Lavengro · Chapter
XXXIV explained
The narrator resolves to endure the publisher's arrogance and vanity rather than resist.
What happens
The narrator resolves to endure the publisher's arrogance and vanity rather than resist. The publisher brings two tattered volumes of lives for his compilation, advises him to search bookstalls in bystreets and blind alleys, and announces that he will receive the publisher's book of philosophy to review. The publisher then introduces him to the future editor of the Review, a little old man who composes tunes on a piano and tries to sell his own translation of Quintilian. The narrator declines to buy it. Afterward, the publisher directs him to search a forlorn street for the needed literature, but the narrator finds such works scarce and dear, spending much more than his loose money before procuring materials for the first volume.
Themes in this chapter
Philology and Learning
The narrator is tasked with compiling lives and reviewing philosophy, reflecting the scholarly labor of the period.
Social Class and Gentility
The publisher's arrogance and the narrator's submissive endurance highlight class dynamics in the literary world.
Characters to notice
- Lavengro
The narrator resolves to endure the publisher's arrogance and searches for literature in bystreets and blind alleys.
- The Landlord
The publisher, who brings volumes, advises on bookstalls, and introduces the narrator to the editor.
Key passages
“What can’t be cured must be endured,” and “it is hard to kick against the pricks.”
The narrator decides to accept what he cannot change rather than resist.
Opening proverbs set the tone for the narrator's passive acceptance of the publisher's behavior.
“I determined not to fly in the face of the publisher, and to bear—what I could not cure—his arrogance and vanity.”
He resolves to tolerate the publisher's pride and conceit rather than confront him.
Highlights the narrator's pragmatic decision to endure the publisher's faults.
“Sir, before translating it, I wish you to review my book of philosophy for the Review.”
The publisher asks the narrator to write a review of his own philosophy book for the periodical.
Illustrates the publisher's self-promotion and the narrator's compliance.
“I did not find the description of literature alluded to by the publisher to be a drug, but, on the contrary, both scarce and dear.”
The needed books were not cheap or easy to find, but rare and expensive.
Contradicts the publisher's earlier claim that such works would be plentiful and inexpensive.