Born In Exile (Paperback)

by George Gissing (Author)
Key Phrases: new sophistry, Godwin Peak, Miss Moxey, Miss Moorhouse (more...)

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Product Description
PART THE FIRST BORN IN EXILE - THE summer day in 1874 which closed the annual session of Whitelaw College was marked by a special the wonted distribution of academic ceremony, preceding rewards. At eleven in the morning just as a heavy shower fell from the smoke -canopy above the roaring streets the municipal authorities, educational dignitaries, and prominent burgesses of Kingsmill assembled on an open space before the college to unveil a statue of Sir Job Whitelaw. The honoured baronet had been six months dead. Living, he opposed the desire of his fellow-citizens to exhibit even on canvas his gnarled features and bald crown but when his modesty ceased to have a voice in the matter, no time was lost in raising a memorial of the great manufacturer, the selfmade millionaire, the borough member in three Parliaments, the enlightened and benevolent founder of an institute which had conferred humane distinction on the money-making Midland town. Beneath such a sky, orations were necessarily curtailed but Sir Job had always been impatient of much talk. An interval of two or three hours dispersed the rain-clouds and bestowed such grace of sunshine as Kingsmill might at this season temperately desire then, whilst the marble figure was getting dried, with soot-stains which already foretold its nigritude of a year hence, again streamed towards the college a varied multitude, official, parental, pupillary. The students had nothing distinctive in their garb, but here and there flitted the cap and gown of Professor or lecturer, signal for doffing of beavers along the line of its progress. Among the more deliberate of the throng was a slender, upright, ruddy-cheeked gentleman of middle age, accompanied by his wife and a daughter of sixteen. On alighting from a carriage, they first of all directed their steps towards the statue, conversing together with pleasant animation. The father Martin Warricombe, Esq. of Thornhaw, a small estate some five miles from Kingsmill, had a countenance suggestive of engaging qualities genial humour, mildness, a turn for meditation, perhaps for study. His attire was informal, as if he disliked abandoning the freedom of the country even when summoned to urban ceremonies. He wore a grey felt hat, and a light jacket which displayed the straightness of his shoulders. Mrs. Warricombe and her daughter were more fashionably equipped, with taste which proclaimed their social standing. Save her fresh yet delicate complexion the lady had no particular personal charm. Of the young girl it could only be said that she exhibited a graceful immaturity, with perchance a little more earnestness than is common at her age her voice, even when she spoke gaily, was seldom audible save by the person addressed. Coming to a pause before Sir Job, Mr. Warricombe put on a pair of eyeglasses which had dangled against his waistcoat, and began to scrutinise carefully the sculptured lineaments. He was addressing certain critical remarks to his companions when an interruption appeared in the form of a young man whose first words announced his relation to the group. I say, youre very late Therell be no getting a decent seat, if you dont mind. Leave Sir Job till afterwards. The statue somehow disappoints me, observed his father, placidly. Oh, it isnt bad, I think, returned the youth, in a voice not unlike his fathers, save for a note of excessive self-confidence. He looked about eighteen his comely countenance, with its air of robust health and habitual exhilaration, told of a boyhood passed amid free and joyous circumstances. It was the face of a young English plutocrat, with more of intellect than such visages are wont to betray the native vigour of his temperament had probably assimilated something of the modern spirit...

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Brown Press (October 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406724955
• ISBN-13: 978-1406724950
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our friend, the Charlatan., March 27, 2000

By	J. Scardaci "godwinwoll" (Cairo, New York USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Born in Exile (Everyman's Library (Paper)) (Paperback)

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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a slow yet thought-provoking slice of 1890s Britain.., February 26, 2001

By	lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Born in Exile (Everyman's Library (Paper)) (Paperback)

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.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overlooked Novel, December 8, 2004

By	disco75 "disco75" (State College, PA United States) - See all my reviews

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.