published 'The War of the Worlds'. Who would have thought he would end up being such a major influence on twentieth century-and-beyond cultural life? A legend and a cult hero. Not bad for a former draper's apprentice! click
Jules Verne - published 'The Mighty Orinoco' (but not about the Womble of the same name!). His books are still made into films, particularly of the sci-fi persuasion. Without Verne, there would be no Steampunk. (Think about it - a world without Steampunk? If only...) And no Alan Moore! And where would we be without his (and David Lloyd's) graphic novel 'V for Vendetta'? click And graphic novels in general.
Jerome K Jerome - published 'The Second Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow' - getting up the wind to write 'Three Men in a Boat', published the following year - one of (British) English literature's best-loved books. click
 |
| Mariana 1851 |
Kenneth Grahame - published 'Dream Days'. Thinking up Toad and Co, for Wind in the Willows? Where would Alan Bennett be without Toad? click
Joseph Conrad - published 'Tales of Unrest'. The rest is history. click Probably the best of the bunch. As relevant today as then. 'The horror, the horror!' is now in common parlance.
Arnold Bennett - published 'A Man From The North'. Big fan of George's work though George would not have been that flattered - Bennett was never a social climber. A much-loved author during the inter-war years here in the UK. Not quite so popular now, but that doesn't mean he isn't a good read. If it was only about popularity... click
L Frank Baum - published 'By the Candelabra's Glare'. A book of poems so lavishly illustrated and finished that it bankrupted its publisher. But L Frank went on to make many Friends of Dorothy very happy. There is nothing quite like Oz. So, click your heels three times...
Mary Elizabeth Braddon - published 'Rough Justice'. Earlier success with 'Lady Audley's Secret' makes her an indispensable read for anyone interested in women writers click. Or mariticide (a Victorian obsession exemplified by Mrs Florence Maybrick! Shock! Horror! Read all about it click)
 |
| Swallow, Swallow 1864 Can you find the bird? |
Eric Maria Remarque was born. His 'All Quiet on the Western Front' is one of the best-loved anti-war books, read by young people everywhere, and turns warlike souls lamb-like. “It is very queer that the unhappiness of the world is so often brought on by small men.” - a prophetic quote from 'Quiet'. click Men, in general, some might say haha.
CS Lewis was born - and soon, wardrobes would never be the same again. click and click.
1898 was a pivotal year for George. He began it ill in bed, whilst in Rome, and the whole year was blighted by ill-health. The end was looming. Edith was giving Miss Orme a run for her money back home. Fever and insomnia dogged him. Alphonse Daudet had died of syphilis the previous month, and George may well have been brooding over his own perilous brush with his bout of paresis, which was to flare up once more later in the year. He was dosing himself with Scott's Emulsion, a wonder cure for all ills made from cod liver oil. It is difficult for us to appreciate the universal popularity of cod liver oil - in an 'emulsion' to help it stay down in the stomach as the fish smell was impossible to remove in the manufacturing process, and usually came back as wind - fishy wind! It was potentially iatrogenic because it seemed harmless and so people took it more often than recommended, and it prevented certain vitamins from being absorbed in the body - excreting them double-quick via explosive diarrhoea! Bertz wrote recommending Creosotal - a new patent treatment claiming to cure consumption; of course, it did no such thing, and in fact did much more harm than good click. George bought some and tried it but needed more guidance on how to take the stuff - and wrote to the German TB specialist Dr van Leyden click (also a specialist in tabes dorsalis) for advice. Only George would write to the top man for guidance about how to take a spoonful of patent medicine!
 |
| Miss Eveleen Tennant 1874 |
And then, it all changed. A certain Gabrielle Fleury came into his life to offer her services. And that was it - he had finally found his life raft. He grabbed at the chance to have a helper, a nurse, a housekeeper and personal assistant all rolled up in one desperate-to-be-married bundle. The poor girl was doomed.
No comments:
Post a Comment