Drama in Muslin sounds like it could either be really good or an over-the-top melodrama that's parodied on radio. I noticed you had a very busy month. I am impressed by the size of your mojo. Regarding Gissing, the only other book of his I could find in the bookshops was The Whirlpool, and that's not as good/interesting. After that it's ebooks and specialist publishers. He was an interesting chap. His own life reads like Jude the Obscure.
Drama in Muslin is certainly an interesting one - I think it's kind of sarcastic enough not to be melodramatic, if you see what I mean, and I would highly recommend it. I think Gissing wrote a lot that's available on kindle, so I'm hoping to get to even more by him in the future.
Mill on the Floss was my first George Eliot and i have to say that i simply loved it. It was incredible to me...not just the plot but also just the writing. I have read two other George Eliots since then (all three in 2020) and i am truly in love. She and Hardy are my top two now. However, i can understand someone disliking her.
COMMENT CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS: The first Cathy in Wuthering Heights dies at around 16, in childbirth. At the beginning of the novel Lockwood meets her daughter, then during the night reads the first Cathy's writings which were written "some quarter of a century back" (chap 3) which would be in 1776 (Lockwood visits Wuthering Heights in 1801 - it's at the beginning of chapt 1). Heathcliff becomes 'angry' because of Cathy's brother's cruelty after Mr Earnshaw dies, which is why he takes revenge on the Earnshaws and Lintons (the latter for marrying Cathy).
In which chapter is there an age on her gravestone? I thought it might be at the end, when Lockwood looks at the graves, but it's not mentioned there. According to this website, she was 18: www.wuthering-heights.co.uk/wh/characters/catherine.php
muskndusk I just checked, she was 16 when she got married and 3 years later Heathcliff came back so she died a few months before her 19th birthday but I find it weird that it said 25 years old on the gravestone in the 2009 adaptation, unless I saw wrong lol
Maria C That sounds about right. 25 was probably poetic license on the part of the film; not sticking to the book. The Olivier film doesn't even include the second part of the novel, but ends at the first Catherine's death.
I am very intrigued by Uncle Silas! I have it on my list now. You can imagine having a favourite book as obscure as Mill on the Floss, I was so happy when I found Jen. Jen isn't a fan of the end either, I dunno, I kind of see why it had to happen. I hope I can write why I like it here without it seeming like I'm trying to bring you 'round, or contest how you feel, definitely am not, totally understand. Still. Outlet for my Victorian loves! I think even Eliot acknowledged the poor pacing and the cul-de-sac she'd worked the end into.But I still love Maggie, she is twice isolated. She is caught between her intense desire to be loved and accepted and her own implicit nature. She is transgressive in terms of Victorian ideologies-- which have been so ingrained and habitualised (currents, all those water metaphors lol) that someone like Maggie could NEVER have survived - for Eliot, once we become too reliant and unquestioning of social habits we become unaware of their strictures. Maggie should have been an asset to society, her life shouldn't have been a tragedy. And though the ending of this book is so puzzled over I think it was necessary because it was only then that she could obtain the love of her brother and an intensity her life never had. It's so so heartbreaking and I can admit it, also sloppy, but Maggie suffered an imposed unimaginative life.
I highly recommend Uncle Silas :) I think one of the things I find harder about Eliot's books is that I could almost love them, if they were slightly different, if you see what I mean? I can admire and appreciate what she's doing, but she's not doing it in a way that works for me. However, I had a flash of realisation when re-watching Jen's video on it, which made me understand her love for it more - I realised she loves The Mill on the Floss like I love Jude the Obscure - I know Jude the Obscure has problems, has one incident that is probably over-the-top, and is unrelentingly and sometimes unnecessarily miserable BUT I adore it, so, so much despite all that, because I love the writing and the dialogue and the characters so much.
I'd recommend starting with any of his. I started with the Nether World and loved it - I think all of his work is brilliant :) The Odd Women is the least depressing of the ones I've read, if that makes any difference for you!
I have read articles online that have accused Gissing of misogyny for some of his personal views. Apparently he thought most women were stupid, but that it was due to poor education. He also thought middle class women would rather stay single than marry a man who was not wealthy enough. I don't think his books are accused of misogyny. I have read two biographies that criticised Gissing for his attitude towards his two wives, who to be fair sound terrible. I don't think the biographies actually accused him of misogyny, but I definitely read it somewhere, because I thought it was unfair.
Correction: the Odd Women does get accused of misogyny. "The Odd Women, the novel by George Gissing detailing the ascendancy of this “new” or “odd” woman who in all likelihood would remain single and hence must make her own living, is even today a remarkable consideration of the “war” between the sexes. Yet, despite the portrayal of remarkable women in this novel, Gissing comes off both as an advocate for women’s rights and as a misogynist."
Ah, but that's much harder - how do I compare a novelist with 100 novels to one who wrote one book, or an author I've read all of to an author I've read barely a 10th of their work? One day, perhaps...
Odd Women - Mary & Rhoda? Any chance that was the reason behind the Mary Tyler Moore show naming?
No idea. I feel like The Odd Women probably isn't well-known enough for that?
Drama in Muslin sounds like it could either be really good or an over-the-top melodrama that's parodied on radio. I noticed you had a very busy month. I am impressed by the size of your mojo. Regarding Gissing, the only other book of his I could find in the bookshops was The Whirlpool, and that's not as good/interesting. After that it's ebooks and specialist publishers. He was an interesting chap. His own life reads like Jude the Obscure.
Drama in Muslin is certainly an interesting one - I think it's kind of sarcastic enough not to be melodramatic, if you see what I mean, and I would highly recommend it. I think Gissing wrote a lot that's available on kindle, so I'm hoping to get to even more by him in the future.
I totally agree about all things you said about The Odd Women!
It's such an interesting book :)
Mill on the Floss was my first George Eliot and i have to say that i simply loved it. It was incredible to me...not just the plot but also just the writing. I have read two other George Eliots since then (all three in 2020) and i am truly in love. She and Hardy are my top two now.
However, i can understand someone disliking her.
I just think her writing isn't quite for me.
COMMENT CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
The first Cathy in Wuthering Heights dies at around 16, in childbirth. At the beginning of the novel Lockwood meets her daughter, then during the night reads the first Cathy's writings which were written "some quarter of a century back" (chap 3) which would be in 1776 (Lockwood visits Wuthering Heights in 1801 - it's at the beginning of chapt 1).
Heathcliff becomes 'angry' because of Cathy's brother's cruelty after Mr Earnshaw dies, which is why he takes revenge on the Earnshaws and Lintons (the latter for marrying Cathy).
muskndusk 16?? Why does it say on her gravestone that she died at 25 years old then?
In which chapter is there an age on her gravestone? I thought it might be at the end, when Lockwood looks at the graves, but it's not mentioned there.
According to this website, she was 18: www.wuthering-heights.co.uk/wh/characters/catherine.php
muskndusk I just checked, she was 16 when she got married and 3 years later Heathcliff came back so she died a few months before her 19th birthday but I find it weird that it said 25 years old on the gravestone in the 2009 adaptation, unless I saw wrong lol
Maria C That sounds about right. 25 was probably poetic license on the part of the film; not sticking to the book. The Olivier film doesn't even include the second part of the novel, but ends at the first Catherine's death.
Thank you for all the hard work you put into Victober. I loved every minute of it! Are you going to review some Dickens for Christmas?
Hopefully :) And potentially a few Victorian Christmas stories by other authors :)
Yay!!
I am very intrigued by Uncle Silas! I have it on my list now.
You can imagine having a favourite book as obscure as Mill on the Floss, I was so happy when I found Jen. Jen isn't a fan of the end either, I dunno, I kind of see why it had to happen. I hope I can write why I like it here without it seeming like I'm trying to bring you 'round, or contest how you feel, definitely am not, totally understand. Still. Outlet for my Victorian loves! I think even Eliot acknowledged the poor pacing and the cul-de-sac she'd worked the end into.But I still love Maggie, she is twice isolated. She is caught between her intense desire to be loved and accepted and her own implicit nature. She is transgressive in terms of Victorian ideologies-- which have been so ingrained and habitualised (currents, all those water metaphors lol) that someone like Maggie could NEVER have survived - for Eliot, once we become too reliant and unquestioning of social habits we become unaware of their strictures. Maggie should have been an asset to society, her life shouldn't have been a tragedy. And though the ending of this book is so puzzled over I think it was necessary because it was only then that she could obtain the love of her brother and an intensity her life never had. It's so so heartbreaking and I can admit it, also sloppy, but Maggie suffered an imposed unimaginative life.
I highly recommend Uncle Silas :)
I think one of the things I find harder about Eliot's books is that I could almost love them, if they were slightly different, if you see what I mean? I can admire and appreciate what she's doing, but she's not doing it in a way that works for me. However, I had a flash of realisation when re-watching Jen's video on it, which made me understand her love for it more - I realised she loves The Mill on the Floss like I love Jude the Obscure - I know Jude the Obscure has problems, has one incident that is probably over-the-top, and is unrelentingly and sometimes unnecessarily miserable BUT I adore it, so, so much despite all that, because I love the writing and the dialogue and the characters so much.
Such a wonderful wrap up! Btw would you recommend starting with New Grub Street if I've never read Gissing or should I pick up another novel?
I'd recommend starting with any of his. I started with the Nether World and loved it - I think all of his work is brilliant :) The Odd Women is the least depressing of the ones I've read, if that makes any difference for you!
I absolutely love the ghost stories of M.R. James! But I think he is more of an Edwardian than a Victorian.
Yeah, I was sceptical of his inclusion in that anthology! I need to read more by him.
How can someone hate George Eliot? makes med doubt your other recommendations.
I 100% support the "feminist victorians"
Interestingly, Gissing was a feminist who gets accused of misogyny.
Thanks!
I'm curious Kevin - what book/books of us gets accused of misogyny? The Odd Women, or others?
I have read articles online that have accused Gissing of misogyny for some of his personal views. Apparently he thought most women were stupid, but that it was due to poor education. He also thought middle class women would rather stay single than marry a man who was not wealthy enough. I don't think his books are accused of misogyny. I have read two biographies that criticised Gissing for his attitude towards his two wives, who to be fair sound terrible. I don't think the biographies actually accused him of misogyny, but I definitely read it somewhere, because I thought it was unfair.
Correction: the Odd Women does get accused of misogyny. "The Odd Women, the novel by George Gissing detailing the ascendancy of this “new” or “odd” woman who in all likelihood would remain single and hence must make her own living, is even today a remarkable consideration of the “war” between the sexes. Yet, despite the portrayal of remarkable women in this novel, Gissing comes off both as an advocate for women’s rights and as a misogynist."
You've ranked Vic novels. Care to rank Vic novelists? If that happens I don't think the highbrow novelists are going to do very well.
Ah, but that's much harder - how do I compare a novelist with 100 novels to one who wrote one book, or an author I've read all of to an author I've read barely a 10th of their work? One day, perhaps...