Record Number: 34036

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'To go back to your book ["Joseph Conrad: A Study"]; I know you thought highly of "Nostromo" but didn't know you placed it quite so far above the other books. The other day I took up "The Secret Agent" and read it through for the first time (Conrad gave me a copy when it was first published). Now I shall do the same with "Nostromo" and read it straight through and try and keep aside the idea it produced when I first began to read it—that the S. American atmosphere is false. [I] mean principally the mental atmosphere—the mind of the natives.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 15 Oct 1904 and 31 Dec 1904

Country:

England

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:

William Henry Hudson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

4 Aug 1841

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Field naturalist and author

Religion:

Christian (Protestant in childhood only)

Country of Origin:

Argentina

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:

Joseph Conrad

Title:

Nostromo

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

London: Harper, 1904

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

34036

Source:

Print

Author:

William Henry Hudson

Editor:

Denis Shrubsall

Title:

The Unpublished Letters of W. H. Hudson, the First Literary Environmentalist, 1841-1922

Place of Publication:

Lewiston, N.Y.

Date of Publication:

2006

Vol:

2

Page:

493

Additional Comments:

Letter from Hudson to Richard Curle, 7 June 1914, 40 St. Luke's Road, W. London

Citation:

William Henry Hudson, Denis Shrubsall (ed.), The Unpublished Letters of W. H. Hudson, the First Literary Environmentalist, 1841-1922, (Lewiston, N.Y., 2006), 2, p. 493, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=34036, accessed: 26 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

The date range is speculative.The evidence indicates that Hudson started reading this work on receipt of his copy probably directly from Conrad or the publisher, but set it aside for 10 years. This letter records both past abandoned reading and intention to re-read.