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The Unclassed
Julian never forgot the promise he had made to his uncle that Christmas night, eight years ago, when he was a lad of thirteen. Harriet he had always regarded as his sister, and never yet had he failed in brotherly duty to her.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1883
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About the author
George Gissing
374 books204 followersPeople best know British writer George Robert Gissing for his novels, such as
New Grub Street
(1891), about poverty and hardship.
This English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.
Born to lower-middle-class parents, Gissing went to win a scholarship to Owens College, the present-day University of Manchester. A brilliant student, he excelled at university, winning many coveted prizes, including the Shakespeare prize in 1875. Between 1891 and 1897 (his so-called middle period) he produced his best works, which include New Grub Street, Born in Exile , The Odd Women , In the Year of Jubilee , and The Whirlpool . The middle years of the decade saw his reputation reach new heights: some critics count him alongside George Meredith and Thomas Hardy, the best novelists of his day. He also enjoyed new friendships with fellow writers such as Henry James, and H.G. Wells, and came into contact with many other up-and-coming writers such as Joseph Conrad and Stephen Crane.
This English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.
Born to lower-middle-class parents, Gissing went to win a scholarship to Owens College, the present-day University of Manchester. A brilliant student, he excelled at university, winning many coveted prizes, including the Shakespeare prize in 1875. Between 1891 and 1897 (his so-called middle period) he produced his best works, which include New Grub Street, Born in Exile , The Odd Women , In the Year of Jubilee , and The Whirlpool . The middle years of the decade saw his reputation reach new heights: some critics count him alongside George Meredith and Thomas Hardy, the best novelists of his day. He also enjoyed new friendships with fellow writers such as Henry James, and H.G. Wells, and came into contact with many other up-and-coming writers such as Joseph Conrad and Stephen Crane.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 28, 2024
A Rare Late Victorian Novel
Although little-known today, George Gissing's (1856 - 1903) second published novel "The Unclassed" deserves to be read and remembered. The book was written in 1884 and published as a three-decker novel for which Gissing received the paltry sum of 30 pounds. In 1895, when he had received some recognition as a novelist, Gissing edited "The Unclassed" by cutting about one-third of the initial text and writing a short Preface. Although it seems to me the weaker of the two versions, the second edition of "The Unclassed" is virtually always used when the book is reissued.
The novel was an ambitious effort for a young struggling writer of 26, with broad themes of love, friendship, social alienation, and urban life. It includes powerful scenes of the slums of Victorian London and a treatment of prostitution which, for its day, was frank and explicit. Much of the novel is autobiographically based, but the reader new to Gissing would be well advised to approach it simply on its own ground. The two primary male characters in the book Osmond Waymark and Julian Casti are young, bookish and aspiring writers. They are both lonely and meet through a personal ad for companionship that Waymark had placed in the paper. The men led a bohemian type of life, spurning and yet envying middle-class security, stolidity and respectability. Casti has ambitions of writing a long poem about ancient Rome while Waymark wishes to describe the life of the poor around him. Waymark had began as a radical and an advocate for social change but, in part under the influence of Schopenhauer, had abandoned any form of activism. Waymark aspires to write solely for the beauty of art. As are many people today, Waymark is skeptical of established values and a relativist.
With all this, "The Unclassed" is primarily a love story. Waymark is torn between two women, the conventional, prim and religious Maud Enderby and Ida Starr. Ida is working as a prostitute when Waymark meets her. The two establish a friendship as Waymark brings her books and encourages Ida's interest in educating and uplifting herself. Casti is manipulated into marriage by a woman named Harriet Smales who also is a prostitute. But in contrast to Ida, Harriet is lowlife. She ultimately destroys both Casti's manuscripts and his life and bears false witness to send Ida Starr to six months in prison. With his terrible marriage, Casti also falls in love with Ida, one of the love interests of Waymark, provoking both Waymark's and Harriet's jealousy.
The novel is at its best in the portrayals of the squalid parts of London, where Waymark takes work as a collector of rents to support himself while he writes his long novel, including the filthy tenements and the sordid bars. Gissing also has a sense for portraying viciousness in the persons of Harriet and Smiley, a denizen of the slums. The book also shows bohemian literary life as it describes long conversations into the night between Waymark and Casti on art, philosophy, and literature. Both Waymark and Casti are inveterate walkers at all hours of the London streets, and Gissing captures their endless ramblings through the city. Although restrained to meet Victorian expectations, there is much discussion in this book about middle-class sexual standards and expectations and about prostitution in the persons of Ida, Harriet, and some other women. In the best-known scene of "The Unclassed", Ida Starr immerses herself in the ocean on a dark night during a brief holiday in the hopes of cleansing what she sees as the stain of her way of life and beginning anew.
The book is frequently criticized for its idealistic, romanticized portrayal of Ida Starr. Gissing seems all-to-ready to assume her ability to rise in a short time to a high emotional and intellectual level given the life in which she finds herself. The book also appears conflicted between its apparent goal of taking a realistic, dispassionate look at slum life on the one hand, and the preaching, didactic, and idealistic elements which permeate the story. The book moves uneasily between a realistic novel and a novel of ideas. But these conflicts are also part of the book's, and the author's, unique strength and character. This form of divided sensitivity is still prevalent for many and is a source of the fascination and passion that a group of readers still has for Gissing.
In 1884 under pressure from his publisher, Gissing rewrote the final section of his novel to give it a somewhat positive ending. Then, in 1895, Gissing shortened the book. In his Preface, Gissing wrote that the "book was written and sent forth a long, long time ago" and that the themes and attitudes which had so troubled the book's early readers had become reduced in significance with time. Gissing also explained the term "unclassed" in the book. He wrote "Male and female, all the prominent persons of the story dwell in a limbo external to society. They refuse the statistic badge - will not, ..... be `classed and done with.'"
Readers who become fascinated with Gissing or with "The Unclassed" will want to read the work in the original 1884 edition which, for all its prolixity, tells a fuller, more convincing story.
But it is fortunate that this work, in either edition, remains available to be read and savored by those readers wanting to engage with Gissing.
Robin Friedman
Although little-known today, George Gissing's (1856 - 1903) second published novel "The Unclassed" deserves to be read and remembered. The book was written in 1884 and published as a three-decker novel for which Gissing received the paltry sum of 30 pounds. In 1895, when he had received some recognition as a novelist, Gissing edited "The Unclassed" by cutting about one-third of the initial text and writing a short Preface. Although it seems to me the weaker of the two versions, the second edition of "The Unclassed" is virtually always used when the book is reissued.
The novel was an ambitious effort for a young struggling writer of 26, with broad themes of love, friendship, social alienation, and urban life. It includes powerful scenes of the slums of Victorian London and a treatment of prostitution which, for its day, was frank and explicit. Much of the novel is autobiographically based, but the reader new to Gissing would be well advised to approach it simply on its own ground. The two primary male characters in the book Osmond Waymark and Julian Casti are young, bookish and aspiring writers. They are both lonely and meet through a personal ad for companionship that Waymark had placed in the paper. The men led a bohemian type of life, spurning and yet envying middle-class security, stolidity and respectability. Casti has ambitions of writing a long poem about ancient Rome while Waymark wishes to describe the life of the poor around him. Waymark had began as a radical and an advocate for social change but, in part under the influence of Schopenhauer, had abandoned any form of activism. Waymark aspires to write solely for the beauty of art. As are many people today, Waymark is skeptical of established values and a relativist.
With all this, "The Unclassed" is primarily a love story. Waymark is torn between two women, the conventional, prim and religious Maud Enderby and Ida Starr. Ida is working as a prostitute when Waymark meets her. The two establish a friendship as Waymark brings her books and encourages Ida's interest in educating and uplifting herself. Casti is manipulated into marriage by a woman named Harriet Smales who also is a prostitute. But in contrast to Ida, Harriet is lowlife. She ultimately destroys both Casti's manuscripts and his life and bears false witness to send Ida Starr to six months in prison. With his terrible marriage, Casti also falls in love with Ida, one of the love interests of Waymark, provoking both Waymark's and Harriet's jealousy.
The novel is at its best in the portrayals of the squalid parts of London, where Waymark takes work as a collector of rents to support himself while he writes his long novel, including the filthy tenements and the sordid bars. Gissing also has a sense for portraying viciousness in the persons of Harriet and Smiley, a denizen of the slums. The book also shows bohemian literary life as it describes long conversations into the night between Waymark and Casti on art, philosophy, and literature. Both Waymark and Casti are inveterate walkers at all hours of the London streets, and Gissing captures their endless ramblings through the city. Although restrained to meet Victorian expectations, there is much discussion in this book about middle-class sexual standards and expectations and about prostitution in the persons of Ida, Harriet, and some other women. In the best-known scene of "The Unclassed", Ida Starr immerses herself in the ocean on a dark night during a brief holiday in the hopes of cleansing what she sees as the stain of her way of life and beginning anew.
The book is frequently criticized for its idealistic, romanticized portrayal of Ida Starr. Gissing seems all-to-ready to assume her ability to rise in a short time to a high emotional and intellectual level given the life in which she finds herself. The book also appears conflicted between its apparent goal of taking a realistic, dispassionate look at slum life on the one hand, and the preaching, didactic, and idealistic elements which permeate the story. The book moves uneasily between a realistic novel and a novel of ideas. But these conflicts are also part of the book's, and the author's, unique strength and character. This form of divided sensitivity is still prevalent for many and is a source of the fascination and passion that a group of readers still has for Gissing.
In 1884 under pressure from his publisher, Gissing rewrote the final section of his novel to give it a somewhat positive ending. Then, in 1895, Gissing shortened the book. In his Preface, Gissing wrote that the "book was written and sent forth a long, long time ago" and that the themes and attitudes which had so troubled the book's early readers had become reduced in significance with time. Gissing also explained the term "unclassed" in the book. He wrote "Male and female, all the prominent persons of the story dwell in a limbo external to society. They refuse the statistic badge - will not, ..... be `classed and done with.'"
Readers who become fascinated with Gissing or with "The Unclassed" will want to read the work in the original 1884 edition which, for all its prolixity, tells a fuller, more convincing story.
But it is fortunate that this work, in either edition, remains available to be read and savored by those readers wanting to engage with Gissing.
Robin Friedman
February 5, 2022
Perhaps 4.5. Very much enjoyed this one - strong characterisation, fascinating themes and really engaging throughout. Not quite as strong as some of Gissing's other novels, and it felt to me perhaps like an earlier version of The Nether World - a lot of similar themes but not quite so perfect. Still, a really wonderful read.
July 31, 2020
Gissing's pessimistic approach makes more sense if you know that his ‘real’ life was pretty miserable. Bad marriage choices certainly reflect his style of writing. The Unclassed is set in late Victorian London. The 3-female characters were at school together as small children and their lives take very different paths. The two men are friends, one of the cousin and later husband of one of the girls. The other is in love with the other two. Complicated? Well the main features of the story are poverty, crime, thwarted ambition and decisions. Gissing’s stories have an element of ‘bad things happen to good people’ and people get away with malicious and spiteful acts. Throw in illnesses, religion, social philosophy, and culture and that is the background to his tales of people getting by and just managing when a lack of backbone and aforethought has brought them low. For all his doom and gloom, I like his books.
July 20, 2013
People who have read even a couple of Gissing's books are
probably familiar with his sad life. "The Unclassed" an
extraordinary second novel was written in the darkest days of
his relationship with Nell Harrison. She was a young prostitute
he had met when he was at Wakefield College. By the time "The
Unclassed" was published in 1884 he was completely disgusted
with his life with Nell but he forever held the view that books
and reading could completely elevate a person even from the
lowest social standing. It didn't work with Nell but doggedly
Gissing tried again with his wife from his equally disastrous
second marriage.
The three main women characters are introduced in the first
chapter and as usual Gissing doesn't mess about but plunges the
reader into a distressing incident that has serious consequences
for two of the children. When the story opens Harriet Smales is
lying unconscious on the school room floor, Ida Starr having hit
her with a slate. Harriet has taunted her about her mother's
occupation (she is a prostitute) and Ida, who has a loving
relationship with her mother, retaliates.
Harriet Smales is a very unpleasant character - according to
Gissing, polluted and sickly in mind and body. Ida has to leave
school and we pick up the story seven years later when she makes
the acquaintance of Osmond Waymark. Ida is a completely different
type of character than anyone else I have met with in Victorian
fiction (except in Gissing's other books) - even though she is
working as a prostitute she is vibrant, intelligent, independent
and is able to converse with Waymark as his equal. Harriet Smales
has married her cousin Julian Cash a dreamer and poet but ultimately
weak who is eventually destroyed by Harriet's evilness. She meets
up with Ida again, has never forgiven her for the childish fight
and seizes the chance to do her some harm, this time resulting in
a prison sentence for Ida. This part of the book is dealt with in
a shadowy way - it was probably still too painful for Gissing to
really dwell on.
The third girl is Maud Enderby, she was sweet and compassionate
toward Ida when they were children but Maud has her own sad past.
Her father embezzled some church funds, her mother can't cope
and leaves Maud in the care of a fanatical aunt who brings her up
to believe that anything that brings you happiness is a sin and
only in death do you find joy. Gissing modelled the aunt on his
mother and elder sister.
Oddly enough for all Gissing's sometimes sexist views, his female
characters almost always overpower the males. Osmond Waymark is an
aspiring writer who eventually writes a book that evokes a powerful
picture of the London slums (like "The Nether World") but unfortunately
it is not a success. He is completely entranced by Ida who is his
ideal companion but Maud answers his needs in another way - her
goodness, her almost holiness, so when Ida goes to prison Waymark
becomes involved with her.
There are a few confronting scenes. Ida's grandfather is a slum
landlord and during a visit to one of his properties he is overcome
by a ghastly smell which is traced to the body of a dead child.
There is also a conversation between Julian and Waymark. Julian
is married to the vicious Harriet and realises that if he continues
living with her he will go out of his mind, Waymark is giving him
sound advice on how to leave her when I suddenly realised that
Gissing had predicted his own domestic situation 10 years into the
future. It was quite bizarre and I started to think of Gissing's
life - was he powerless to stop his disastrous union with Edith or
did he plunge into it because he thrived on upheavel. I am not sure
if Gissing would agree but I believe deep down he was a staunch
feminist!!
probably familiar with his sad life. "The Unclassed" an
extraordinary second novel was written in the darkest days of
his relationship with Nell Harrison. She was a young prostitute
he had met when he was at Wakefield College. By the time "The
Unclassed" was published in 1884 he was completely disgusted
with his life with Nell but he forever held the view that books
and reading could completely elevate a person even from the
lowest social standing. It didn't work with Nell but doggedly
Gissing tried again with his wife from his equally disastrous
second marriage.
The three main women characters are introduced in the first
chapter and as usual Gissing doesn't mess about but plunges the
reader into a distressing incident that has serious consequences
for two of the children. When the story opens Harriet Smales is
lying unconscious on the school room floor, Ida Starr having hit
her with a slate. Harriet has taunted her about her mother's
occupation (she is a prostitute) and Ida, who has a loving
relationship with her mother, retaliates.
Harriet Smales is a very unpleasant character - according to
Gissing, polluted and sickly in mind and body. Ida has to leave
school and we pick up the story seven years later when she makes
the acquaintance of Osmond Waymark. Ida is a completely different
type of character than anyone else I have met with in Victorian
fiction (except in Gissing's other books) - even though she is
working as a prostitute she is vibrant, intelligent, independent
and is able to converse with Waymark as his equal. Harriet Smales
has married her cousin Julian Cash a dreamer and poet but ultimately
weak who is eventually destroyed by Harriet's evilness. She meets
up with Ida again, has never forgiven her for the childish fight
and seizes the chance to do her some harm, this time resulting in
a prison sentence for Ida. This part of the book is dealt with in
a shadowy way - it was probably still too painful for Gissing to
really dwell on.
The third girl is Maud Enderby, she was sweet and compassionate
toward Ida when they were children but Maud has her own sad past.
Her father embezzled some church funds, her mother can't cope
and leaves Maud in the care of a fanatical aunt who brings her up
to believe that anything that brings you happiness is a sin and
only in death do you find joy. Gissing modelled the aunt on his
mother and elder sister.
Oddly enough for all Gissing's sometimes sexist views, his female
characters almost always overpower the males. Osmond Waymark is an
aspiring writer who eventually writes a book that evokes a powerful
picture of the London slums (like "The Nether World") but unfortunately
it is not a success. He is completely entranced by Ida who is his
ideal companion but Maud answers his needs in another way - her
goodness, her almost holiness, so when Ida goes to prison Waymark
becomes involved with her.
There are a few confronting scenes. Ida's grandfather is a slum
landlord and during a visit to one of his properties he is overcome
by a ghastly smell which is traced to the body of a dead child.
There is also a conversation between Julian and Waymark. Julian
is married to the vicious Harriet and realises that if he continues
living with her he will go out of his mind, Waymark is giving him
sound advice on how to leave her when I suddenly realised that
Gissing had predicted his own domestic situation 10 years into the
future. It was quite bizarre and I started to think of Gissing's
life - was he powerless to stop his disastrous union with Edith or
did he plunge into it because he thrived on upheavel. I am not sure
if Gissing would agree but I believe deep down he was a staunch
feminist!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2017
I stumbled upon this book almost by chance. Every now and again I will browse the Kindle store for some classic fiction. Before coming across it myself, I hadn't heard of it. Yet I am glad I did.
It starts off with disorder in a classroom. A young girl by the name of Ida Starr announcing:
"I did it, Miss Rutherford. I have killed Harriet. I, and nobody else."
Usually stories can take a while to capture the reader. However, from the first few pages I wanted to know what had happened. As a literary piece, the writing is not my preferred style. The story itself, and the way it developed, I found engaging.
After a few chapters, I wondered how I would come to finish the book. Yet all my spare time over a few days I ended up reading away. The story itself, had a few key characters and their transition to adult life. The detailing of the characters, their lives and upbringings and their chemistry was greatly structured. It contained various themes such as purity, malice, love, death, religion and friendship. It is an original story and one I personally enjoyed.
Kindle books, and the array of freebies and cheap classics. What a great time to be living, eh?
It starts off with disorder in a classroom. A young girl by the name of Ida Starr announcing:
"I did it, Miss Rutherford. I have killed Harriet. I, and nobody else."
Usually stories can take a while to capture the reader. However, from the first few pages I wanted to know what had happened. As a literary piece, the writing is not my preferred style. The story itself, and the way it developed, I found engaging.
After a few chapters, I wondered how I would come to finish the book. Yet all my spare time over a few days I ended up reading away. The story itself, had a few key characters and their transition to adult life. The detailing of the characters, their lives and upbringings and their chemistry was greatly structured. It contained various themes such as purity, malice, love, death, religion and friendship. It is an original story and one I personally enjoyed.
Kindle books, and the array of freebies and cheap classics. What a great time to be living, eh?
December 12, 2016
In the 1895 edition, Gissing had edited this novel from the original 1884 edition, calling it "work of a very young man, who dealt in a romantic spirit with the gloomier facts of life".
The edition I read is the original 1884 text. The novel tells the story of Ida Starr,an orphan, driven to prostitution in order to survive in the world of the Unclassed in Victorian England. It also tells the story of an educated man who loves her, and is also part autobiographical. After publication some reviewers called Gissing the English Zola' due to Zola's novel of prostitution 'Nana'. The novel was also removed from the lending libraries as being too controversial. The introduction of this edition have described this novel as, romance, realism, sociology and autobiographical.
George Gissing stark realism is not for everyone, but he deserves more than a footnote in Victorian Literature.
The edition I read is the original 1884 text. The novel tells the story of Ida Starr,an orphan, driven to prostitution in order to survive in the world of the Unclassed in Victorian England. It also tells the story of an educated man who loves her, and is also part autobiographical. After publication some reviewers called Gissing the English Zola' due to Zola's novel of prostitution 'Nana'. The novel was also removed from the lending libraries as being too controversial. The introduction of this edition have described this novel as, romance, realism, sociology and autobiographical.
George Gissing stark realism is not for everyone, but he deserves more than a footnote in Victorian Literature.
May 7, 2011
A classic I missed along the way, this 1884 novel belies Gissing's contemporary classing with Hardy and other giants of the era. At times, the hand is a bit too heavy. Largely, the primary reason for reading this book is for another peek into the manners and values of late 19th century England. A glance at Gissing's biography explains much of his emphasis on transcending the shackles of position, and pounding points of honor and virtue.
Reading this turned out to be more of an academic exercise than a pleasure. My advice would be to stick with Hardy.
Reading this turned out to be more of an academic exercise than a pleasure. My advice would be to stick with Hardy.
June 29, 2020
*3.5 stars.
"...a chair which would probably have claimed the title of easy..." (6).
"...here were no ornaments in any of the rooms, with the exception of a few pictures representing the saddest incidents in the life of Christ" (34).
"Life is an incomplete novel, consisting, for the most part, of blurred and fragmentary chapters. It interests, doubtless, as each new situation shadows itself forth; but, as we see the successively come to nothing, we smile, if we are wise, and wonder sadly what the author was about" (186-187).
"But these things were of no account in her general intercourse with the frothy people of the Esplanade" (265). *Frothy!
"...and the soft beauty of unstable clouds" (266).
"To-day for the first time she was able to sweep her mind clear of the dread shadow of brooding, and gave herself up to simple enjoyment of the hour” (309).
"Whenever it was possible she and Miss Ledward took their books out into the garden, and let the shadows of the rose-bushes mark off the hours for them" (329).
"...a chair which would probably have claimed the title of easy..." (6).
"...here were no ornaments in any of the rooms, with the exception of a few pictures representing the saddest incidents in the life of Christ" (34).
"Life is an incomplete novel, consisting, for the most part, of blurred and fragmentary chapters. It interests, doubtless, as each new situation shadows itself forth; but, as we see the successively come to nothing, we smile, if we are wise, and wonder sadly what the author was about" (186-187).
"But these things were of no account in her general intercourse with the frothy people of the Esplanade" (265). *Frothy!
"...and the soft beauty of unstable clouds" (266).
"To-day for the first time she was able to sweep her mind clear of the dread shadow of brooding, and gave herself up to simple enjoyment of the hour” (309).
"Whenever it was possible she and Miss Ledward took their books out into the garden, and let the shadows of the rose-bushes mark off the hours for them" (329).
January 7, 2023
This was my second choice (and sadly the last one I could fit) for Victober 2022. In all honesty, I had never heard of Gissing's work right up until I started crafting my Victober to-read list. I was at a loss when trying to figure out which one of his novels would be the right pick for my first contact with this Victorian author, but once I read somewhere this was a novel that followed a group of friends, it was clear that this was the right book for me (Another Country has left a mark on me forever lol).
The Unclassed tracks the lives of 5 young Londoners who try to survive the hardships of Victorian life in working-class slums, while coping with with broken idealism, unrequited love, poverty, misery and depression. Here we're introduced to aspiring writer Osmond Waymark, the good-hearted Julian Casti, the chaste Maud Enerby, the noble Ida Starr and the revengeful Harriet Smales.
Unknown to the characters, Waymark acts as the node to all the to all the storylines that unfold in the novel. It was nice getting to know the varied array of personalities that the characters have, but the equal interminable list of subplots sometimes turn the narration into a bit of a ramble, as if it were a bit too big for Gissing. It's easy to tell the writer still needs to mature in his plot-scheming technique, but it isn't necessarily something that should make anyone turn away from this book. There are outstanding scenes that will probably remain with me forever (Ida's metaphorical cleansing at the beach, for example). Waymark and Casti also showcase rather unconventional Victorian masculinities in some aspects, contrary to stern Victorian male models, they completely unleash their emotions and weep in drowning sorrow and frustration. They unmask their vulnerability in all its glory. I didn't expect that at all, and it certainly made me feel closer to them.
Only thing that I couldn't stand was the ending...won't go into details, but just NOPE.
The Unclassed tracks the lives of 5 young Londoners who try to survive the hardships of Victorian life in working-class slums, while coping with with broken idealism, unrequited love, poverty, misery and depression. Here we're introduced to aspiring writer Osmond Waymark, the good-hearted Julian Casti, the chaste Maud Enerby, the noble Ida Starr and the revengeful Harriet Smales.
Unknown to the characters, Waymark acts as the node to all the to all the storylines that unfold in the novel. It was nice getting to know the varied array of personalities that the characters have, but the equal interminable list of subplots sometimes turn the narration into a bit of a ramble, as if it were a bit too big for Gissing. It's easy to tell the writer still needs to mature in his plot-scheming technique, but it isn't necessarily something that should make anyone turn away from this book. There are outstanding scenes that will probably remain with me forever (Ida's metaphorical cleansing at the beach, for example). Waymark and Casti also showcase rather unconventional Victorian masculinities in some aspects, contrary to stern Victorian male models, they completely unleash their emotions and weep in drowning sorrow and frustration. They unmask their vulnerability in all its glory. I didn't expect that at all, and it certainly made me feel closer to them.
Only thing that I couldn't stand was the ending...won't go into details, but just NOPE.
January 23, 2014
Charming and thoughtful
April 19, 2024
George Gissing's greatest genius seems to lie in making something ordinary, mundane or even sordid a source of wonder and admiration. So in ‘The Unclassed’ we are thrown into two worlds and made to examine if in reality, they are not the same, and unclassifiable.
In today's world, it might seem incredible that a child is denied the right to an education because of her mother's profession, but so it was for Ida Starr, one of the three women in the book. Despite that, and the hard life she thereafter leads, she is drawn as a courageous, independent, and the strongest of the book’s characters; Gissing (and Ida Starr) make it clear, however, that it is her own disinclination for hard work and not lack of opportunity that draws her into prostitution.
Two other women offer a counterpoise to her: one is the unforgiving Harriet Casti, whose morbid jealousy and resentment prompt her to lay false charges against Ida for theft, as a result of which Ida is convicted, just as she is attempting to lead an “honest” life. The other is the saintly, perfect, almost inhuman Maud Enderby. All three women are interwoven in the lives of three men, Julian Casti, Harriet’s husband, Osmond Waymark the hero, and his employer, the tenement landlord, Mr Woodstock, for whom he collects the rents from people whose poverty and squalor can not even be imagined, much less described.
An advertisement has drawn Casti and Waymark together, for a kind of intellectual companionship, since both men have literary hopes and aspirations. Yet it is an unsatisfactory relationship, because it is so unequal. Waymark is a radical in his views, almost an atheist in religious beliefs, an aesthete, a cynic, a freethinker in emotional relationships and altogether too much of an iconoclast in comparison with the gentle, idealistic and rather innocent Casti. Still, it is Casti who honours a commitment made in boyhood and marries the unloveable Harriet.
(It is not quite clear why a man like Waymark should put in an advertisement for intellectual companionship, given his education, his job as a teacher, and his open, friendly nature and easy-going ways. Such an advertisement would likely repel rather than attract the kind of friendship Waymark was after, especially in an era when old school and college ties were the basis of friendships, and formal introductions were regarded as important, including by letter. In the event, he and Casti form a lasting bond, so all is well.)
Despite having the stronger personality, Waymark is curiously indecisive in respect of Maud Enderby and Ida Starr. Maud he admires so much that he finally proposes to her and is accepted. With Ida Starr, in whose company he feels entirely free from his philosophical thoughts and cynicism, he has a very comfortable friendship and is completely at ease. Only dramatic circumstances force Waymark into acknowledging the nature of his true feelings for Ida, but by then it is too late. He too faces the prospect of a life lived without joy, without passion, without love, like his friend Casti. And, it may be added, like Gissing himself in later life.
The novel explores the idea of sin and respectability in some detail, and it is no surprise to see that all the so-called respectable persons in the novel are as base as Ida is held to be. Woodstock turns out to be Ida’s grandfather, who threw her mother out on the streets. As a slum landlord, he cares little for the health and safety of his tenants. And yet, as the richest man of all, he commands respect from not just his tenants, but his business colleagues. Harriet Casti's middle class respectability is a veneer for the low life she leads, and while Maud is virtuous and pious, her mother is not. Maud's father is, in addition, an embezzler. Maud herself is obsessed with an almost Catholic notion of sin and sacrifice, amounting to a species of religious mania.
So, wonders an ailing Waymark as the book draws to a close, why do all these people – and himself – fail to accept Ida’s innate purity of heart and soul?
While not altogether representative of Gissing's great works, ‘The Unclassed' is a good introduction to Gissing's strengths in character and style. Gissing's plots are generally well structured and natural, but here it is uncharacteristic. For such a grounded realist as Gissing, the ending is drastic, unconvincing and weak. The whole novel paints the picture of a grim and bleak poverty-stricken life from which there is no real escape from degradation, even with the occasional powerful patron in the background. But Gissing gives Ida and Waymark (and the tenants of the slums which are now Ida’s property, she and her grandfather having reconciled shortly before his death) a very happy future. Perhaps the ending is not quite so happy for the Castis, or Maud, or Mr Woodstock. But this is not quite the Gissing of realism: something of the romantic still lingers here, and happy endings have their charm.
In today's world, it might seem incredible that a child is denied the right to an education because of her mother's profession, but so it was for Ida Starr, one of the three women in the book. Despite that, and the hard life she thereafter leads, she is drawn as a courageous, independent, and the strongest of the book’s characters; Gissing (and Ida Starr) make it clear, however, that it is her own disinclination for hard work and not lack of opportunity that draws her into prostitution.
Two other women offer a counterpoise to her: one is the unforgiving Harriet Casti, whose morbid jealousy and resentment prompt her to lay false charges against Ida for theft, as a result of which Ida is convicted, just as she is attempting to lead an “honest” life. The other is the saintly, perfect, almost inhuman Maud Enderby. All three women are interwoven in the lives of three men, Julian Casti, Harriet’s husband, Osmond Waymark the hero, and his employer, the tenement landlord, Mr Woodstock, for whom he collects the rents from people whose poverty and squalor can not even be imagined, much less described.
An advertisement has drawn Casti and Waymark together, for a kind of intellectual companionship, since both men have literary hopes and aspirations. Yet it is an unsatisfactory relationship, because it is so unequal. Waymark is a radical in his views, almost an atheist in religious beliefs, an aesthete, a cynic, a freethinker in emotional relationships and altogether too much of an iconoclast in comparison with the gentle, idealistic and rather innocent Casti. Still, it is Casti who honours a commitment made in boyhood and marries the unloveable Harriet.
(It is not quite clear why a man like Waymark should put in an advertisement for intellectual companionship, given his education, his job as a teacher, and his open, friendly nature and easy-going ways. Such an advertisement would likely repel rather than attract the kind of friendship Waymark was after, especially in an era when old school and college ties were the basis of friendships, and formal introductions were regarded as important, including by letter. In the event, he and Casti form a lasting bond, so all is well.)
Despite having the stronger personality, Waymark is curiously indecisive in respect of Maud Enderby and Ida Starr. Maud he admires so much that he finally proposes to her and is accepted. With Ida Starr, in whose company he feels entirely free from his philosophical thoughts and cynicism, he has a very comfortable friendship and is completely at ease. Only dramatic circumstances force Waymark into acknowledging the nature of his true feelings for Ida, but by then it is too late. He too faces the prospect of a life lived without joy, without passion, without love, like his friend Casti. And, it may be added, like Gissing himself in later life.
The novel explores the idea of sin and respectability in some detail, and it is no surprise to see that all the so-called respectable persons in the novel are as base as Ida is held to be. Woodstock turns out to be Ida’s grandfather, who threw her mother out on the streets. As a slum landlord, he cares little for the health and safety of his tenants. And yet, as the richest man of all, he commands respect from not just his tenants, but his business colleagues. Harriet Casti's middle class respectability is a veneer for the low life she leads, and while Maud is virtuous and pious, her mother is not. Maud's father is, in addition, an embezzler. Maud herself is obsessed with an almost Catholic notion of sin and sacrifice, amounting to a species of religious mania.
So, wonders an ailing Waymark as the book draws to a close, why do all these people – and himself – fail to accept Ida’s innate purity of heart and soul?
While not altogether representative of Gissing's great works, ‘The Unclassed' is a good introduction to Gissing's strengths in character and style. Gissing's plots are generally well structured and natural, but here it is uncharacteristic. For such a grounded realist as Gissing, the ending is drastic, unconvincing and weak. The whole novel paints the picture of a grim and bleak poverty-stricken life from which there is no real escape from degradation, even with the occasional powerful patron in the background. But Gissing gives Ida and Waymark (and the tenants of the slums which are now Ida’s property, she and her grandfather having reconciled shortly before his death) a very happy future. Perhaps the ending is not quite so happy for the Castis, or Maud, or Mr Woodstock. But this is not quite the Gissing of realism: something of the romantic still lingers here, and happy endings have their charm.
April 6, 2024
An unconventional love triangle set in the midst of the struggles of London’s working class
After being disappointed by Gissing’s first novel Workers in the Dawn I remembered his better works and the beauty of his prose and tried his second novel The Unclassed.
I found the novel to be engaging. Right past the middle of it, it became more than engaging. It became riveting. I was of the mind that if I had come to that part of the book nearing my bedtime It would be hard for me to put the book down. That part had an emotional kick to it and lasted for a few chapters before things calmed down.
This is my fifth Gissing book, and, in the others, he had some villainous characters, but no one comes near Harriet Smales to raise my hackles - she’s the first Gissing character that I really wanted to throttle.
Unlike the previous Gissing books I have read, I detect no underlying social theme in this novel. What is present here is an involved and unique love triangle - a strong romance aspect.
What is also present here, as usual, is Gissing’s narrative on poverty. Although this book tackles people a bit above the realm of the extreme poor, still, the characters here are poor enough to become homeless at some points.
My one critique is that I found the coincidences in this novel to be a bit too convenient but that is a minor niggle.
This novel is about Ida Starr, who is forced by circumstances to become a prostitute. It is about the marriage of Julian Casti and Harriet Smales, described in detail by Gissing - a perfect example of a hellish marriage; for me it gives the book a horror-tinge. There is a character in this book, Waymark, who reminds me of Sidney Kirkland in The Nether World. Both of these characters strike me as archetypes for how people should behave when living in less than ideal circumstances - Gissings hero-figure.
Gissing has gotten over the plodding pace that made me give up on Workers in the Dawn. The Unclassed, though not a page turner except for that small part in the middle, goes along at an engaging pace.
As usual, and always, Gissings prose is top-tier, it flows and is nuanced, able to introduce layers of depth in the narrative.
Find books that you might love in my book review site
After being disappointed by Gissing’s first novel Workers in the Dawn I remembered his better works and the beauty of his prose and tried his second novel The Unclassed.
I found the novel to be engaging. Right past the middle of it, it became more than engaging. It became riveting. I was of the mind that if I had come to that part of the book nearing my bedtime It would be hard for me to put the book down. That part had an emotional kick to it and lasted for a few chapters before things calmed down.
This is my fifth Gissing book, and, in the others, he had some villainous characters, but no one comes near Harriet Smales to raise my hackles - she’s the first Gissing character that I really wanted to throttle.
Unlike the previous Gissing books I have read, I detect no underlying social theme in this novel. What is present here is an involved and unique love triangle - a strong romance aspect.
What is also present here, as usual, is Gissing’s narrative on poverty. Although this book tackles people a bit above the realm of the extreme poor, still, the characters here are poor enough to become homeless at some points.
My one critique is that I found the coincidences in this novel to be a bit too convenient but that is a minor niggle.
This novel is about Ida Starr, who is forced by circumstances to become a prostitute. It is about the marriage of Julian Casti and Harriet Smales, described in detail by Gissing - a perfect example of a hellish marriage; for me it gives the book a horror-tinge. There is a character in this book, Waymark, who reminds me of Sidney Kirkland in The Nether World. Both of these characters strike me as archetypes for how people should behave when living in less than ideal circumstances - Gissings hero-figure.
Gissing has gotten over the plodding pace that made me give up on Workers in the Dawn. The Unclassed, though not a page turner except for that small part in the middle, goes along at an engaging pace.
As usual, and always, Gissings prose is top-tier, it flows and is nuanced, able to introduce layers of depth in the narrative.
Find books that you might love in my book review site
January 24, 2024
Gissing is the great forgotten Victorian novelist. He doesn’t have Dicken’s ability to create memorable characters in a phrase or two, Hardy’s lyricism and fatalism, Elliot’s philosophical insights, or Thackery’s humor. Many see him simply as an English imitator of the French realist school of Zola. But he’s better than that. In The Unclassed, one of his earliest novels, he deals frankly with subjects that most Victorians ignored—chiefly by making a prostitute the central character of the work. He explored many themes we now think of as modern--women’s sexual freedom, artists stifled by having to work to support themselves, men and women’s attempts to have relationships as equals, and mental illness and loneliness. The novel is put together like a jigsaw puzzle with each character representing a different aspect of society (the fallen woman, the innocent angel, the artist, the capitalist, the social reformer, etc.). The plot may be his most autobiographical, often dealing with his own experiences with the law, prostitution, and unhappy marriages and relationships.
June 16, 2024
Here, Gissing explores the mind of a man who seems to be in search of love but is undecided upon whom to make his advances, and is constantly re-evaluating his motives and feelings. The contrast between the two women on Waymark`s mind is central. The one, Mary, has been imbued with a strong sense of the idea of sin and struggles in allowing herself enjoyment, tending rather to a life of purgatory akin with her religion and this results in a stifling of any romantic feeling. The other woman, Ida, is of a complex, creative nature and is struggling with the social implications of having a disreputable mother.
October 2, 2024
3.5* (a choice of 5 stars is not enough:))
Probably enjoyed odd women more, but still a decent read. Got a bit wordy in places so skimmed those sections a bit. Ida was great - good to see such a strong woman written about in the late nineteenth century.
The ending was a bit "woobly" took people appearing from nowhere at just the right time leading to mental breakdowns and all sorts of consequences resulting from that.
Probably enjoyed odd women more, but still a decent read. Got a bit wordy in places so skimmed those sections a bit. Ida was great - good to see such a strong woman written about in the late nineteenth century.
The ending was a bit "woobly" took people appearing from nowhere at just the right time leading to mental breakdowns and all sorts of consequences resulting from that.
March 14, 2022
Gissing's Workers in the Dawn was self-published and the unpublished Mrs Grundy's Enemies is lost forever. This, The Unclassed, was his first novel to be picked up by a publisher. This edition is the 1884 version, which Gissing revised (and by all accounts improved) in 1895.
It is great that Paul Delany and Colette Colligan with ELS Editions brought this out, but the typesetting is embarrassingly inept in places (typos, punctuation marks randomly inserted into sentences, etc. - probably the worst I've ever encountered in a printed book). This detracts from the enjoyment of reading it.
The novel itself has one memorable character, Osmond Waymark, with a reasonably interesting supporting cast. Waymark is obsessed with art and beauty yet interested in 'low life', becoming involved with a prostitute, a 'good woman gone bad', Ida Starr. He is an odd character, since his job involves collecting rent from poor people who have little hope of keeping up with the payments. He is partly moved by their plight but the artist in him - he is writing a realistic novel - cynically sees it as research/inspiration/raw material. You're not on his side, but a painful encounter with one of his boss' tenants, which makes for a grimly impressive scene, elicits some sympathy.
By no means a masterpiece, I nonetheless found it readable, containing much of what Gissing fans will admire. He was a serious writer, which is a rare thing, especially in one so young.
It is great that Paul Delany and Colette Colligan with ELS Editions brought this out, but the typesetting is embarrassingly inept in places (typos, punctuation marks randomly inserted into sentences, etc. - probably the worst I've ever encountered in a printed book). This detracts from the enjoyment of reading it.
The novel itself has one memorable character, Osmond Waymark, with a reasonably interesting supporting cast. Waymark is obsessed with art and beauty yet interested in 'low life', becoming involved with a prostitute, a 'good woman gone bad', Ida Starr. He is an odd character, since his job involves collecting rent from poor people who have little hope of keeping up with the payments. He is partly moved by their plight but the artist in him - he is writing a realistic novel - cynically sees it as research/inspiration/raw material. You're not on his side, but a painful encounter with one of his boss' tenants, which makes for a grimly impressive scene, elicits some sympathy.
By no means a masterpiece, I nonetheless found it readable, containing much of what Gissing fans will admire. He was a serious writer, which is a rare thing, especially in one so young.
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