Title: The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft Author: George Robert Gissing Published: London: Phoenix House Ltd., 1953 (First published 1903). Forward by Cecil Chisholm.  Pages-220. Preamble There are books that help me understand who I am, this book is one of those.  Now I cannot identify exactly with the character of Henry Ryecroft, but, there are moments of truth that encapsulate certain aspects of myself that Gissing clarified.  Gissing portrays Ryecroft as a humble, contemplative, and very mature Englishman of fifty-three.  He himself was only forty-three when he wrote this story and he never lived to be the age of his character, Ryecroft.  I am convinced that Gissing did not just happen to stumble on the portrayal of Ryecroft, he has a very well-defined sense of human character.  This must have come from many hours of contemplative thought and self-reflection.  The character is very humble, knows what he enjoys, recognizes his age, and has on overall very mature look on life.  Here is a man who can stop and smell the roses, one who can appreciate what he has done in his youth, and yet knows those days are gone, and accepts it.  He does not pine away on the…