Briefer Mention

BRIEFER MENTION Bridgwater, Patrick. Gissing and Germany. London: Enitharmon Press; Berkeley, CA: Small Press, 1981. $12.50 Bridgwater contends that the German influence needs further exploration and qualification. "What this study shows," says Bridgwater, "is that Gissing's place in English letters has yet to be properly defined. He has suffered from being seen in too narrow a context. To see him solely or even mainly in the context of the 'working class novel' is to fail to recognize his importance. . . ." The book contains chapters which outline Gissing's reading in German and the influence of Goethe and Heine, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. It should be of considerable interest to Gissing scholars. Cronin, Anthony. Irish Literature in the English Language. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982. $17.95 A spirited book indeed: Cronin argues that Irish literature in the English language is as separate a literature as the American is from English. It is not, however, his "primary purpose in the majority of these essays to isolate or analyse the 'Irishness' of the authors involved. Only a very narrow-minded critic would be primarily concerned to do that." ELT readers might peruse "George Moore: The Self-Made Modern"; "William Butler Yeats: Containing Contradictions "; "James Joyce: The Advent of Bloom"; "James Stephens: The Gift of Gab." Coustillas, Pierre. Gissing and Turgenev. London: Enitharmon Press; Berkeley, CA: Small Press, 1981. $7.50 This brief but interesting monography, which includes two letters from Turgenev, discusses Gissing's relationship with the Russian author and his contributions, with Turgenev's and Frederic Harrison's assistance, to Vestnik Evropy, "a substantial monthly of strong liberal leanings." The eight articles Gissing wrote "show a writer essentially concerned with politics, with Parliamentary debates and the speeches of the leading political figures of the day when Parliament was not in session." Gissing grew discontent with the "necessity to compile those copious chunks of journalism." Nevertheless, the £8 for each article was helpful to Gissing, particularly after the commercial failure of Workers in the Dawn, and he took pride in his brief relationship with Turgenev. Ford, Colin, and Brian Harrison. A Hundred Years Ago: Britain in the 1880s in Words and Photographs. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1982. $25.00 This is just a delightful book for anyone interested in the period, novice or seasoned veteran. Over 200 photographs organized with readable introductions are combined under such chapter headings as "Home and Family," "Work," Social Tensions," "Aristocratic Magic,""Pomp and Ceremony," and "Illness and Old Age." It is a visual feast for the turn of the century reader. Kemp, Peter. H. G. Wells and the Culminating Ape. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982. $22.50 Kemp has immersed himself in Wells's prolific writings, and what emerges is a broad overview with specific reference to his works demonstrating that "his books concentrate on biological imperatives." "For all its mass amd medley," says Kemp, Wells's work "does have homogeneity." Five chapters—"The Edible 218 Predator: Wells and Food"; "The Slave Goddess: Wells and Sex"; "The Redeveloped Basement: Wells and Habitat"; "The Pugnacious Pacifist" Wells and Survival-Mechanisms"; "The Grand Earthly: Wells and Self-Image"—trace biological themes with copious references to Wells's writings. Oliphant, Dave, and Thomas Zigal. Joyce at Texas: Essays on the James Joyce Materials at the Humanities Research Center. Austin: Humanities Research Center, 1983. $14.95 This is a most interesting collection. In addition to essays by Richard Ellmann and David Hyman, ELT readers might find particular interest in two selections: "Nancy Cunard and James Joyce"; "Nancy Cunard On James Joyce—for Professor Ellmann." Page, Norman, ed. Thomas Hardy Annual No. 1. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1982. $32.50 For Hardy scholars there is much to peruse. We regret this collection of essays and reviews could not be reviewed. Its contents are as follows: "'Old Tom and New Tom': Hardy and His Biographies" (Peter J. Casagrande); "Hardy and Rural England" (Arthur Polland); "Hardy and 'the Woman Question'"; (Merryn Williams); "The Love Story in Two on a Tower" (John Bayley); "The Experimental and the Absurd in Two on a Tower" (Rosemary Sumner); "Fifty Years Old" (Christopher Wiseman); "'Words, in all their intimate accents'" (Tome Paulin...