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Reflections about Life in Solitary Retirement,
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This review is from: The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft (Hardcover)
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft by George Gissing is part novel, partautobiography and partly a book of brief essays or reflections on various subjects. The book was published in 1903, the year that Gissing died. It presents a mellowed cynical author who after a difficult life spent mostly in London is given a legacy of an annual annuity which enables him to retire in solitude to a country cottage in Devon county, England. Here he writes down his reflections ranging from the philosophical meaning of life to comments on simple daily life. There is much about reading, books and authors (Holbrook Jackson in his The Anatomy of Bibliomania has many references to George Gissing). There are comments about nature walks in the country, memories of past events in London, visits to special places. There is discussion of English culture, customs and even of culinary arts. Gissing was not a Christian but in this book he shares a generally positive view of the influence of Christianity on England. He had in his own life also found solace in the Stoic philosophers, particularly Marcus Aurelius. My own personal copy of this book is the Oxford University Press 1987 paperback edition in their World's Classics series, with editorial notes by Mark Storey. I first read the volume late in 1990 as I was looking forward to my own gradual retirement to small town life. I have just read it again in early January 2004 with as much pleasure as I first read it.
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