Gissing was a sedulous artist; some of his books, it is true, are very hurried productions, finished in haste for the market with no great amount either of inspiration or artistic confidence about them.

George Gissing was no exception to this rule.

A Hedonist of academic type, repelled by a vulgar intonation, Gissing himself is manifestly the man in exile.

To the Ercles vein of these Titans of fiction, Gissing was a complete stranger.