Record Number: 5704

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'[Patrick McGill] read virtually nothing, not even the daily papers until, working on the rail line, he happened to pick up some poetry written on a page from an exercise book. somehow it spoke to him and he began to read "ravenously". He brought "Sartor Resartus", "Sesame and Lilies" and Montaigne's essays to work. "Les Miserables" reduced him to tears, though he found "Das Kapital" less affecting. Each payday he set aside a few shillings to buy secondhand books, which after a month's use were almost illegible with rust, grease and dirt....[eventually he] went on to become a popular novelist.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

unknown

Country:

n/a

Time

daytime

Place:

other location: at work

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:

Patrick McGill

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1890

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

navvy

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

Ireland

Country of Experience:

n/a

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Victor Hugo

Title:

Les Miserables

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

5704

Source:

Print

Author:

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:

418-19

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, (New Haven, 2001), p. 418-19, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=5704, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

See Patrick McGill, 'Children of the Dead End' (London, 1914).