Record Number: 32418

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

(1) 'I wonder does the "Wayfarer" series publish my latest discovery - the most glorious novel (almost) that I have ever read.... It is Nathaniel Hawthorne's "House with the Seven Gables". I love the idea of a house with a curse! And although there is nothing supernatural in the story itself there is a brooding sense of mystery and fate over the whole thing: Have you read it? See if it is in the "Wayfarers" as I want to get an edition of my own as soon as possible.' (2) 'I shouldn't have said "mystery", there is really no mystery in the proper sense of the word, but a sort of feeling of fate & inevitable horror as in "Wuthering Heights". I really think I have never enjoyed a novel more. There is one lovely scene where the villain - Judge Pyncheon - has suddenly died in his chair.... it describes the corpse sitting there as the day wears on.... I intend to read all Hawthorne after this.' (3) 'This week I have been reading "The House of the Seven Gables" which I have often heard praised but never met before. Have you? It is well worth the reading.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 16 Nov 1916 and 29 Nov 1916

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

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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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Title:

The House of the Seven Gables

Genre:

Other religious, Fiction, History, Astrology / alchemy / occult, Historical novel, dark romanticism

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown
Definitely not owned by Lewis; probably borrowed, but not known from which library

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32418

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:

256-7, 258-9

Additional Comments:

(1) From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 22 November, 1916 (2) From a letter to the same, 29 November 1916 (3) From a letter to his father, 1 December 1916

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 256-7, 258-9, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32418, accessed: 04 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

I think Lewis would have been delighted to know that the house is a real house which belonged to Hawthorne's cousin Susannah Ingersoll, who often entertained him there. Before that it had belonged to some of his ancestors - and they had been involved in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The house still exists, and is now a museum. Alas, the British Library Catalogue has no entry for this title in Dent's 'Wayfarer's Library', but it was published in the 'Everyman' edition.