Download Your Copy The House Of Cobwebs Designed By George Gissing Distributed In Paperback

delightful set of short stories, They are like slices of life exquisitely executed glimpses, A couple were slightly unsatisfactory ending abruptly, I was particularly happy that it ended with a lovely and satisfying story the Pig and Whistle, Gissing's Short Stories

In tbe midst of a troubled and short life, George Gissingwrote prolifically about late Victorian England.
His novels and stories have the charcoalgray, realistic character of a writer who was trying to portray what he saw, Gissing's themes include portraying the unclassed, alienated intellectual or writer a theme with autobiographical significance, the life of the poor and lowermiddle classes in London, the effects of class structure upon human relations, the impact of materialism and commercialism on English life, and relations between men and women.
He pursued these themes not only in his novels but in his short stories as well,

There are two published compilations of Gissing short stories, "Human Odds and Ends" and "The House of Cobwebs," together with various uncollected tales.
"The House of Cobwebs" was posthumously published inand is probably the stronger of the two collections, For many years, the story collections were difficult of access, Fortunately, with the coming of digitalization, virtually all of Gissing's writings are accessible, They will reward reading. At certain times of my life, in certain sad moods, I have turned to Gissing and he has spoken to me as few other writers.


"The House of

Cobwebs" consists of fifteen stories, including the title story, The value of these stories consists in their characterizations and in their situations, Each story generally focuses on a single main character and develops the background and circumstances necessary to understand the person, After setting out the characters and their dilemmas, the stories frequently resolve in a way that seems anticlimactic, While the reader may be led to expect a dramatic resolution, Gissing's stories sometimes just come to a halt, The stories are wellwritten, thoughtful, and realistic, if undramatic, In "The House of Cobwebs" Gissing for the most part explores his pessimistic themes, But unlike most of his works, including the stories in the "Human Odds and Ends" volume, the characters in these stories are better off at the end, materially or emotionally, than they were at the beginning.


The title story is set in a deteriorating London rooming house which its proprietor, Spicer, has inherited and is about to lose because he only holds a lease for a term of years.
He takes a lodger,Goldthorpe, a poor, young, aspiring novelist based in part on Gissing himself who is willing to accept shabby rooms in order to complete his first novel in peace.
The two men gradually become friends with the landlord proud to share his quarters with a literary man, Goldthorpe finally gets his novel published to Spicer's great delight, The story ends with Spicer feeling a a sense of hope in his life even after a serious accident and the impending loss of his property.


Other good stories in the collection include "The Capitalist" and "Christopherson" both of which involve struggling writers or bibliophiles and the effects of their strong passion for books on those around them.
The story "Humplebee" is one of Gissing's best, It tells of a poor young lad at school on a scholarship who saves a wealthy fellowstudent from drowning, The student's father tries to reward Humplebee by offering him a place in his firm, a job for which Humplebee has neither interest nor aptitude.
After several twists and turns and near disasters, the story comes out well for poor Humplebee,

In "Miss Rodney's Leisure", Gissing turns to the world of landladies and poor rooming houses and tells the story of how a strongwilled young woman makes a satisfactory life in shabby quarters and helps her landlady and her family as well.
The story "Topham's Chance" tells of a young educated man who has hired himself out to a questionable character to prepare people for examinations of diverse types.
Topham is able to seize an opportunity to achieve success and end his drudgery, A darker story in the collection is "A Lodger in Maze Pond" in which the protagonist, living in a rooming house, ruins his life by proposing to marry the servant in the house just as he inherits a large fortune.
The story "The Salt of the Earth" is rare for Gissing, as he describes the life of a man, Thomas Bird, who perseveres in kindness and goodwill to the people he meets in spite of his poor,unrewarding life as a clerk.
The final story, "The Pig and Whistle" is a bittersweet story of a romance in midlife between two lonely people,

These stories will most interest readers who already know Gissing through "New Grub Street" , "The Odd Women" or through his other novels.
The stories also will appeal to readers interested in late Victorian England and its similarities and differences from our own times, The stories have a character, however restrained, all their own,

Robin Friedman This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original, Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages, Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
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sitelinkThe Emancipated, VolumeWell read but pointless stories.
DNF I actually only read The Pig and Whistle but I couldn't find just that story on Goodreads although I was able to find it alone on audiobook.
Anyway, interesting author and I will check out more of his stuff, .