Record Number: 32375

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I am very glad to hear that you are getting to like Jason: I agree with you that the whole description of Medea — glorious character — going out by night, and of her sorceries in the wood is absolutely wonderful, and there are other bits later on, such as the description of the "Winter by the Northern River" and the garden of the Hesperides, which I think quite as good.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 19 Sep 1914 and 11 Jul 1916

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:

Child (0-17)

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:

William Morris

Title:

The Life and Death of Jason: A Poem

Genre:

Classics, Fiction, Poetry, Astrology / alchemy / occult, Greek mythology, sorcery, narrative poem in iambic pentameter

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32375

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:

209

Additional Comments:

From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 11 July 1916

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 209, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32375, accessed: 17 March 2025

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Additional Comments:

I have given a date range from Lewis's arrival at Mr Kirkpatrick's to the writing of this letter because he is reminiscing about his own reading experience in response to that of his friend. Nothing definite is known, but his description is detailed, so I think this title was among his favourites.