Record Number: 4245
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Percy Wall described his [colliery] institute as a "blatantly utilitarian" building with a "square cemented front" and a "drab, poorly lit" reading room, but it offered a wonderful escape from a dull Welsh village: "I could view the future through the words of H.G. Wells, participate in the elucidation of mysteries with Sherlock Holmes,... or penetrate darkest Africa with Rider Haggard as my guide. I could laugh at the comic frustrations of coaster seaman or bargee at the call of W.A. Jacobs. What a gloriously rich age it was for the storyteller!... When the stories palled there was always the illustrated weeklies with their pictures of people and conditions remote from my personal experience... I could laugh with Punch or Truth, although some of the humour was much too subtle for my limited education. Above all I could study the Review of Reviews and learn therein the complexities of foreign affairs.
Century:1900-1945
Date:unknown
Country:Wales
Timen/a
Place:specific address: colliery institute library
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:1883
Socio-Economic Group:Labourer (non-agricultural)
Occupation:collier
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:Wales
Country of Experience:Wales
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:[African stories]
Genre:Fiction
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceread in situ
colliery institute
Source Information:
Record ID:4245
Source: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:243-4
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, (New Haven, 2001), p. 243-4, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=4245, accessed: 07 October 2024
Additional Comments:
See Percy Wall, 'Hour at Eve', Ch.15, no further ref. traceable in Rose.