tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post1387264436553267805..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Kathleen Jones: Reading My Mother's Reading DiaryKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-7410155283224331942012-07-07T16:52:10.262+01:002012-07-07T16:52:10.262+01:00The Mass Observation Archive would be another home...The Mass Observation Archive would be another home for them - I think it's based in Bristol University.<br /><br />And John - BUZZCOCKS was possibly my mother's favourite programme. She never missed it. I could never understand this myself - but there you go. People are more multiple and various than we think.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-64243944688129608432012-07-06T00:35:39.550+01:002012-07-06T00:35:39.550+01:00In New Zealand the Turnbull Library or National Ar...In New Zealand the Turnbull Library or National Archives are very happy to accept such private documents for archiving. I'm sure there would be somewhere in the UK that would accept them - as you say, the lives of ordinary people are very much of interest to historians these days.Catherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08236329216260906624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-77570436783985511452012-07-05T22:20:15.229+01:002012-07-05T22:20:15.229+01:00What a lovely memory of your Mum. Her eclectic rea...What a lovely memory of your Mum. Her eclectic reading must have been out of place in a remote farming community. Was she covert in her reading with the neigbours or was she 'outed' as a bookworm? <br /><br />Richmal Crompton I knew was a woman but I had no idea that she had strayed beyond the Williiam stories. She wrote so easily and imbued in me a love of reading and mischief from a young age!<br /><br />Douglas Adamson in deepest North Yorkshire farming country.Douglas Adamsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-5023138876406735242012-07-05T21:24:06.917+01:002012-07-05T21:24:06.917+01:00Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. It ...Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. It hadn't occurred to me that I could make them into a book (and me a writer!). But she also left diaries and letters and now I'm wondering whether I could use the reading diaries as the pivot for an account of her life through the books she read. Mmmmmm Lots of food for thought here.<br />And thanks too Julia for your suggestions about Reading Uni. I will investigate. Myself, I would find it very difficult to part with them, but my children probably won't be interested, or - as there are so many of them - quarrel over ownership. So I think I'd like to leave them to an archive where lots of people could have access if it was of interest. I think there should be a proper record of vernacular history - the lives of ordinary people.Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-930311338484472032012-07-05T18:00:21.707+01:002012-07-05T18:00:21.707+01:00I think the answer to your question may be the Uni...I think the answer to your question may be the University of Reading. (And I do mean Redding)I know they had a big reading project there some years ago and I think they were some way into building up an archive. Have you ever read Johnathan Rose's Intellectual Life of the Bristish Working Clases? BRILLIANT book published by Yale some years ago and using just this sort of thing to build up a pic of c19th and ealy c20th reading patterns. It has vg notes so there's probably a clue where these could go. Or my friend Jenny Hartley might know. She's an authority on reading groups. SO when the time comes I'm certain they will find a home. (Though I fear you may find that they are almost impossible to part with)julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-89375251546275991212012-07-05T17:09:44.311+01:002012-07-05T17:09:44.311+01:00What a wonderful memento and an insight into readi...What a wonderful memento and an insight into reading fashions. My parents were also big fans of Howard Spring and Nevil Shute whom I devoured in my school years. Mum moved on to modern favourites like Margaret Drabble and Margaret Forster - a big favourite in, I guess, the 80s or 90s.Thansk for sharing this record. <br />Ali BAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-74359077821199653462012-07-05T16:13:12.593+01:002012-07-05T16:13:12.593+01:00Fabulous post. Thanks, Kathleen. The apple doesn&#...Fabulous post. Thanks, Kathleen. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. ;-)<br /><br />I agree with Cally - this is a book just waiting to be published. I'd buy it & it would appeal to the Persephone Books market (cf Nicola Beaumann's A VERY GREAT PROFESSION.)<br /><br />Susan Howatch isn't completely forgotten. I read her & recommend her whenever I get the opportunity.Linda Gillardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05747108591927491742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-62176145549883793422012-07-05T16:05:47.032+01:002012-07-05T16:05:47.032+01:00Lovely to see Paul Gallico mentioned in that list ...Lovely to see Paul Gallico mentioned in that list too!madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-83311666538558004092012-07-05T14:24:43.441+01:002012-07-05T14:24:43.441+01:00I agree with Cally - I loved reading this article,...I agree with Cally - I loved reading this article, and I'd definitely buy the book. This kind of nostalgic non-fiction is going to really hit big as the baby-boomers go through their later-life transition into retirementJenny Alexanderhttp://jenalexanderbooks.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-62973829249809184082012-07-05T13:53:09.066+01:002012-07-05T13:53:09.066+01:00In that list, Dostoyevsky and Arthur Koestler are ...In that list, Dostoyevsky and Arthur Koestler are the two that fascinate me most. It's clear that, even though your mother felt the loss of not going to college, Kathleen, she compensated by reading far more widely and deeply over a lifetime than I suspect the vast majority of people who do go to college ever will. Readers like her are exactly why writers bother producing the books in the first place. <br /><br /><br />(And also very impressed Susan, at your mother enjoying BUZZCOCKS!)John A. A. Loganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03613779477853664598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-87851101121158253542012-07-05T13:07:08.509+01:002012-07-05T13:07:08.509+01:00Lovely, Kathleen - thank you.
But Norah Lofts is n...Lovely, Kathleen - thank you.<br />But Norah Lofts is not forgotten! My mother was a great fan, and passed her books on to me. I've read most of them, and loved most of them - and they're available on kindle.<br />Your mother reminds me of my own mother, though mine lived in the industrial Black Country, not on a remote farm. But my mother grew up during the war, was working-class and uneducated - but she read avidly. (Although, if I'm honest, her writing, spelling and grammar were very poor.) Mom had television, but much preferred to read a book (unless Buzzcocks or Have I Got News For You was on.)<br />Would my Mom have used a kindle? She avoided using technology as much as possible - wouldn't touch the music-players or computers or video ('Then you can't blame me for breaking them.') But I think she might have used a kindle... Or, more likely, she would have learned how to switch it on and turn the pages, and got us to do everything else.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-9088268666001078672012-07-05T11:46:45.391+01:002012-07-05T11:46:45.391+01:00What a wonderful legacy from your mother!What a wonderful legacy from your mother!Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-29439134135806979842012-07-05T11:12:06.790+01:002012-07-05T11:12:06.790+01:00Fascinating Kathleen. Absolutely fascinating. And ...Fascinating Kathleen. Absolutely fascinating. And what you should do now is turn them into an ebook! Seriously. I'd read it in a heartbeat. I am so interested in all the 'forgotten' authors and in the changing fashions of reading - and as an 'ordinary' woman reviewing books... give amazon a run for its money eh?CallyPhillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15481379296340077102noreply@blogger.com