{"product_id":"the-life-of-george-borrow-18031881-9781933146706","title":"The Life Of George Borrow, 1803–1881","description":"\u003cp\u003e“It has been said that idleness is the parent of mischief, which is very true; but\n\u003cbr\u003emischief itself is merely an attempt to escape from the dreary vacuum of idleness.”\n\u003cbr\u003eGeorge Borrow\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, the subtitle of this completely revised and newly augmented study of George\n\u003cbr\u003eBorrow, “Misfit” implies not subscribing or submitting to normal, mainstream\n\u003cbr\u003emiddle-class values and habits. Borrow preferred the company of gypsies,\n\u003cbr\u003evagabonds, foreigners, horse-dealers and outsiders to the conformist, respectable\n\u003cbr\u003eEnglish person, whom he thought was sometimes incapable of understanding the\n\u003cbr\u003erealities of the human condition, or simply preferred to evade them. In 1984, this\n\u003cbr\u003ewas the intended meaning of the word “eccentric”; someone with valid, personal\n\u003cbr\u003epriorities, not in the main stream, away from the centre, free to be critical of\n\u003cbr\u003easpects of English life he regarded as false or shallow or unworthy. Borrow did not\n\u003cbr\u003esubscribe to other people’s view of how life should be conducted; his publications\n\u003cbr\u003eare the expression of this freedom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGeorge Borrow Eccentric (1984) was guarded in its treatment of biographical\n\u003cbr\u003equestions. Collie discusses some key unresolved issues in Borrows life: the question\n\u003cbr\u003eof paternity (did he and his brother have the same father?); the condition for which\n\u003cbr\u003emercury treatment was prescribed (if not syphilis, then what?); the person behind\n\u003cbr\u003ethe name “Isobel Berners” (can she be securely identified?); his Bible Society\n\u003cbr\u003eaccounts (where was he during the periods unaccounted for?); his sexuality (why\n\u003cbr\u003edid he marry Mrs Clarke?); his religious convictions (do his writings express faith\n\u003cbr\u003eor cynicism on this score?); and his loneliness (the loneliness of a sharp, perceptive\n\u003cbr\u003eintellect without intended companionship?). Collie’s study calmly, carefully and\n\u003cbr\u003ethoroughly discusses the new research tools and information that bring us even\n\u003cbr\u003ecloser to the man, the works and the issues confronted by anyone who writes his\n\u003cbr\u003eliterary biography.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michael Collie","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48277947416827,"sku":"9781933146706","price":79.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/the-life-of-george-borrow-18031881-9781933146706","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}