Record Number: 32325
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Merriman is a far cry from the Brontes. Both of course are good, but while they should be sipped with luxurious slowness in the winter evening, he may be read in a cheap copy on top of a tram. And yet I don't know: of course his novels are melodrama, but then they are the best melodrama ever written, while passages like the "Storm" or the "Wreck" in the Grey Lady, or the Reconciliation between the hero and his father in "Edged Tools", are as good things as English prose contains.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 1 Jan 1914 and 25 Jan 1915
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'
(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:Child (0-17)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:29 Nov 1898
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Student
Religion:Church of England
Country of Origin:Northern Ireland
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:[unknown]
Genre:Fiction, History, Geography / Travel, Melodrama, marvellous plots in foreign settings
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:32325
Source:C. S. Lewis
Editor:Walter Hooper
Title:C. S. Lewis Collected Letters
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:2000
Vol:1
Page:102-3
Additional Comments:
From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 26 January 1915
Citation:
C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 102-3, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32325, accessed: 03 May 2024
Additional Comments:
Lewis is commenting on his friend's reading experience by referring to his own; I am assuming it took place while he was staying with the Kirkpatricks at Gastons. He had clearly read much of Merriman's prolific output, although 'The Grey Lady' and 'With Edged Tools' are the only titles referred to specifically.
