Friday, December 06, 2013

 

What Do You Read?

David Jones (1895-1974), letter to René Hague (April 15, 1935), in Dai Greatcoat: A self-portrait of David Jones in his letters (London: Faber and Faber, 1980), p. 70:
The doctor been and say I'm all right but wants me to only smoke ten cigarettes a day—and have bath in morning instead of night and do some physical jerks each morning. O bugger bugger bugger and rest half an hour before dinner and lunch and only drink two gingies a day—He is nice but it's always the same stuff. Doc: 'Are you worried about any things?' Am I worried me arse. Doctor: 'What do you read—let me see—let me look—The Nature of Belief—Shakespeare—Medieval Religion—I shouldn't trouble the mind with anything disturbing you know. What do you read for light literature?' Me: Well—well—eh—eh—well—you know that's the bugger of it—well, I like Alice in Wonderland if I want to have a good laugh.'
Hat tip: Ian Jackson.



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