Record Number: 32424

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

(1) '... you simply must read this book of Maeterlinck's on death. It is full of the most interesting stuff, and even when you don't believe his theories they always have a sort of romantic interest. One case he tells of reminds me of "John Silence", it is so weird: but I mustn't spoil it by outline.' (2) 'By the way Maeterlinck's book on Death is in the usual horrid, expensive continental paper back - still this gives you the exciting task of getting it bound.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 26 Jan 1917 and 14 Feb 1917

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:

Adult (18-100+)

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:

Maurice Maeterlinck

Title:

La Mort

Genre:

Other religious, Essays / Criticism, Astrology / alchemy / occult, Theories of survival after death

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Possibly Bibliotheque Charpentier, Paris, 1913

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32424

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:

270, 274

Additional Comments:

(1) From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 31 January 1917 (2) From a letter to the same, 7 February 1917 'John Silence' by Algernon Blackwood, is a series of ghost stories about a psychic detective.

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 270, 274, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32424, accessed: 17 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

An extended version of 'La Mort' was published in English in 1913, translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, and called 'Our Eternity'. In his introduction, de Mattos says that 'La Mort' was first published in 1911, but 1913 is the earliest date I can find in the British Library catalogue. I cannot find a French edition of the exact collection of essays which comprise 'Our Eternity'. Lewis was reading Maeterlinck in French; he does not give the precise title of the book, but I think it must have been 'La Mort'.