Record Number: 21857
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'In his copy of Vigny's "Chatterton" he marked the sentence, "En toi la reverie continuelle a tue l'action", and in Renan he marked a comment that the Celts knew how to plunge their hands into a man's entrails and bring out secrets of the infinite. What he always thought of as his Celtic strain would have been fascinated by "La Tentation de St Antoine", in which Flaubert meticulously describes the saint's visions of strange and dreadful beings. Owen read the book with care, underlining frequently. Tailhade had also marked it, writing "cretin!" against a criticism by the editor of the novel's "grands defauts". Evidently agreing with Tailhade, Owen went on to read at least two more of Flaubert's novels, "Madame Bovary" and "Salammbo". "Flaubert has my vote for novel-writing!", he exclaimed to Gunston in July 1915, and he told his mother that he was reading "Salammbo" "with more interest than the Communiques".'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 20 Aug 1914 and 31 Jul 1915
Country:France
Timen/a
Place:n/a
Type of Experience(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:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:18 Mar 1893
Socio-Economic Group:Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder
Occupation:tutor, later soldier and poet
Religion:none
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:France
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:La Tentation de saint Antoine
Genre:Fiction
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
gift from Tailhade; originally his copy
Source Information:
Record ID:21857
Source:Dominic Hibberd
Editor:n/a
Title:Owen the Poet
Place of Publication:Basingstoke
Date of Publication:1986
Vol:n/a
Page:39-40
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Dominic Hibberd, Owen the Poet, (Basingstoke, 1986), p. 39-40, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21857, accessed: 04 October 2024
Additional Comments:
None