196. New Grub Street

New Grub Street
George Gissing
1891
Around 500 pages

Authors love writing about writing. I actually just finished writing my first novel, so I relate a lot to the angst and bitterness expressed in these pages. Still, it's difficult for me to ascertain if this would be a total yawn to non writers (otherwise known as normies) or not.

Three writers of very different temperaments are described in this novel. We follow their failures and successes (but mostly failures) and in doing so, get a fairly strong grasp on what Gissing thinks of the modern literary scene. Edward Reardon is a talented writer, but his books have little commercial value. Unable to provide for his family through his writing, he consents to take a clerkship which humiliates his wife. Harold Biffin refuses to write anything other than Literature, and thus lives a penniless existence. And finally, Jasper Milvain is a cynical writer who attaches little importance to artistic integrity. Or any kind of integrity really.

Gissing nails almost every emotion that authors can experience: frustration at writer's block, bitterness at the perceived inferiority of popular fiction, and the mental tug of war that writers experience where sometimes we think we are geniuses and other times mindless hacks. Like I said, I'm not entirely sure this would be of interest to somebody who just wants to read a good story, but as a writer I found it very relatable.

Gissing is also really funny, but I am abstaining from giving this five stars only because it did drag on longer than was necessary.  I'm eager to read the next Gissing novel on the List. Only four more books before the big 200!

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Title refers to London's Grub Street, which was known for its concentration of hack writers and struggling poets.

UP NEXT: News from Nowhere by William Morris.

195. Gosta Berling's Saga

Gosta Berling's Saga
Selma Lagerlof
1891
Around 450 pages

It is very exciting for me to see a female writer on the List, especially in this century, as they are few and far between. Still, I have always struggled with the Swedish writers on this List and unfortunately, Selma is no exception.

It's hard to summarize the plot of this novel, as it is more a collection of strange events than a cohesive narrative. At the center of most (but by no means all) of these adventures is Gosta Berling, a defrocked minister (fun drinking game idea: take a shot everytime someone refers to Gosta as "defrocked") who is ousted from the church for drinking so much. He lies in the snowdrift waiting to die (a common strategy for the characters in this story), but is saved by the Mistress of Ekeby. She lets him become one of her pensioners in her manor. Some weird shit goes down.

What an odd story. One moment our characters are dealing with smallpox and abusive fathers; the next moment a wood nymph is walking around town with her tail between her legs. Lagerof has a unique voice; it is remarkably old-fashioned, flowery, and at times very amusing. There is a great passage at the beginning of the story where she describes an argument between the hills and the plains over how the landscape should look.

And truthfully, the beginnings of the chapters were my favorite parts. Her style really shone in introductions, but I wasn't entirely interested in any of the weird plots she was recounting. There was just too much of a disconnect for me to empathize with any of the characters, as I had a hard time understanding the "rules" of the world she was creating. Maybe the point was that they weren't any rules, but the confusion of what was going on definitely hindered my enjoyment.

Still, the novel isn't short and Selma's style can begin to wear after a bit (there is only so many times that you can read a plea to Eros before it gets a tad old). Unfortunately, it is still the best Swedish novel I have read, and thus gets three stars.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

In 1924, the novel was adapted as a silent film, starring the then unknown Greta Garbo.

Selma Lagerlof is the first female writer to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.

UP NEXT: New Grub Street by George Gissing. Five more until the big 200!