Record Number: 32384

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'The journey home was absolutely damnable: I had to wait an hour at Letterkenny, and an hour and a quarter at Strabane. You may judge of my boredom when I tell you that I was reduced to buying a "Novel" magazine — because everything else on the bookstall was even more impossible.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Aug 1916 and 17 Sep 1916

Country:

Northern Ireland

Time

n/a

Place:

Belfast
County Down
Railway station

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:

Northern Ireland

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

[n/a] [n/a]

Title:

The Novel Magazine

Genre:

Fiction, Pulp fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Serial / periodical

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32384

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:

221-22

Additional Comments:

From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 18 September 1916. He and Lewis had been on holiday to Portsalon in Co. Donegal. Lewis returned to Belfast while Arthur stayed on at Portsalon; this letter is addressed to him there.

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 221-22, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32384, accessed: 16 January 2025

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Additional Comments:

'The Novel Magazine' was published in London between 1905 and 1937, running to 393 issues. It was subsequently incorporated in 'The Grand Magazine', published by George Newnes. It was the first British pulp magazine. I don't know whether Lewis bought his copy in Strabane, or whether his patience had already run out in Letterkenny. I have given quite a long date range because, although Lewis read this on a single occasion, I cannot date it precisely.