Record Number: 24966

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'There are books one seems to have read before, and books one doesn't want to read, books that one reads with annoyance, pleasure, exasperation or wonder; but this, your "P[oor]M[an's] H[ouse" is a book for which one seems to have waited all the time [...]. I am not a critic. [...]. I will tell you instead what has happened. I walked into my room, came up to the table you know, took up your book and opened it at the first page of the text (not of the preface). When I came to myself with a queer sense of unutterable fatigue I was still standing and I had reached page 62--not glancing through mind you, but giving each phrase, each word, each image its full value as I went.' Hence follow 16 lines of unqualified praise.

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 3 Oct 1908 and 31 Oct 1908

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Luton Hoo Estate
county: Bedfordshire
specific address: Someries
location in dwelling: Study/library

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:

Joseph Conrad

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

3 Dec 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility

Occupation:

Master mariner and author

Religion:

Roman Catholic

Country of Origin:

Poland

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:

Stephen Reynolds

Title:

A Poor Man's House

Genre:

Social Science, Geography / Travel, Agriculture / horticulture / husbandry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

1908 London Bodley Head

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

24966

Source:

Print

Author:

Joseph Conrad

Editor:

Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies

Title:

The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911

Place of Publication:

Cambridge

Date of Publication:

1990

Vol:

4

Page:

134-135

Additional Comments:

Letter from Joseph Conrad to Stephen Reynolds, tentatively dated October 1908, Someries.

Citation:

Joseph Conrad, Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies (ed.), The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911, (Cambridge, 1990), 4, p. 134-135, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=24966, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

This experience has been recorded in some detail because of the precise description of the reading experience. For note on author see letter May 1908 p. 84 of source text, fn. 2