the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

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Arthur Conan Doyle : [Sherlock Holmes Stories]

'Percy Wall described his [colliery] institute as a "blatantly utilitarian" building with a "square cemented front" and a "drab, poorly lit" reading room, but it offered a wonderful escape from a dull Welsh village: "I could view the future through the words of H.G. Wells, participate in the elucidation of mysteries with Sherlock Holmes,... or penetrate darkest Africa with Rider Haggard as my guide. I could laugh at the comic frustrations of coaster seaman or bargee at the call of W.A. Jacobs. What a gloriously rich age it was for the storyteller!... When the stories palled there was always the illustrated weeklies with their pictures of people and conditions remote from my personal experience... I could laugh with Punch or Truth, although some of the humour was much too subtle for my limited education. Above all I could study the Review of Reviews and learn therein the complexities of foreign affairs.

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group: Percy Wall      Print: Book

Arthur Conan Doyle : Sir Nigel

[imaginative role play] 'One chauffeur's daughter alternated effortlessly between heroes and heroines: "I have plotted against pirates along with Jim Hawkins and I have trembled with Jane Eyre as the first Mrs Rochester rent her bridal veil in maddened jealousy. I have been shipwrecked with Masterman Ready and on Pitcairn Island with Fletcher Christian. I have been a medieval page in Sir Nigel and Lorna Doone madly in love with 'girt Jan Ridd'".

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group: Margaret Wharton      Print: Book

Arthur Conan Doyle : [Sherlock Holmes Stories]

'I had hoped to have a clear head here - to get on with German, Italian, etc. and to read some history. But I have been so heavy and tired all the time that I can only manage snatches of [italics] War and Peace [end italics] and [italics] Sherlock Holmes [end italics]. I am supposed to have done a detailed criticism of Emily's book - I have skimmed through it but that is all.'

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group: Antonia White      Print: Book

Arthur Conan Doyle : Rodney Stone

'The literary orderly has been quoting Rodney Stone outside! I said I would tell the author.'

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group:      Print: Book

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