Reading, book groups, libraries, teaching, English Literature, A-levels, characters, age, autobiography, endings, plots.

Transcription

1 Interview Summary Sheet Project: Memories of Fiction: An Oral History of Readers Lives Reference No. Interviewee name and title: Joanna Crooks Interviewee DOB and place of birth: Reading, 10/05/1939 Interviewee Occupation: Teacher Book group(s) attended: Putney Date(s) of recording: Monday 13 July, 2015 Location of recording: Interviewee s home, Putney. Interviewer: Dr. Amy Tooth Murphy Duration(s): 1:56:10 Summariser: Haley Moyse Fenning Copyright/Clearance: Interviewer/Summariser comments: Key themes: Reading, book groups, libraries, teaching, English Literature, A-levels, characters, age, autobiography, endings, plots. All books and authors mentioned (those discussed for >20 seconds in bold): Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall Thomas Hardy Anthony Trollope Henry James E.M Forster William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair John Updike, Rabbit Run Charles Dickens, Bleak House Charles Dickens, Hard Martin Amis Ian McEwan William Shakespeare, King John William Shakespeare, Henry VI George Orwell, Animal Farm John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood Keith Waterhouse, Billy Liar Enid Blyton George and Weedon Grossmith, The Diary of a Nobody Geoffrey Chaucher, The Nun s Preist s Tale William Wordsworth L.P Hartley, The Go-Between

2 Arthur Miller, The Crucible William Golding, Lord of the Flies Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden D. H Lawrence, Lady Chatterley s Lover Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Margaret Drabble Daphne De Maurier, Rebecca Sally Vickers, Miss Garnet s Angel George Du Maurier, Trilby Evelyn Waugh, Handful of Dust Enid Blyton Enid Blyton, The Twins of St Clare s Thomas Hardy Noel Streatfeild, Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild, Tennis Shoes Noel Streatfeild, The Children of Primrose Lane Michael Frayn, Spies Noel Streatfeild, The Painted Garden Noel Streatfeild, Curtain Up Richmal Crompton, Just William series Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman Arthur Ransome Nicolas Monsarrat, The Cruel Sea Nevil Shute, A Town Like Alice Charlotte Brontë, Villette William Shakespeare, Hamlet William Shakespeare, King Lear Louisa May Alcott, Little Women Jeanette Winterson Barbara Pym Graham Greene, Heart of the Matter Graham Greene, The Quiet Americans Iris Murdoch,The Sandcastle Iris Murdoch, The Bell Iris Murcoch, Under the Net Kingsley Amis Philip Larkin Iris Murdoch, The Sea The Sea Monica Dickens, One Pair of Hands, One Pair of Feet [1:56:10] [Session Two: 13 July 2015] 00:00:00 Joanna Crooks [JC] lived in Putney, London for 15 years as well as for 11 years when younger. Remarks that she is a member of Putney library, though sometimes uses Portsmouth. Mentions that Putney library does not charge overdue fines for pensioners. Discussion about Kindles: on holiday she will take a Kindle but does prefer books. Comments that her sister in Brazil prefers to use a Kindle. Brief anecdote about a friend who was beaten from reading Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind. Mentions Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall. Comments that it can be difficult to turn the page on a Kindle. Remarks that updates have made Kindles more user friendly.

3 00:05:52 Clarifies date of birth as 10/05/1939. Discussion about how reading habits have changed over course of working life and retirement. Comments that more effort has been made to read classic novels in retirement. Mentions Thomas Hardy. Mentions Anthony Trollope. Comments that she did not keep up with children s literature. Remarks that her grandchildren do not read. Comments that when you feel your time may be more limited, you make more effort to read things you think you ought to have read. Anecdote about student at Oxford asked the difference between literature and Literature. Mentions Henry James. Mentions E.M Forster. Comments that many people she knows are well-read. Mentions William Shakespeare: enjoyed plays at school more than novels. Discussion about differences between plays and novels: did not like set texts at school. Mentions William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair. Comments that recommendations for reading have not all been through the reading group, but also through friends. Mentions John Updike, Rabbit Run. Remarks that Putney reading group have focused on a lot of prize winners. Mentions teaching Charles Dickens, Bleak House and Hard Times but not reading much Charles Dickens. Mentions Martin Amis. Mentions Ian McEwan. 00:13:22 Discussion about books not yet read: often given as gifts. Comments on not liking Jacobian drama. Mentions restoration comedy. Mentions William Shakespeare, King John and Henry VI. 00:14:49 Discussion about how English Literature is taught in schools. Anecdote about teenagers who came to stay: were reading George Orwell, Animal Farm and John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men. Anecdote about Thomas Hardy poem. Description of English Literature A Level requirements when JC was teaching: 5 novels, 2 plays, 3 hour exam. 00:19:08 Further discussion about ex-pupil who interviewed at Oxford: decided that Literature referred to a canon of work and literature referred to paperwork. Discussion about experience of reading group in comparison to formal education. Comments that she tries to not make the sessions feel like a classroom. Remarks that there is another ex-teacher in the group who does not mind taking the role of leader. Comments that it is generally informal. Comments that there is more of a requirement to check everyone has contributed in a classroom. Description of the group: chatty. Discussion about language limitations for some reading group members. Comments on Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood: morbid. 00:23:21 Discussion about analytical reading and leisurely reading. Anecdote about granddaughter s school report. Comments that it comes naturally to JC to read analytically. Remarks that she may read something light after something heavy for contrast. Discussion about emotional engagement with story. Comments that she wanted to be a writer as a child. Mentions Enid Blyton. Comments that studying literature may limit creativity: measure yourself more critically, realistically. Mentions Keith Waterhouse, Billy Liar. Comments that a lot of writing is online now and that publishing has changed dramatically. 00:28:46 Discussion about grandmother s Agatha Christie collection: in spare bedroom, old green penguin paperbacks. Anecdote about grandfather meeting Virginia Woolf. Comments that grandfather liked Jane Austen and Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy. Comments that JC s mother and father were both avid readers. Comments that mother s favourite book was Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind. Discussion about books with sentimental value. Mentions George and Weedon Grossmith, The Diary of a Nobody. Description of green Charles Dickens collection: complete set from newspaper in the 1930s, contain mother, auntie s, grandfather s names inscripted. Comments that JC won a number of books as prizes in school and kept them. Mentions Cecil Day-Lewis. Remarks that there are so many books in the house which they will need to get rid of if they ever have to go into a residential home. Story about getting rid of a number of books about Literature. Mentions Geoffrey Chaucher, The Nun s Priest s Tale. Mentions William Wordsworth. Further discussion about Agatha Christie. Comments that she uses the same devices over and over again. Remarks that JC is very plot-driven.

4 00:36:07 Discussion about L.P Hartley, The Go-Between. Plot description of The Go-Between: boy of 13 stays in a grand house with a friend who is having a love affair with a local girl, he becomes the messenger for their relationship and is devastated by the eventuality of seeing them together. Further detailed plot description of The Go- Between: the character revisits the local girl much later in life who tries to convince him to reconnect her with her grandson. Story about one of JC s pupils writing a continuing chapter for the book. Mentions Arthur Miller, The Crucible. Further discussion about symbolism and themes in The Go-Between. Comments that it is a very important book for her. Story about son reading William Golding, Lord of the Flies. 00:45:23 Discussion about story endings. Mentions Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights. Discussion about parallels in books. Description of The Secret Garden: upper-class sickly boy, sturdy peasant lad and the upper-class girl. Brief plot description of Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden, draws parallels with D. H Lawrence, Lady Chatterley s Lover and Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights. Quotes the final line of Wuthering Heights. Discussion about first lines of novels [JC quizzes interviewer] Discussion about ending of Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre and Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Further discussion on The Go-Between: first read at the same age as the main character, 13. Quotes Margaret Drabble: so much more powerful if you read it at the right age. Mentions Daphne De Maurier, Rebecca. Mentions Jane Eyre. Quotes journalist Jill Tweedie: everyone young teenage girl identifies with Jane Eyre and Rebecca. Mentions Sally Vickers, Miss Garnet s Angel. Mentions George Du Maurier, Trilby. 00:53:30 Further discussion about The Go-Between and understanding a book at the same age of the main character. Comments that the lead character is naïve. Remarks that she read the book every few months for years before teaching it in the early 1990s, by which time she knew it very well. Mentions reading Evelyn Waugh regularly. Mentions Evelyn Waugh, Handful of Dust. Discussion about re-reading: sometimes you get something new from re-reading but it can also be comfort reading, familiarity. Comments that there are a number of books of which she could quote the next line. Remarks that happiness can often be the first half after the ending of a great misery. 00:57:10 Discussion about childhood reading. Story about being bored by Enid Blyton after a while. Mentions Joyce Grenfell parody of Enid Blyton. Mentions Enid Blyton, The Twins of St Clare s. Mentions Pony books. Mentions Thomas Hardy and Noel Streatfeild. Brief discussion about Noel Streatfeild autobiographical novel. Discussion about types of characters: the fat one, the boy, the one people pass over who takes everyone by surprise. Mentions Louisa May Alcott, Little Women and Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, What Katie Did: remarks on not being familiar with American money but otherwise understanding and appreciating period detail. Further discussion about Noel Streatfeild: Ballet Shoes, Tennis Shoes. Draws parallels between The Children of Primrose Lane and Michael Frayn, Spies. Further description of types of characters: pretty girl, boy loved by all, clever boy, overlooked or difficult child. Plot description of Noel Streatfeild, The Painted Garden: character auditioning for film version of The Secret Garden. Brief description of Noel Streatfeild, Curtain Up. Comments that her daughter liked Noel Streatfeild and went through a period of wanting to be on the stage. Discussion about Richmal Crompton, Just William series. Mentions that she is a governor of two schools. Story about being asked about gang culture in certain areas of London. Comments that Just William series is now unbelievable with the character playing with out-of-date things. Further description of Just William series. Discussion about Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman. Brief discussion about role of editor in Go Set a Watchman and William Golding, Lord of the Flies. Further discussion about The Secret Garden: comments that she did not relate to any characters at the time. Remarks that she liked characters she felt the author was unfair to. Mentions Arthur Ransome characters: Peggy and Susan. Story about Nicolas Monsarrat, The Cruel Sea and film adaptation. Discussion about emotional reaction to stories. Description of First and Second World War stories: push an emotional response button. Further description of reading The Cruel Sea: recalls discussing it with friend and being informed about the facts of life. Plot description of The Cruel Sea: naval story, torpedoes, lieutenants of different types of character. Story about The Cruel Sea evenings on naval ships.

5 1:20:31 Mentions Nevil Shute, A Town Like Alice: reminder of racism towards Australian aboriginals. Brief plot description of a A Town Like Alice. Further discussion about stories which affect emotionally. Mentions Jane Eyre. Mentions Magna Carta exhibition at the British Library and early manuscript of Jane Eyre in permanent exhibition. Mentions Charlotte Brontë, Villette. Discussion about fantasy and fairytale aspect of some of the Brontë sisters work. 1:24:42 Discussion about Literature reflecting life. Comments that it is nice to be taken away from your personal life but it is not good when it is phoney. Remarks that it is testament to the author s imagination and skill in transmitting it. Mentions Margaret Drabble. Mentions Aristotle: pity if you are detached, fear if you feel empathy. Story about traumatic experience involving niece, Amy. Mentions being affected by Plight of the Stars play: sense of catharsis, emotionally powerful. Mentions William Shakespeare, Hamlet and King Lear. Story about seeing King Lear when husband was in hospital. 1:28:50 Discussion about characters JC identifies with: Jo in Louisa May Alcott, Little Women. Further description of Little Women. Comments that books do not necessarily influence behaviour but does stay with you and enlarge one s ability to feel something: empathy, sympathy. Story about visiting New York and viewing portraits of Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More and thinking about Hilary Mantel s depictions. Mentions Jeanette Winterson. Further discussion about Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall: read on a Kindle after a hip operation. Discussion about concept of guilty pleasures and guilt-free reading. 1:34:50 Discussion about believable depictions in stories. Remarks on Barbara Pym: dream author, sentimental, nostalgic, details about food and clothes. Comments that she has not always enjoyed Barbara Pym but picked it up a few years ago. Mentions William Golding, Lord of the Flies. Comments on not wanting to read books which were not relatable. Discussion about religion: played no role in JC s life. Comments that she had difficulty believing that people really believed what they said they did. Mentions Graham Greene, Heart of the Matter and The Quiet Americans. Mentions film adaptation of The Quiet Americans. Anecdote about teaching Charles Dickens, Bleak House to a class and student s insight into characters with very small parts. Anecdote about colleague in school. 1:44:14 Discussion about Iris Murdoch. Mentions The Sandcastle, The Bell, Under the Net. Comments that her reading of Iris Murdoch petered out. Plot description of Under the Net. Comments that Under the Net is quite philosophical, has a loose plot. Quote from Iris Murdoch extract of The Sandcastle. Discussion about Kingsley Amis: offensive to everyone rather than just women. Mentions Philip Larkin and poem written for Kingsley Amis daughter. Discussion about Iris Murdoch, The Sea The Sea. Comments that authors often have one great novel in them and stories about writer s indicate the end for an author. Further description of Under the Net: unconventional man meeting unconventional people. Anecdote about RADA. Mentions Barbara Pym and Angela Terkel. Mentions Monica Dickens, One Pair of Hands, One Pair of Feet. 1:54:10 Conclusion of interview and reflection on the interview process. Discussion about remembering books: comments that she has remembered as much as she expected to and that it has been an enjoyable and interesting process. Mentions Barbara Pym. Comments that the interview process has highlighted how little JC likes the fantasy genre. Suggests interviewing her husband, John. [1:56:10] [End of Session Two] END OF INTERVIEW