http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1305253...

very much enjoyed it. Charles Pooter is a grotesquely comic creation, sometimes engaging our sympathy, sometimes the horror of recognition. He is a snob, a beast to his maid, certainly less clever than his wife or friends; he is boring and self-centred. But he is fascinating, and a brilliant window into the life of late Victorian London.

Incidentallly, George Grossmith was knocking this out for Punch while starring as the tragic jester Jack Point in the opening season of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Yeomen of the Guard', having just finished a very successful run as the original Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner in 'The Mikado'. ( )

What a hilarious book - English humour at its best. You wouldn't buy this copy to read but as a Penguin book with a difference. It is clearly stated on the front cover that `This book must not be resold'. It is a services edition copy ( )

Delightfully amusing and interesting look at everyday life in Victorian England. I loved it. ( )

Written in 1892 by two actor brothers, one of whom starred in Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas, this fictitious diary gives voice to the grandiose hopes, simple pleasures, near misses, and outright disasters that comprise most peoples' lives. Jarvis's Pooter speaks with orotund vowels and a bemused tone.

Considering that nothing in particular really happened in this book -- no deaths, no divorces, no marriages among the important characters, no births, etc. -- I found it surprisingly interesting. This is an excellent portrait of middle-class Victorian England life that, I think, would be useful to someone researching the period. And it was amusing and definitely a page-turner; Lupin's employment woes did it for me. ( )