The Diary of a Nobody
by George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 019282404x Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 019282404x Global Overview for this book
Registered by Wordsnark on 4/12/2007
1 journaler for this copy...
Origin of the Species reading set ....
Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith
Still amusing after all these years, DoaN has many of the elements that come to characterize ladlit/chicklit:
. serial/diary form (DoaN was originally published in installments in a weekly satirical magazine)
. a flawed, feckless 'hero' we can imagine as worse than ourselves
. contemporary hooks into events, fashions and fads, music
. comic observations of people and culture, tending towards satire
Diary of a Nobody shows its age, but that can be part of the enjoyment. Although the phrases and fashions may seem a little antique, alien, the sensibility of Charles Pooter is very familiar. He is a perfectly self-absorbed straight man, who reveals funny business happening all around him.
From Wikipedia: "Diary of a Nobody, an English comic novel written by George Grossmith and illustrated by his brother Weedon, first appeared in the magazine Punch in 1888–89, and was printed in book form in 1892. It is considered a classic work of humour.
"The diary is that of Mr. Charles Pooter, a lower middle-class man, a city clerk, with modest social pretensions. Other characters include his wife Carrie (Caroline), his son Lupin, his friends Mr. Cummings and Mr. Gowing, and Lupin's unsuitable fiancée, Daisy Mutlar. The humour comes from Pooter's unconscious gaffes and self-importance, as well as the snubs he receives from his supposed betters. The book has spawned the word "Pooterism" to describe a tendency to take oneself excessively seriously."
Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith
Still amusing after all these years, DoaN has many of the elements that come to characterize ladlit/chicklit:
. serial/diary form (DoaN was originally published in installments in a weekly satirical magazine)
. a flawed, feckless 'hero' we can imagine as worse than ourselves
. contemporary hooks into events, fashions and fads, music
. comic observations of people and culture, tending towards satire
Diary of a Nobody shows its age, but that can be part of the enjoyment. Although the phrases and fashions may seem a little antique, alien, the sensibility of Charles Pooter is very familiar. He is a perfectly self-absorbed straight man, who reveals funny business happening all around him.
From Wikipedia: "Diary of a Nobody, an English comic novel written by George Grossmith and illustrated by his brother Weedon, first appeared in the magazine Punch in 1888–89, and was printed in book form in 1892. It is considered a classic work of humour.
"The diary is that of Mr. Charles Pooter, a lower middle-class man, a city clerk, with modest social pretensions. Other characters include his wife Carrie (Caroline), his son Lupin, his friends Mr. Cummings and Mr. Gowing, and Lupin's unsuitable fiancée, Daisy Mutlar. The humour comes from Pooter's unconscious gaffes and self-importance, as well as the snubs he receives from his supposed betters. The book has spawned the word "Pooterism" to describe a tendency to take oneself excessively seriously."
