The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft

Rating:
Summary: Reflections about Life in Solitary Retirement
Review: The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft by George Gissing is part novel, part
autobiography and partly a book of brief essays or reflections on various subjects.
The book was published in 1903, the year that Gissing died. It presents a mellowed
cynical author who after a difficult life spent mostly in London is given a legacy of an
annual annuity which enables him to retire in solitude to a country cottage in Devon
county, England. Here he writes down his reflections ranging from the philosophical
meaning of life to comments on simple daily life. There is much about reading, books and
authors (Holbrook Jackson in his The Anatomy of Bibliomania has many references to
George Gissing). There are comments about nature walks in the country, memories of
past events in London, visits to special places. There is discussion of English culture,
customs and even of culinary arts. Gissing was not a Christian but in this book he shares a
generally positive view of the influence of Christianity on England. He had in his own life
also found solace in the Stoic philosophers, particularly Marcus Aurelius. My own
personal copy of this book is the Oxford University Press 1987 paperback edition in their
World's Classics series, with editorial notes by Mark Storey. I first read the volume late
in 1990 as I was looking forward to my own gradual retirement to small town life. I have
just read it again in early January 2004 with as much pleasure as I first read it.