{"product_id":"orwell-gissing","title":"Orwell \u0026 Gissing","description":"Three generations of critics have commented on the parallels between George Orwell and his favorite novelist, George Gissing. «I am a great fan of his,» Orwell wrote in 1948, proclaiming «that England has produced very few better novelists.» This in-depth study reveals that Orwell drew heavily on the Gissing novels he admired in shaping his own. Gissing''s \u003ci\u003eNew Grub Street\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Odd Women\u003c\/i\u003e directly influenced Orwell''s Depression-era novels \u003ci\u003eKeep the Aspidstra Flying\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Clergyman''s Daughter\u003c\/i\u003e. Even Orwell''s most imaginative work, \u003ci\u003eAnimal Farm\u003c\/i\u003e, mirrors Gissing''s own novel of a failed Socialist Utopia, \u003ci\u003eDemos\u003c\/i\u003e. Gissing was Orwell''s role model and alter ego. Gissing provided him with a touchstone to his beliefs, his pessimism, his love of Dickens and cozy corners, his suspicion of «progress,» his restless sexuality. To understand Orwell fully, one must first read Gissing.","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57321128952190,"sku":"NW9780820433301","price":31.04,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780820433301.jpg?v=1778520673","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/orwell-gissing","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}