APS TOGETHER
Day 14
New Grub Street by George GissingChapter 14
November 19, 2023 by Yiyun Li
“And what’s the value of it all?” asked Maud.
“Probably from ten to twelve guineas, if I calculated.”
“I meant, what was the literary value of it?” said his sister, with a smile.
“Equal to that of the contents of a mouldy nut.”
A delicious dialogue—delicious for the reason that Maud and Jasper understand each other perfectly. Maud could easily take the role of a protagonist.
“It’s rubbish, but rubbish of a very special kind, of fine quality.”
In other words: literary entertainment.
“You think I talk of nothing but money?”
“I know too well what it means to be without money.”
I appreciate that Gissing’s characters speak in a blunt way—quite unsentimental; quite contemporary.
