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Edmund Gosse

Father & Son: A Study of Two Temperaments (Nonsuch Classics) Paperback – August 1, 2005

by Edmund Gosse (Author)

3.6 24 ratings

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Father & Son is the memoir of the childhood and young adulthood of the author Edmund Gosse. Both his parents were members of the religious sect the "Plymouth Brethren," and it was in an atmosphere of strict adherence to the teaching of this religion that Edmund grew up. From an early age he was taught that imagination was a sin, was told stories of missionaries rather than fairytales, and had no childhood companions. Yet this was not an unhappy childhood and his affection for his parents is clear, but they were unable to suppress the imagination and curiosity that is natural to every child. Over time, as the child suffers the death of his mother and grows into a young man, he starts to question the faith of his father so rigidly enforced upon him and to develop his own interests in the outside world, which leads to him pursuing his own path in life. This is an affecting and often emotional portrayal of the everyday life and crises of a remarkable Victorian family.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Nonsuch Publishing
Publication date

August 1, 2005
Dimensions

4.9 x 0.74 x 6.4 inches
ISBN-10

1845880188
ISBN-13

978-1845880187
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Edmund Gosse
117
Paperback
52 offers from $3.43

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edmund William Gosse was born in 1849, the son of zoologist Philip Henry Gosse. In 1870 he co-authored Madrigals, Songs and Sonnets with John Blaikie. As well as composing poetry, Gosses passion for reading led him to study European literature, and he introduced Ibsen to the English public. Father and Son was published anonymously in 1907.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Nonsuch Publishing (August 1, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1845880188
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1845880187
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.9 x 0.74 x 6.4 inches

Customer Reviews:
3.6 24 ratings

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3.6 out of 5

24 global ratings

5 star		54%
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3 star		16%
2 star		13%
1 star		17%

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Top reviews from the United States

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TRJansen

zero stars, fraud, rip-off, scam

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

fake book printed the day i ordered it!!. font size is unreadable, so so so small. no page numbers , no back cover copy, no contents page or spine print.
unreadable. give me my money back you fraud. why are people even bothering to run this scam?

Helpful

Angela L.

Photo copied pages, amateur typesetting difficult to read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

The pages are photo copy quality. There is weird formatting, repeated out of place headings, tabs and text.

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Robert W. Moore

A justly celebrated memoir of the Victorian age

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 30, 2009

Edmund Gosse's FATHER AND SON is legitimately considered one of the highpoints of Victorian autobiography. As has been noted by others, the book recounts the relationship between Edmund Gosse and his father, a member of the Christian sect generally known as Plymouth Brethren, but who was also a member of the Royal Society and one of the foremost marine biologists of his time. The narrative tends to break down into a number of definite segments: the author's birth until the death of his mother; life with his father until the time of the publishing of Darwin's THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES; the move of the Gosses to the coast of England; and young Gosse's schooling and gradual growth away from the religious teachings and expectations he had received from his parents.

A number of powerful impressions evolve over the course of the telling. First and foremost, one is left with an impression of how overwhelmingly Gosse's childhood was stripped of nearly all fun by his parents' puritanical and stern religion. Gosse's father is presented not as a cruel, vicious, and hypocritical. Instead, he is shown as a caring parent, a completely earnest practitioner of his religion, but fanatically concerned to eliminate all activities that do not lead to increased religious devotion and moral seriousness. Unfortunately, this resulted for Gosse in a childhood from which all possibility of play and fun and delight had been eliminated. Near the end of the book, I was left wondering if Gosse would have been inclined to leave Christianity if he had just had more fun as a kid.

The section of the book dealing with his father's reaction to Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIES was for me the most interesting part of the book. His father's scientific standing was such that Darwin actually contacted him before the publication of his theories, and asked his response. Gosse notes that his father instantly understood that the scientific evidence clearly supported Darwin's theory. His reading of Genesis, however, indicated to him that the world was created in six days, which precluded the scenario articulated by Darwin. He therefore concluded that god created the earth in six days, but in so doing implanted fossils and geologic strata into the earth. In this way, his father was able to explain both the apparent evidence for eons long development of the earth and homo sapiens and yet retain his belief in the belief that Genesis taught a six day literal creation.

There are any of a number of reasons to read this work. It is a classic autobiography, an important source for one response to the reception of Darwin, and a magnificent evocation of puritanical religious life during the Victorian age. Most of all, it is a disturbing account of the distortive effect that intolerant and narrow-minded religious upbringing can have on an individual.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Robert W. Moore

A justly celebrated memoir of the Victorian age

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 30, 2009

Edmund Gosse's FATHER AND SON is legitimately considered one of the highpoints of Victorian autobiography. As has been noted by others, the book recounts the relationship between Edmund Gosse and his father, a member of the Christian sect generally known as Plymouth Brethren, but who was also a member of the Royal Society and one of the foremost marine biologists of his time. The narrative tends to break down into a number of definite segments: the author's birth until the death of his mother; life with his father until the time of the publishing of Darwin's THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES; the move of the Gosses to the coast of England; and young Gosse's schooling and gradual growth away from the religious teachings and expectations he had received from his parents.

A number of powerful impressions evolve over the course of the telling. First and foremost, one is left with an impression of how overwhelmingly Gosse's childhood was stripped of nearly all fun by his parents' puritanical and stern religion. Gosse's father is presented not as a cruel, vicious, and hypocritical. Instead, he is shown as a caring parent, a completely earnest practitioner of his religion, but fanatically concerned to eliminate all activities that do not lead to increased religious devotion and moral seriousness. Unfortunately, this resulted for Gosse in a childhood from which all possibility of play and fun and delight had been eliminated. Near the end of the book, I was left wondering if Gosse would have been inclined to leave Christianity if he had just had more fun as a kid.

The section of the book dealing with his father's reaction to Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIES was for me the most interesting part of the book. His father's scientific standing was such that Darwin actually contacted him before the publication of his theories, and asked his response. Gosse notes that his father instantly understood that the scientific evidence clearly supported Darwin's theory. His reading of Genesis, however, indicated to him that the world was created in six days, which precluded the scenario articulated by Darwin. He therefore concluded that god created the earth in six days, but in so doing implanted fossils and geologic strata into the earth. In this way, his father was able to explain both the apparent evidence for eons long development of the earth and homo sapiens and yet retain his belief in the belief that Genesis taught a six day literal creation.

There are any of a number of reasons to read this work. It is a classic autobiography, an important source for one response to the reception of Darwin, and a magnificent evocation of puritanical religious life during the Victorian age. Most of all, it is a disturbing account of the distortive effect that intolerant and narrow-minded religious upbringing can have on an individual.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Job

An amazingly good insight into a young man's life with a strict ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

I had lost my copy so had to buy a new one. An amazingly good insight into a young man's life with a strict Plymouth Brethren father who was also a serious naturalist diametrically opposed to the findings of Darwin.

3 people found this helpful

Dr D.

A famous classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 5, 2013

Verified Purchase

A superb study of the dire effect of religious single-mindedness of family relationships. The last chapter describes the unbearable strain which caused him to break contact with the father he loved.

One person found this helpful

j.m.galgut

A classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 12, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is a nice edition of a well-loved classic which never fails to amuse and instruct. An eye-opener for any new reader.

2 people found this helpful

David Gladwell

Moving, and funny. And still relevant.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 9, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is a biography of the relationship between Edmund Gosse and his father, Philip Henry Gosse. Gosse senior was an eminent naturalist and an ardent member of a small fundamentalist Christian sect. The father's Christian belief was passionate, but literal and narrow, and he spent 20 years trying to impress it on Edmund. He wrote a book in 1857, Omphalos, still in print, attempting to reconcile the text of the Old Testament with Darwin's ideas on evolution. It was greeted with derision. Despite the enormous, and growing, tension between the two, Edmund retained considerable respect for his father, and it is a sense of regret which propels the narrative: "What a charming companion, what a delightful parent, what a courteous and engaging friend my Father would have been if it had not been for this stringent piety which ruined it all." There is insight into a fundamentalist understanding of religious doctrine which has a broader validity even today, but more importantly this is a story of a relationship lost through an intelligent man's lack of understanding of human nature, a man more interested in understanding sea anemones than his own son. Some doubt has been cast on the accuracy of Edmund Gosse's account, but it is the emotional tenor which is important and that rings true. Moreover, it is a story told with considerable and engaging humour, mostly at the author's expense. It is a compelling read.

One person found this helpful

leadereader

CRAP PRODUCT good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 19, 2017

Verified Purchase

DON'T BUY THIS EDITION it's a cheap copy thrown together by some chancer taking advantage of it being out of copyright and is poorly printed and laid out. Buy one from a proper publisher. If I wasn't off on holiday tomorrow I would send it back and demand a refund. Amazon shouldn't list this kind of rubbish.

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Father & Son: A Study of Two Temperaments (Nonsuch Classics) Paperback – August 1, 2005

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