Born In Exile

It seems astounding to me that Gissing is so over-looked, as he has much to offer readers. It seems that his body of work is unjustifiably ignored even by afficianados of Victorian fiction and persons interested in the transformations from late 1800s into the modern, industrial 20th century. Gissing was a writer who did not feel compelled to make genteel his understanding of human nature and romanticize the characters in his plots. He seemed intent on reflecting the temperaments, divided interests, internal conflicts, fickleness, aspirations, and behaviors of his flawed, realistic players. He did not play to the emotions as much as Dickens-- Gissing was prone to reality-based turns of events and did not sensationalize the tragedy. Instead, he was attuned to a more realistic psychology. His characters' goals AND subconscious motivations fuel the plots. He had much to observe about social mores of his time and about changes in religion, philosophy, social strata, and gender roles. Born In Exile, like The Odd Women, is not as tragic or uncomfortable as one might expect from the press Gissing has gotten. I highly recommend these books for serious readers.

While Born in Exile is certainly a novel, it is actually a study of the spiritual/social upheavals during 1890s Britain. The aristocracy was losing its hold on power in the media, government and the church to the 'radicals', namely the emerging working class in democratic society. The main character in this novel is caught in the crossroads. On the one hand he aspires for the wealth and prestige found in the aristocracy, yet his background is humble and his spiritual beliefs are very modern (eg, he believes in evolution). His disgust of his working-class family and friends drive him to become a country 'gentleman' at all costs ... to the extent of becoming a complete charleton, abusing people's kind graces and forfeiting his own strongly-held religious beliefs. The end result is not entirely predictable.Born in Exile is a very intense read. It does plod along with excessive philisophical bantering. But the second half does move along at a reasonable pace and, overall, it is a worthy read.Bottom line: Gissing fans will love Born in Exile. George Gissing newbies should first read New Grub Street, his masterpiece.

George Gissing is not a name most people would recognize as one of the great Victorian novelists.Though always admired by those who experienced his powerful and original work,he never achieved the wide readership that the critically underrated Trollope has,let alone the perennial favorites-the Brontes and Dickens.Even obviously lesser yet talented authors such as Wilkie Collins,Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Marie Corelli are certainly more read today than Gissing.Yet he was best English novelist(along with Thomas Hardy and Robert Louis Stevenson) of the late Victorian era with his unsparing realism and trenchant observations on class and manners filtered through a nervous and uncertain sensibility.His comparative obscurity may be due to the reputation his work has for being depressing(it is not)and his iconoclasm-he was an agnostic maverick whose criticisms of capitalism,religion and sex still will unease those seeking in Victorian literature an escape to simpler,kinder times.What is most remarkable about George Gissing(and sometimes most poignant)is that he had no set philosophy and was himself unable to extract concrete and assuring meanings from life even as he attempted to depict and explicate it."Born in Exile" tells the story of one Godwin Peake,a poor,socially insecure but brilliant college graduate whose yearnings to belong to the "respectable" world clash with his intellectual rejection of its conservatism. Peake,an atheist,shares little sympathy with his poor religious family and is humiliated by the "commoness" of some of his relations' work.Overly sensitive and with only his intelligence to support his pride,Peake happens to be invited to the home of a good natured but popular college hero,whose wealth and breeding expose him to a world he has only dreamed about.Peake there meets his kind studious clergyman father and beautiful graceful sister,and being subjected for the first time to respect,interest and charm,he begins to find himself doing anything to fit in-including initiating a series of lies to mask his radical opinions."Born in Exile" powerfully portrays the complexities of living a double life;its critical yet sympathetic treatment of its protagonist humanely examines the limited and cloudy choices of "this prison called life" and the merciless and clearcut repercussions that entail.In addition,"Born in Exile" is autobiographical-a similiar situation happened to Gissing in reality. George Gissing wrote many great novels in the 1890's-this is an excellent and memorable place(if you are a neophyte )to start. END