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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 32340


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I have been devoting this week to the reading of Othello, which I like as well as any Shakespeare play I have read. The part of Iago, to my mind, is something of a blemish, and the fact that his pitiless malignity has absolutely no motive leaves him rather a monster (in the Classical, not the newspaper sense of the word), than a human character. but then of course Shakespeare at his best works on titanic lines, and the vices and virtues of Lear ... etc., are magnified to a pitch more splendid and terrible than anything in real life.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 10 Jun 1915 and 19 Jul 1915

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'

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


Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Clive Staples Lewis

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:

William Shakespeare

Title:

Othello

Genre:

Drama, Tragedy

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

32340

Source:

Print

Author:

C. S. Lewis

Editor:

Walter Hooper

Title:

C. S. Lewis Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2000

Vol:

1

Page:

132

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 132, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32340, accessed: 25 April 2024


Additional Comments:

In a letter to his father, of about 19 July 1915, Lewis writes that he has "been reading nothing since Othello but a translation from the Icelandic", so this reading experience was definitely completed by that date. (Letters, v.1, p.137)

   
   
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