Record Number: 12498
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Saturday 13th October 1928. After dinner went with Mme. and George to Romainville to hear Georges Pioch on Tolsto?. [...] Queerly enough, though Pioch himself is a Tolstoyan and though his speech showed the bias, it seemed to strengthen the instinctive dislike, which I feel for Tolstoy the man. I can admire and be troubled by his theories. I can find his works wonderful, and yet I dislike Tolstoy. His personal arrogance, his obvious sense of superiority to all the individuals with whom he comes in contact does not square with his humility in face of that which are abstractions ? the People. Again, he is too much the propagandist. He squares the circle too perfectly. He seems drunk with logic in his propagandist books. These things always make me suspicious. I do not believe that life can be simplified like that, that it can be governed by half a dozen rules of conduct. I believe that life is essentially a thing of endless complication, endless contradiction, a machinery of compromises, a picture composed of endlessly varied halftones. It is probable that I do not properly appreciate the Tolstoyan argument, but so far as my comprehension permits and my own knowledge, I am no Tolstoyan.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 16 Jun 1903 and 13 Oct 1928
Country:France
Timen/a
Place:n/a
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:16 Jun 1903
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Coffee then Cocoa broker, working for Unilever - United Africa Company
Religion:none
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:France
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:unknown
Genre:Fiction
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:12498
Source:Manuscript
Author:Gerald Moore
Title:MS Diary 1928
Location:Private Collection
Call No:MS Diary 1928
Page/Folio:n/a
Additional Information:
For further information about this diary, please contact the Reading Experience Database project: http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/contacts.php
Citation:
Gerald Moore, MS Diary 1928, Private Collection, MS Diary 1928, n/a, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=12498, accessed: 19 April 2024
Additional Comments:
This material Copyright Andrew Neill Vanson Moore, and Shirley Frances Gould-Smith.
