Edited with an Introduction by Edward Mendelson and Robert Squillace - 'The Bennett novels stand up to anything Europe has put out'. Elizabeth Bowen Henry Earlforward, a shabby Clerkenwell bookseller, has retired from life to devote himself (and his wife Violet) to a consuming passion for money. Miserliness, long disguised as procrastination, can become a fatal illness. Bennett's bleak story is saved, however, by the Earlforward's maid Elsie: buxom, warm, ignorant and sublime in her spontaneous greed for life. "Riceyman ...
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Edited with an Introduction by Edward Mendelson and Robert Squillace - 'The Bennett novels stand up to anything Europe has put out'. Elizabeth Bowen Henry Earlforward, a shabby Clerkenwell bookseller, has retired from life to devote himself (and his wife Violet) to a consuming passion for money. Miserliness, long disguised as procrastination, can become a fatal illness. Bennett's bleak story is saved, however, by the Earlforward's maid Elsie: buxom, warm, ignorant and sublime in her spontaneous greed for life. "Riceyman Steps" is a modernist masterpiece; a profound psychological and symbolic exploration of the forces of love and death. This edition contains "Riceyman Steps", appearing here in Bennett's corrected version, and its sequel, "Elsie and the Child".
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Add this copy of Riceyman Steps to cart. $35.01, good condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 1991 by Penguin Classics.
Arnold Bennett is a SUPERB writer; why he isn't more famous and widely read is a mystery. In "Riceyman Steps", he creates the ultimate portrait of a miser. And while set in the early 20th century, the miser's character will seem all too familiar to modern readers. Beware: this book, once read, will stay in your thoughts for years.