Record Number: 21053

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Passages transcribed at length in E. M. Forster's Commonplace Book (1932) include extract from Voltaire, Charles XII Book 3 (on the execution of Jean Reginald Patkul, ambassador of the Czar), accompanied by comment: 'Each time I read the magnificent passage above -- at last transcribed -- I am struck by the economy of the [italics]irony[end italics] and even of the [italics]pathos[end italics]. Yet the whole passage vibrates with both. There is a sort of religious grandeur -- cruelty and cowardice are both noted without contempt. 'When will there be such writing again, or even the leisure to transcribe it? Voltaire and I do speak the same language, vast though be the difference in our vocabularies, we are both civilised [...] We belong to the cultured interlude which came between the fall of barbarism and the rise of universal "education" [...] We believe in reason, in pity, and in not always coming out right -- that is to say I hope to be logical and compassionate'.

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1932 and 31 Dec 1932

Country:

n/a

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Edward Morgan Forster

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1 Jan 1879

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

n/a

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Voltaire

Title:

Histoire de Charles XII (Book 3)

Genre:

History, Biography

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Passage appears at pp.97-8 of Book 3 in 1856 edition of text owned by Forster.

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

21053

Source:

Print

Author:

E. M. Forster

Editor:

Philip Gardner

Title:

Commonplace Book

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1985

Vol:

n/a

Page:

96

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

E. M. Forster, Philip Gardner (ed.), Commonplace Book, (London, 1985), p. 96, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21053, accessed: 24 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

None