Switch to English Switch to French

The Open University  |   Study at the OU  |   About the OU  |   Research at the OU  |   Search the OU

Listen to this page  |   Accessibility

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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 2789


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'"Thinking back, I am amazed at the amount of English literature we absorbed in those four years", recalled Ethel Clark, a Gloucester railway worker's daughter, "and I pay tribute to the man who made it possible... Scott, Thackeray, Shakespeare, Longfellow, Dickens, Matthew Arnold, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Rudyard Kipling were but a few authors we had at our fingertips. How he made the people live again for us!".'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

unknown

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

county: Gloucestershire
other location: School

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:

Ethel Clark

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

1909

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

railway worker's daughter

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Walter Scott

Title:

n/a

Genre:

Fiction, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

read in situ
read at school


Source Information:

Record ID:

2789

Source:

Print

Author:

Jonathan Rose

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes

Place of Publication:

New Haven

Date of Publication:

2001

Vol:

n/a

Page:

157

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, (New Haven, 2001), p. 157, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=2789, accessed: 04 December 2024


Additional Comments:

See John Burnett (ed.) Destiny Obscure (Harmondsworth, 1987) p.159

   
   
Green Turtle Web Design