Record Number: 21297

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Now [after 1890] he [Gissing] read books that seemed to have had a direct impact on his development, turning him away from working-class subjects (to which he never returned) and making him more interested in the nihilistic or purely intellectual attitudes of his characters than in those of them who had a Walter Egremont type of social conscience. Thus, he re-read Bourget, on [his friend] Bertz's recommendation looked at J.P. Jacobsen's "Niels Lyhne" and "Marie Grube", reread Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" (for the seventh time), reread Dostoevski, whom he recomended to his brother but disliked himself, once again mulled over Hardy's "The Woodlanders" and "The Mayor of Casterbridge" (he later said that "Jude" was poor stuff by comparison with these), and began to ponder Ibsen, starting with "Hedda Gabler".'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

From: 1 Jan 1890

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

George Gissing

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

22 Nov 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

author

Religion:

none

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Thomas Hardy

Title:

Mayor of Casterbridge, The

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

21297

Source:

Print

Author:

Michael Collie

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Alien Art. A Critical Study of George Gissing's Novels

Place of Publication:

Folkestone

Date of Publication:

1979

Vol:

n/a

Page:

137

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Michael Collie, The Alien Art. A Critical Study of George Gissing's Novels, (Folkestone, 1979), p. 137, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21297, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

None