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Loading... The Diary of a Nobody (1892)by George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith (Author)
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I can imagine that this book was an absolute banger when it was first written and as considered by its target audience. I found it quite humorous and fun, but not being a middle class English suburbanite in the late 1800's, I'm sure that a lot of the humor was lost on me. It was a nice little diversion nonetheless. ( ![]() The keeper of the Diary of a Nobody is Charles Pooter, a married, middle-aged, lower-middle-class clerk in 1890s London who leads an entirely mundane life. I can see how the style of gentle, slightly sentimental observational comedy that George and Weedon Grossmith pioneered here would have been successful, even innovative, at the time of its first publication. I have slightly more trouble understanding how it's still in print today as anything other than a bit of social history. I could see where the jokes were, I just didn't find them particularly funny. I don't fancy let's condescend to be amused at the clueless narrator approach to humor. At least it was short. Not sure I'd have read this if it hadn't been a gift, but this is a re-read, and it's great for filling a gap. Pooter's a suitably embarrassing pair of eyes to see through, though the Grossmith brothers do let him end his and his wife Carrie's tale well, and take you with him on your way. A delightful humble paddle in suburban England towards the turn of the century. Who needs Jerome K Jerome... ;-) Captures the obsessions and anxieties of the Victorian middle-class very well, but its humour now seems too earnest and dated - a little like the works of Samuel Clemens.
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Since its first publication in 1892, this delightful Victorian comic diary has never been out of print. City clerk Charles Pooter asks: ?Why should I not publish my diary...because I do not happen to be a ?somebody? He proceeds to catalog all the social clangers he makes unwittingly as he bumbles his way through life, yet sympathy develops for Pooter in the face of it all. The classic ?English Humor? of The Diary of a Nobody is an ideal text for the talents of Martin Jarvis. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813 — Literature English (North America) American fictionLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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