Little Man's Diary

Author: George Grossmith
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Charles Pooter is a small office clerk, diligent and conscientious, yet content: he has a new home in the suburbs; his boss treats him well; his wife is deeply in love with him; and he has two "not-so-good" neighborhood friends. With his ambitions fulfilled, old Pooter begins to keep a diary, naturally filled with everyday and trivialities, nothing new under the sun. Occasionally, he gets the chance to attend gatherings of the upper class, where he makes a fool of himself, but he doesn’t mind. His goal in life is to become a decent gentleman, and of course, he did achieve it—his efforts were not in vain. The Diary of Nobody (1891), attributed to the diary of clerk Charles Pooter, is actually a fictional work by George Grossmith (1848–1912) and his brother Weedon Grossmith (1852–1919). The latter also illustrated the book with vivid and humorous drawings. It was first serialized in the humorous magazine Punch and later published as a book. Over a century after its release, Pooter’s name has entered everyday English, referring to a certain type of conservative middle-class person living in the suburbs, and has even given rise to the word "Pooterish." Although it holds little prominent place in mainstream literary history, it remains popular and widely enjoyed, with its influence still felt today. Entries related to it can be found in The Encyclop?dia Britannica and the recently published Oxford English Dictionary of American and British Culture.
The renowned Chinese scholar Qian Zhongshu was also a great admirer of this book. In the recently published Collected Manuscripts of Qian Zhongshu, there is a passage related to it. It is found in the first volume, "Notes from the," under item 192. It reads: "In the summer of 1936, I traveled to Paris, and my luggage did not include any English novels. By chance, I came across The Diary of Nobody in an old bookstore (here the original character '' was crossed out) and bought it to read. I was amazed by its brilliance, and so was (another admirer). In 1940, the book was included in Everyman’s Library, and V. S. Pritchett wrote a glowing review of it (In My Good Books, pp. 87ff), making it known to a wider audience. [John Betjeman mentioned that T. S. Eliot also liked this book (T. S. Eliot: A Symposium, compiled by R. March & Tambimuttu, p. 92).] Recently, a young lady took it up for reading, and I reread it, even more impressed by its ingenious imagination, which encompasses all the realities of life." This note is half a recollection of buying and reading the book and half a reflection and critique. When discussing Eliot’s fondness for the book and certain similarities to The Goncourt Journals, the sources and page numbers of the relevant citations are meticulously noted. It is clear that Qian’s family had an extraordinary fondness for this little-known book, calling it a "masterpiece."
The protagonist, Mr. Pooter, has served faithfully in a London company for many years and, at the age of fifty, moves into a small house in a good suburban area with six rooms and a morning room (not to mention the basement). Though it is an old house and near a railway, he and his "dear wife, Carrie" are already content. For old Pooter, this move marks a new beginning in life, and he begins to keep a journal, recording the trivialities of daily household life.
The Diary of Nobody tells the story of a decent man, Pooter, and his happy life. The petty details of a small-town household resonate with many readers. Compared to Zhang Damin, a poor Chinese worker, the lower-middle-class Mr. Pooter in Victorian England lives far more comfortably in material terms. However, his snobbish desire to climb the social ladder only highlights the cramped, dim, and awkward nature of his life. The sharp yet fitting satire of Mr. Pooter is distinctly British, largely reflecting a group’s profound self-reflection and self-mockery, something rarely seen in today’s diverse Chinese literary landscape.
From the internet, I learned that The Diary of Nobody is still in print, with new copies priced at twenty dollars. Readers, standing with the author in a higher vantage point to observe the antics of Mr. Pooter and his ilk, take pleasure in feeling superior to them, yet they can’t help but recognize their own shadows in them, which sends a shiver down their spine. They derive great amusement and, in the process, receive subtle lessons—generation after generation, it never gets old.