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Diary of a Nobody (Wordsworth Classics)
 
 

Diary of a Nobody (Wordsworth Classics) (Paperback)

by George Grossmith (Author), Weedon Grossmith (Author) "MY DEAR WIFE CARRIE and I have just been a week in our new house, 'The Laurels,' Brickfield Terrace, Holloway - a nice six-roomed residence,..." (more)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd; New Ed edition (7 May 1994)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1853262013
  • ISBN-13: 978-1853262012
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 9,879 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Product Description

The diary is that of a man who acknowledges that he is not a "Somebody" - Charles Pooter of 'The Laurels', Brickfield Terrace, Holloway, a clerk in the city of London - and it chronicles in hilarious detail the everyday life of the lower middle class during the Great Victorian age.


About the Author

Kate Flint is is Reader in Victorian and Modern English Literature and Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford. Her publications include The Woman Reader, 1837-1914 (1993) and many articles on early nineteenth and twentieth century fiction and art history.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
MY DEAR WIFE CARRIE and I have just been a week in our new house, 'The Laurels,' Brickfield Terrace, Holloway - a nice six-roomed residence, not counting basement, with a front breakfast-parlour. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Diary of a Nobody - What a gem!, 17 Oct 2005
If you want to know whether or not to pay £1.50 for this book, I say; don't be a chump, stump up the cash and prepare for an intriguing insight into a glimpse of the early 1900s.

This is a gem of a book that is greatly unknown to the masses, yet has so much social commentary, that it says more to me than many other books that reflect the fin de siecle. written from the point of view of a clerk, aspiring to greater things, this book entertains and amuses, whilst providing a glimps of the Post-Victorian era.

I felt that this book flowed more easily and didn't have any pretensions or wordiness that many of the author's contemporaries suffered from. In essence, this book has as much to say today about social insecurities and aspirations, as it did when it was written. Go on, buy it, impress your friends with having read a masterpiece that they'll probably never have heard of. I got my brother and best friend to read it and they've now spread theword... this is a bloody excellent read!

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant read, 24 Feb 2009
By Mark Wallace (West of Ireland) - See all my reviews
The Diary of a Nobody tells in diary form the story of a certain Mr Pooter, clerk by profession and a man of no importance or interest. He is somewhat pompous, dull, and stuffy, with pretensions towards gentility but lacking in social skills and self-awareness. He is quite a ridiculous figure, and one who is taken advantage of by many who he is pleased to call his friends, and mocked by his juniors at work. Additionally, all tradesmen are his nemeses. As he sets this down in his diary, however, Mr. Pooter is often oblivious to his own foolishness and to the impression he creates in others, including the reader.

Mr. Pooter's son Lupin is the main source of incident in his father's life. He is a youth of high spirits and little respect for his elders, including his father. Lupin undertakes a love affair with a young lady called Daisy Mutlar; he is desperately in love with this young lady , who seems to Mr. Pooter to be of no remarkable attraction or accomplishments. Concurrent with this torrid affair, Lupin finds and loses several jobs, joins an amateur dramatics club and speculates on the stock exchange with his father's money.

Though over 100 years old, this book is still funny for the modern reader. It was written with the contemporary audience in mind but the humour has not dated. As another reviewer noted, Mr Pooter is something of a 19th century David Brent.The style is notably uncluttered and unaffected. It is a short book(145 pages approx. in this edition) and extremely readable. From a relatively uneventful start, it gathers momentum with the arrival of Lupin. Pooter's character broadens somewhat to become a decent everyman, though none the less ridiculous for that. This book ends long before the reader has had enough of the bumbling central character, and is a very pleasant, undemanding read.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, 8 Sep 2007
By L. Spurling (London, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. I wish another one would have been written! I always read it when I feel a bit downhearted. A great insight into the life of people in those times - and how little has changed with regard to a son's attitude to his Dad!!! It was totally my sense of humour.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as Pepys....and ten times as funny
It is really heart-warming to read all the positive reviews this book has received, full of warmth and genuine affection for Messrs Grossmiths' hilarious but gentle expose of fin... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mandrake

5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars, Mr Padge? "That's right"
A short book but lots of laughs at a bargain price. Five stars.

Someone else has suggested that the protagonist, Pooter, is a 19th Century David Brent, given his... Read more
Published 2 months ago by dangermash

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Humour
Hilarious. There have been many imitations, but Mr Pooter's is still the best diary of a rueful put-upon man trying to keep his dignity intact in the face of a shrewish wife,... Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. Murray

5.0 out of 5 stars As valid today as it was upon release
Having been aware of this title for at least twenty years, I have finally got round to reading it; this was catalysed by my daughter and son in law moving into a property of about... Read more
Published 4 months ago by G. D. Busby

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!
I honestly never knoew that such an old book could be so hilarious! It's written in such a brilliant way that you can "see" it all happening - it very vivid. Read more
Published 22 months ago by helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful story
This diary is both a comic masterpiece and an accurate account of lower-middle-class life, attitudes and aspirations in the late 1880s in London. Read more
Published on 5 Jul 2007 by Philippe Horak

4.0 out of 5 stars David Brent...100 years ago
Light and funny, this book actually made me laugh out loud several times. It's how I'd imagine David Brent to be 100 years ago--not so embarrassing, but endearingly slow-witted... Read more
Published on 17 May 2007 by Mr. P. Craig

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!
I came across this perchance; it seemed interesting so I picked it up. I read it all in one go because I couldn't put it down, the humour was brilliant. Read more
Published on 30 April 2007 by CriticalThinker

3.0 out of 5 stars Dated comedy
Having come highly recommended by several people I had hoped to enjoy this, but I found this only a mildly amusing comedy. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2006 by dogbarkssome

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
This is such a funny book!! I loved reading it the first time and have read it again and again. Apart from the xmas card episode, it's Lupin that gets my top laugh!!! Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2006 by jhm1alp

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