Record Number: 31699
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Meeting held at 22 Cintra Avenue: 17. IV 40.
F. E. Pollard in the chair
1. Minutes of last read & approved.
[...]
5. As an introduction to our subject of Modern English Humourists, R. H. Robson
read a passage analysing the nature of Humour. Discussion followed on the
distinction, if any, between wit & humour, & various alleged examples were
forthcoming.
6. A. B. Dilks read from Grossmith’s Diary of a Nobody; many entries appealed to
members as characteristic of themselves or their friends.
7. In the regretted absence of C. E. Stansfield, F. E. Pollard read T. Thompson’s
Blitzkrieg, from the Manchester Guardian, in what purported to be the Lancashire
dialect.
8 Howard R. Smith read from A. A. Milne: the reader shared fully in the mirth of
the hearers.
9. M. Dilks gave us a passage from Macdonnell’s ‘England, their England’, which
must have been salutary for any suffering from insular complacency.
10. Rosamund Wallis’ contribution was from P. G. Wodehouse’s ‘Carry on, Jeeves’;
certain methods of being off with the old love & on with the new were
characteristically indicated by the writer, effectively rendered by the reader, &
clearly appreciated by the company.
11. R. H. Robson’s Saki story supplied further satire on English standards – in this
case of music, & the services likely to secure a title.
12. The chapter from Barrie’s ‘Window in Thrums’, read by F. E. Pollard, told how
Gavin Birse did his best to be off with the old love, but failed.
13. The idea of a Barrie evening was mooted.
[signed as a true record:] M. Stevens
18-7-40'
1900-1945
Date:17 Apr 1940
Country:England
Timeevening
Place:city: Reading
county: Berkshire
specific address: 22, Cintra Avenue
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:1880
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:n/a
Religion:Quaker or associated with the Friends
Country of Origin:n/a
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
Members of the XII Book Club
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:n/a
Genre:Unknown, Humour
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:31699
Source:Manuscript
Author:n/a
Title:XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 4 (1938-1943)
Location:private collection
Call No:n/a
Page/Folio:64–6
Additional Information:
n/a
Citation:
[unidentified acting secretary of the XII Book Club] , XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 4 (1938-1943), private collection, 64–6, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=31699, accessed: 11 December 2024
Additional Comments:
Material by kind permission of the XII Book Club. For further information and permission to quote this source, contact the Reading Experience Database (http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/contacts.php).