The Hammer on the Thumb
FTER this, Professor I. A. Gordon’s talks in the series, The Art of Letters, seem small beer. This is hardly fair to Professor Gordon, since his aim is so much lower, but I have one major cavil. I heard his third talk last week. I think it a great mistake to have letters read in character. The recorded excerpts embedded in Professor Gordon’s text were,
for my taste, hammily produced with far too many expression marks. Letters are not written to be read aloud, though some may repay doing so if they are lively or significant: what is not defensible in my view is the attempt at imaginative reconstruction of the character of the writer. Why did Professor Gordon not read the letters himself? His_ soft Scottish burr could make something quite agreeable of them, and the imaginative identification could be left to the listener, This is, after all, what we all do when we read a letter: get a picture, either benign or frosty of the person who sent it. The letters themselves ranged in interest from the fascinating one from the beleaguered medieval lady asking for poleaxes and almonds, to dullish ones from Richard Steele to dear Prue.
B E
GM:
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 819, 7 April 1955, Page 10
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208The Hammer on the Thumb New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 819, 7 April 1955, Page 10
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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