Record Number: 2303

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Either at school or at home I read all the classics considered necessary for children: 'Treasure Island', 'Kidnapped', 'Little Women', 'David Copperfield', 'Ivanhoe', 'Robinson Crusoe'. I suppose I enjoyed them; I certainly did not resent or avoid them. Very occasionally some incident would seem to connect with my own life: the doings of the Spanish Inquisition in 'Westward Ho!' for example, fitted in exactly with what I had heard about Roman Catholics. But on the whole the themes appeared completely abstract and impersonal, even when the author intended a message to strike home. 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' did not cause me a moment's concern for the plight of Negro slaves in America, and neither did 'The Water Babies' for the sufferings of the child chimney-sweeps, not because these situations had been done away with, but because no book stirred me in that way...

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1925 and 31 Dec 1937

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Exmouth
location in dwelling: home, or
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

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Patricia Beer

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

4 Nov 1919

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder

Occupation:

daughter of railway clerk

Religion:

Plymouth Brethren

Country of Origin:

England

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:

Charles Kingsley

Title:

The Water Babies

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

2303

Source:

Print

Author:

Patricia Beer

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Mrs Beer's House

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1968

Vol:

n/a

Page:

102

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Patricia Beer, Mrs Beer's House, (London, 1968), p. 102, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=2303, accessed: 24 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

None