Record Number: 30708

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Meeting held at Frensham. 6th Oct. 1943 Howard R. Smith in the chair.
1. Minutes of the last meeting were read & approved.
[...]
5. Kenneth Nicholson discoursed to us on ‘Style’. He confessed that the more he had gone into the subject the further he had got out of his depth, but this fact was not apparent, for what he said was most interesting and illuminating. He gave as his four essentials for good style: Clarity, Rhythm, Sincerity and the Emergence of Personality. Kenneth Nicholson illustrated these qualities by quotations from such varied sources as: The Telephone Directory; an advertisement for Sanitas powder; the Dean of Harvard; Charles Morgan; Walter Pater; C. E. Montague; G. K Chesterton; H. G. Wells; T. E. Lawrence; a Leighton Park boy and a Press reporter. In the discussion which followed, some members thought that good style could be achieved without sincerity, and reference was made to the regrettable absence of clarity in legal documents and official forms.
6. F. E. Pollard then read 7 examples of prose writing and we were asked to write down the authors. It was only to be expected that Kenneth Nicholson, who had been studying the subject, should come out top with 5 right answers. [...]

[signed as a true record by] A. B. Dilks 8.11.43. [at the club meeting held at 39 Eastern Avenue: see Minute Book, p. 165]'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

6 Oct 1943

Country:

England

Time

evening

Place:

city: Reading
county: Berkshire
specific address: Frensham, Northcourt Avenue

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Kenneth F. Nicholson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

n/a

Religion:

Quaker or associated with the Friends

Country of Origin:

n/a

Country of Experience:

England

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

Members of the XII Book Club

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

G. K. Chesterton

Title:

[unspecified text]

Genre:

Unknown

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

30708

Source:

Manuscript

Author:

Margaret Dilks

Title:

XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 4 (1938-1943)

Location:

private collection

Call No:

n/a

Page/Folio:

161–165

Additional Information:

Margaret Dilks was secretary to the XII Book Club from 1940 to 1970. It is inferred from this, and from the handwriting, that she was the author of this set of minutes.

Citation:

Margaret Dilks, XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 4 (1938-1943), private collection, 161–165, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=30708, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

Material by kind permission of the XII Book Club. For further information and permission to quote this source, contact the Reading Experience Database (http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/contacts.php).