“If I had the means, I should have devoted myself to the life of a scholar. That, I quite believe, is my natural life, it’s only the influence of recent circumstances that has made me a writer of novels.”
Reardon feels the pressure of previous success and the ‘industrial manufacture’ of novels in the face of financial stress and seems driven into a deep illness, as Jasper identifies. What is that illness and what is its origin? His spirit is sick, he’s even questioning his vocation. He’s paralyzed. I feel for Reardon.
I wonder - isn’t what Jasper is doing something quite different from Reardon? To me, it seems like Jasper is writing short pieces for magazines, which seems hard to compare directly to writing novels.
Edwin and Jasper both hold definite ideas about who they are and their literary limitations. I can't help but be frustrated by their self-affirmations - it seems they entertain no prospects for change in their interests or capabilities. They pretend to know themselves so well.
As Jasper exults over his new prospects, Edwin replies, "that's the kind of thing that inspires me with envy. I could know more write such a paper than an article on Fluxions." And Jasper says, "I have the special faculty of extempore writer. Never in my life shall I do anything of solid literary value; I shall always despise the people I ride for." (Meanwhile, he has no problem imagining the significant change for his sisters as he says, "I'm going to set my sisters afloat in literature."
Later in the chapter Edwin admits that he seriously doubts that he will ever be able to write again. Jasper doesn't help the matter when Edwin speculates on working in a newspaper office and Jasper replies, "you are the last man to have anything to do with journalism."
I appreciate your observation: “They pretend to know themselves so well.” I wonder if that isn’t part of what makes them such interesting characters to follow. We feel we perhaps know better. A compliment to Gissing, I think.
I do think your on to something with the Edwin/Jasper comparison. At first, I assumed that the novel presented two archetypes- the virtual artist swimming against convention vs. the materialists opportunist who cares nothing about art. And there is something to this. But Gissing too fine of a writer and is onto something bigger. Edwin is also motivated by success and the opinion of others. His temperament and talents just don't allow him success.
What I find missing here is any sense that any of these writers take any joy in the practice of their art. As you say, Edwin seems primarily motivated by the reception of his work - and doesn't appear to take any joy in the work itself. It is hard to see him as anything but a dilattente (and therefore effectively more like Jasper than he is different from him)
I really enjoyed the conversation between Jasper and Amy, and I was surprised in the way that Jasper was so open about his musings regarding Marian. "She has a capital head. Odd girl; very odd girl! Quiet, thoughtful - not very happy, I'm afraid. Seems to think with dread of a return to books." (From that scene with the train, I had thought that Marian was averse to the city life, but Jasper could be right that it's her required (?) reading that weighs upon her).
I think he might be clutching at straws in trying to find fault with Marian - I get the impression he’s already smitten and fears for his plan of marrying into money.
Reardon's line in today's chapter struck me: A man who can’t journalise, yet must earn his bread by literature, nowadays inevitably turns to fiction, as the Elizabethan men turned to the drama.
I know popular literature changes over time but this seems such a strange pecking order. I suppose to Reardon and others at the time, new journalism seemed more lucrative with its possibility of constant payments; yet he compares his contemporary novelists with the "Elizabethans" pounding out popular drama....I love thinking of Shakespeare and his Kings Men as everyday hacks churning out bawdy masterpieces to please their theater-hungry populace.
On Gissing's line: “I must marry someone with money, and a good deal of it.” Yiyun reflects: One has to acknowledge Jasper Milvain’s practical ambition. Men and women like Jasper are part of the force that keeps literature going.
It does seem a bit depressing, but I was reminded of dancers I know, female, who married wealthy men and were able to keep their dance companies going. (This happens in non-hetero couples, btw; my examples just happen to be such.) There was something understood in it all. Choices/tradeoffs made to support their ambition and their art where money was scarce. A sad truth to negotiate perhaps, but indeed part of the force that kept their work going.
These chapter titles leave much to be desired. I had to look back to recall this chapter’s title. I might have called this chapter “Herculean Labors” since mental work is work, even if it’s not always productive. Im certainly over-interpreting, but my mind is stretching to make this novel more pertinent than it maybe is... so thinking about gender roles when it comes to care work, and who doles advice and whose advice will be accepted is important now and was important then.
In ch. 5, there befell an incident which was to control the rest of Readon’s life (meeting Amy). I misread and thought I saw “befell an accident. I love the contrast of Reardon who so far has drifted through life’s challenges and opportunities with Jasper who’s vying for control: “I must marry someone with money...”. Their friendship makes sense to me; hopefully a good team.
More fun with names: Jasper is referred to the publishing house of Jolly and Monk. Jasper "went off this morning and saw Monk himself - no Jolly exists at present." There is no jolly in the publishing industry, only the industries monk.
"That vast broadening of my horizon lost me the command of my literary resources. I lived in Italy and Greece as a student, concerned especially with the old civilizations; I read little but Greek and Latin. That brought me out of the track I had laboriously made for myself I have often thought with disgust of the kind of work I had been doing; my novels seemed vapid stuff so wretchedly and shallowly modern." I have read that New Grub Street is intensely autobiographical, so I am trying to piece together Gissing's true feelings about his life and art. I am assuming Reardon would be modeled after Gissing and Jasper would be the contrasting view or more accurately the cynical side of Gissing? In the above quote is he saying he became so enamored of classical literature that popular literature seemed foolish. Isn't his real frustration with the "unenlightened pubic" that doesn't appreciate his intelligence/writing? Reardon is searching for blame for his lack of success but he is banging his head against the wall if he wants mass appeal for writing in a classical style. By definition "elite" not the "masses". I am rambling but am more and more curious about the man, George Gissing. Did Gissing's novels have mass appeal?
I loved the throwaway 'You see! you see!' cried Jasper, forgetting all about the infant in the next room...' - forgetting not just about the sleeping baby but also about the very different circumstances his friend is in, as he starts to boast about his own luck!
“he knew that everything depended on influences he could not even foresee.” This is meant in both the specific sense - the various opinions of others in the industry were going to control Reardon's fate. But also in the general sense that the economics of the literary industry are the real control.
The description of the novel as "so wretchedly and shallowly modern" caused me to stop and ponder the apparent tension between "high scholarship" and "mass appeal" at the time, and why it was "literary merit" that created such a crucible of "worth." As a teacher, I am struck (sadly!) by a contemporary irony - the novel is no longer experienced by students/many readers as "so wretchedly and shallowly modern" but instead as "wretchedly and shallowly traditional" (something that requires too much effort, relative to its value in a world of increasing expediency). My most joyous moments as a teacher are those that foster a moment of "modern" relevance discovered (by a student) within a novel. Nothing "wretched" or "shallow" about uncovering and embracing a novel's window into humanity. Ahhh, perhaps I am a "modern" idealist.
"The great Fadge himself...[was] the rosiest and dumpiest little dandy you can imagine." Gissing has a lot of fun describing the walk-on characters who hold the spotlight for a moment.
The conversation between Jasper and Amy confirms my notion that they would work in concert as a couple. Money would still be a problem, as neither is independently wealthy, but if they were living now, they'd be in business together.
Neither Jasper nor Reardon had heard of Fadge before the debacle of the dueling reviews. "Remarkable what a number of illustrious obscure are going about," Jasper remarks. I feel something like this when I discover an author who has been publishing awhile. How did I miss this person? There seem to be many of them. Illustrious obscure is an apt term. I think it's a marketing issue. So many books are published, but a few names dominate.
And finally, Reardon's assessment coincides with my feeling about him after the last chapter. "If I had had the means, I should have devoted myself to the life of a scholar. That, I quite believe, is my natural life." Yes.
It seems to me that Reardon is clinically depressed and likely has been for most of his life. I hope he finds some way to crawl out of it -- for his sake and the reader’s. As for Amy, I’d like Gissing to stop calling her cold. She’s doing a pretty good job in a very difficult situation. As for Jasper, he’s obnoxious but he comes across as a breath of fresh air given the constrained way most of the other characters speak and behave.
“If I had the means, I should have devoted myself to the life of a scholar. That, I quite believe, is my natural life, it’s only the influence of recent circumstances that has made me a writer of novels.”
Reardon feels the pressure of previous success and the ‘industrial manufacture’ of novels in the face of financial stress and seems driven into a deep illness, as Jasper identifies. What is that illness and what is its origin? His spirit is sick, he’s even questioning his vocation. He’s paralyzed. I feel for Reardon.
I wonder - isn’t what Jasper is doing something quite different from Reardon? To me, it seems like Jasper is writing short pieces for magazines, which seems hard to compare directly to writing novels.
Edwin and Jasper both hold definite ideas about who they are and their literary limitations. I can't help but be frustrated by their self-affirmations - it seems they entertain no prospects for change in their interests or capabilities. They pretend to know themselves so well.
As Jasper exults over his new prospects, Edwin replies, "that's the kind of thing that inspires me with envy. I could know more write such a paper than an article on Fluxions." And Jasper says, "I have the special faculty of extempore writer. Never in my life shall I do anything of solid literary value; I shall always despise the people I ride for." (Meanwhile, he has no problem imagining the significant change for his sisters as he says, "I'm going to set my sisters afloat in literature."
Later in the chapter Edwin admits that he seriously doubts that he will ever be able to write again. Jasper doesn't help the matter when Edwin speculates on working in a newspaper office and Jasper replies, "you are the last man to have anything to do with journalism."
I appreciate your observation: “They pretend to know themselves so well.” I wonder if that isn’t part of what makes them such interesting characters to follow. We feel we perhaps know better. A compliment to Gissing, I think.
Good point!
I do think your on to something with the Edwin/Jasper comparison. At first, I assumed that the novel presented two archetypes- the virtual artist swimming against convention vs. the materialists opportunist who cares nothing about art. And there is something to this. But Gissing too fine of a writer and is onto something bigger. Edwin is also motivated by success and the opinion of others. His temperament and talents just don't allow him success.
What I find missing here is any sense that any of these writers take any joy in the practice of their art. As you say, Edwin seems primarily motivated by the reception of his work - and doesn't appear to take any joy in the work itself. It is hard to see him as anything but a dilattente (and therefore effectively more like Jasper than he is different from him)
I really enjoyed the conversation between Jasper and Amy, and I was surprised in the way that Jasper was so open about his musings regarding Marian. "She has a capital head. Odd girl; very odd girl! Quiet, thoughtful - not very happy, I'm afraid. Seems to think with dread of a return to books." (From that scene with the train, I had thought that Marian was averse to the city life, but Jasper could be right that it's her required (?) reading that weighs upon her).
Jasper seems the odd one to me. He goes on again about Marian’s head! Very odd man!
I think he might be clutching at straws in trying to find fault with Marian - I get the impression he’s already smitten and fears for his plan of marrying into money.
Perhaps he is a follower of the fashionable 19th century science of Craniometry!
Interestingly, Gissing’s later book is titled “Odd Women”
Reardon's line in today's chapter struck me: A man who can’t journalise, yet must earn his bread by literature, nowadays inevitably turns to fiction, as the Elizabethan men turned to the drama.
I know popular literature changes over time but this seems such a strange pecking order. I suppose to Reardon and others at the time, new journalism seemed more lucrative with its possibility of constant payments; yet he compares his contemporary novelists with the "Elizabethans" pounding out popular drama....I love thinking of Shakespeare and his Kings Men as everyday hacks churning out bawdy masterpieces to please their theater-hungry populace.
On Gissing's line: “I must marry someone with money, and a good deal of it.” Yiyun reflects: One has to acknowledge Jasper Milvain’s practical ambition. Men and women like Jasper are part of the force that keeps literature going.
It does seem a bit depressing, but I was reminded of dancers I know, female, who married wealthy men and were able to keep their dance companies going. (This happens in non-hetero couples, btw; my examples just happen to be such.) There was something understood in it all. Choices/tradeoffs made to support their ambition and their art where money was scarce. A sad truth to negotiate perhaps, but indeed part of the force that kept their work going.
These chapter titles leave much to be desired. I had to look back to recall this chapter’s title. I might have called this chapter “Herculean Labors” since mental work is work, even if it’s not always productive. Im certainly over-interpreting, but my mind is stretching to make this novel more pertinent than it maybe is... so thinking about gender roles when it comes to care work, and who doles advice and whose advice will be accepted is important now and was important then.
In ch. 5, there befell an incident which was to control the rest of Readon’s life (meeting Amy). I misread and thought I saw “befell an accident. I love the contrast of Reardon who so far has drifted through life’s challenges and opportunities with Jasper who’s vying for control: “I must marry someone with money...”. Their friendship makes sense to me; hopefully a good team.
Opposites attract in friendships, too.
More fun with names: Jasper is referred to the publishing house of Jolly and Monk. Jasper "went off this morning and saw Monk himself - no Jolly exists at present." There is no jolly in the publishing industry, only the industries monk.
"That vast broadening of my horizon lost me the command of my literary resources. I lived in Italy and Greece as a student, concerned especially with the old civilizations; I read little but Greek and Latin. That brought me out of the track I had laboriously made for myself I have often thought with disgust of the kind of work I had been doing; my novels seemed vapid stuff so wretchedly and shallowly modern." I have read that New Grub Street is intensely autobiographical, so I am trying to piece together Gissing's true feelings about his life and art. I am assuming Reardon would be modeled after Gissing and Jasper would be the contrasting view or more accurately the cynical side of Gissing? In the above quote is he saying he became so enamored of classical literature that popular literature seemed foolish. Isn't his real frustration with the "unenlightened pubic" that doesn't appreciate his intelligence/writing? Reardon is searching for blame for his lack of success but he is banging his head against the wall if he wants mass appeal for writing in a classical style. By definition "elite" not the "masses". I am rambling but am more and more curious about the man, George Gissing. Did Gissing's novels have mass appeal?
I loved the throwaway 'You see! you see!' cried Jasper, forgetting all about the infant in the next room...' - forgetting not just about the sleeping baby but also about the very different circumstances his friend is in, as he starts to boast about his own luck!
“he knew that everything depended on influences he could not even foresee.” This is meant in both the specific sense - the various opinions of others in the industry were going to control Reardon's fate. But also in the general sense that the economics of the literary industry are the real control.
The description of the novel as "so wretchedly and shallowly modern" caused me to stop and ponder the apparent tension between "high scholarship" and "mass appeal" at the time, and why it was "literary merit" that created such a crucible of "worth." As a teacher, I am struck (sadly!) by a contemporary irony - the novel is no longer experienced by students/many readers as "so wretchedly and shallowly modern" but instead as "wretchedly and shallowly traditional" (something that requires too much effort, relative to its value in a world of increasing expediency). My most joyous moments as a teacher are those that foster a moment of "modern" relevance discovered (by a student) within a novel. Nothing "wretched" or "shallow" about uncovering and embracing a novel's window into humanity. Ahhh, perhaps I am a "modern" idealist.
"The great Fadge himself...[was] the rosiest and dumpiest little dandy you can imagine." Gissing has a lot of fun describing the walk-on characters who hold the spotlight for a moment.
The conversation between Jasper and Amy confirms my notion that they would work in concert as a couple. Money would still be a problem, as neither is independently wealthy, but if they were living now, they'd be in business together.
Neither Jasper nor Reardon had heard of Fadge before the debacle of the dueling reviews. "Remarkable what a number of illustrious obscure are going about," Jasper remarks. I feel something like this when I discover an author who has been publishing awhile. How did I miss this person? There seem to be many of them. Illustrious obscure is an apt term. I think it's a marketing issue. So many books are published, but a few names dominate.
And finally, Reardon's assessment coincides with my feeling about him after the last chapter. "If I had had the means, I should have devoted myself to the life of a scholar. That, I quite believe, is my natural life." Yes.
It seems to me that Reardon is clinically depressed and likely has been for most of his life. I hope he finds some way to crawl out of it -- for his sake and the reader’s. As for Amy, I’d like Gissing to stop calling her cold. She’s doing a pretty good job in a very difficult situation. As for Jasper, he’s obnoxious but he comes across as a breath of fresh air given the constrained way most of the other characters speak and behave.