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Interview Summary Sheet Project: Memories of Fiction: an Oral History of Readers’ Lives

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Interview Summary Sheet Project: Memories of Fiction: an Oral History of Readers’ Lives Interview Summary Sheet Project: Memories of Fiction: An Oral History of Readers’ Lives Reference No. Interviewee name and title: Brenda Casey Interviewee DOB and place of birth: Luton, Bedfordshire Interviewee Occupation: Teacher and literacy coordinator Book group(s) attended: Alvering Date(s) of recording: 8th October 2014 Location of recording: University of Roehampton Interviewer: Amy Tooth Murphy Duration(s): 01.20.53 Summariser: Alison Chand Copyright/Clearance: Key themes: Family, school, reading, childhood books, leisure, social class, American fiction, classics, US racial tension, religion. All books mentioned (those discussed for >20 seconds in bold): Greyfriars Bobby, The Story of Grace Darling, Little Grey Rabbit, Toby Twirl, Rupert Bear, The Odyssey, Christopher Robin, The Wind in the Willows, Noddy, Jane books, Just William, The Valley of Adventure, The Sea of Adventure, Nancy Drew Girl Detective, What Katy Did, What Katy Did at School, Jane Eyre, Cranford, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Travels with my Donkey, The Lake Isle of Innisfree, Father Brown, Ulysses, Brighton Rock, Jeeves, Dancing to the Flute, The Talented Mr Ripley, The Two Faces of January, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Goldfinch, Crime and Punishment, Oedipus Rex, A View from the Bridge, The Sound and the Fury, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Executioner’s Song, 44 Scotland Street, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, Tony Benn’s Diaries, The Sacred and Profane Love Machine, A Good Man is Hard to Find, Alias Grace, The Paying Guests, The Little Stranger, Star of the Sea, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Julius Caesar, Lord of the Flies. [01:20:53] [Session One of Two: 8 October 2014] 00.00.0 Introduction to interview, interviewee biographical details. 00.00.45 Remarks on travelling to Helsinki straight after birth as father in foreign office. 00.00.50 Comments on grandfather owning hat factory in Luton, working at 90, family returning to Luton. Remarks on father commuting to Whitehall for work. 00.01.10 Remarks on attending convent school, same school as mother. Comments on mother’s age (44) on giving birth because of war. Remarks on sister attending same school, nuns speaking mostly French and learning to read in French and English at the same time, sister being electively mute, starting to speak at school. 00.02.00 Remarks on teaching herself to read, not really working in kindergarten part of school. Comments on flipover chart in kindergarten – large version of reading books. Remarks on learning alphabet using chart, not feeling that this had anything to do with reading. 00.02.50 Remarks on clear memory of letters suddenly making sense at younger than four. 00.03.07 Comments on first decoding from The Story of Grace Darling, reading scheme books containing short stories, poems and Victorian illustrations, not complete texts. Remarks on memories of Greyfriars Bobby, dog sitting on tomb. 00.04.00 Remarks on being read to as child, having literary parents, being unable to remember not being read to, wanting to read herself. Further comments on importance of reading in family, being read to until relatively late in childhood. 00.04.36 Memories of books read in childhood, comments on Little Grey Rabbit and Pookie Rabbit. Remarks on importance of illustrations, mother being artistic and pointing out illustrations, mention of Margaret Tarrant illustrations. Comments on Toby Twirl, mother being unsure if character was pig or bear. Remarks on not reading or liking Rupert Bear. Further comments on Toby Twirl, sinister adventures in roots of trees, liking map at beginning of book of where he/friends lived. Comments on Toby Twirl characters. 00.06.15 Interviewer states that copy of Toby Twirl brought to interview. Interviewer describes book appearance and layout. Remarks on presentation as annual, books in series, comparisons with copy at interview. Comments on Toby’s role as detective, solving mysteries, amalgam between anthropomorphism and traditional fairytale. 00.07.45 Interviewer description of illustrations, humanistic appearance of Toby, unusual style. Comments on Toby’s interaction with humans, dialogue in rhyme, unusual length, complex plots. Remarks on having Toby Twirl read at age three to four. 00.09.00 Remarks on children being used to listening before television, listening to Children’s Hour on wireless, being good at listening and using imagination in 1950s. 00.09.28 Further comments on mother’s artistic background, doing hat design for grandfather’s hat factory, interest in colour and design. Remarks on mother’s role as housewife, father’s job in foreign office, father working late. Comments on mother ‘reading’ stories, father ‘telling’ stories, telling Greek myths, The Odyssey, making up own stories. Remarks on father’s literary/theatre interests. 00.10.55 Remarks on books around house as child, grandfather living in old Victorian house, crates full of books being stored in house, playroom next door to room where crates of books stored, sifting through books. 00.12.00 Further comments on mother reading to children, growing older into independent reader, sister being avid reader too. Further comments on childhood books – Toby Twirl, Christopher Robin, A. A. Milne books, Buckingham Palace poem. Remarks on grandson learning Buckingham Palace poem. Mention of reading The Wind in the Willows. 00.12.55 Remarks on reading as older child, Enid Blyton as favourite author, comments on never being stopped from reading anything. Comments on mother reading Noddy books, storybooks for younger children. Remarks on lack of interest in dolls, more interest in animals. Comments on dislike of Enid Blyton illustrations, remarks on Blyton’s depictions of different social classes, mother’s descriptions of working class people cutting bread and butter into thick slices, mother’s development of critical faculty when reading. 00.14.40 Remarks on Jane books by Evadne Price, description of Jane as female Just William. Comments on university seminar on Just William books during MA, further comments on Jane books, Jane character. Remarks on Jane as angelic looking, naughty, living in house with servants, laughing out loud at books. Remarks on reading Jane books to father and grandfather aged six or seven. 00.15.44 Comments on doing nothing but reading in 1950s, differences in children’s leisure time. Remarks on playing with toys, playroom. 00.16.15 Further remarks on reading to grandfather, grandfather’s reading habits, grandfather’s favourite writer as Emile Zola, picking up Zola library books for grandfather, later realisation that Zola novels considered racy in 19th century. Remarks on telling grandfather he was too old to understand books to avoid reading particular words. 00.17.10 Further remarks on books read as older child, The Sea of Adventure, The Valley of Adventure, description of these as quite thick, enjoying reading about children doing things without parents. Remarks on Nancy Drew Girl Detective, revival of Nancy Drew. 00.17.35 Remarks on writing and illustrating own detective stories, description of central character Lunette, mother buying drawing and writing books for use at weekends. 00.18.30 Comments on not feeling that childhood activities were unusual, feeling blessed as adult to have learned about literature at young age. 00.20.05 Remarks on deconstructing literature, mother’s family being fair employers, mother and grandfather being involved in protests, awareness of social structures. 00.20.50 Further comments on books read as child, What Katy Did, specifically What Katy Did at School. 00.21.15 Remarks on own work as teacher and literacy coordinator, promotion of quality texts in classroom for children. Comments on teaching Year 6 pupils Jane Eyre, power of being able to introduce texts to children. 00.22.20 Comments on reading books at school, bringing books home and playing at school, attending Montessori based school, learning through play. 00.22.45 Memories of reading aloud aged six at transition stage of school, being given into trouble for showing off and not putting finger under words, not passing comments on this as child. 00.23.30 Comments on reading at school, French reading scheme called Madame Sylvie, mouse and her adventures. Remarks on daily story time at school, difficulties of listening to reading when sisters not familiar with English. Comments on love of school but lack of powerful memories of being read to at school. 00.25.05 Comments on hobbies, sister playing tennis, own dislike of physical activity and team games, enjoyment of playing outside and games involving imagination. Remarks on exercising imagination when walking. 00.25.48 Remarks on Luton during childhood, lack of industry, mother encouraging imagination about town, making industrial sites into magical places. 00.27.05 Comments on attending convent secondary school, not doing much science, remarks on drawing equipment because of nuns’ fear of science. Comments on inspirational English teacher, Miss Bethune, English teacher’s choice of books for O level, reading Cranford, Kidnapped, dislike of Cranford. Comments on enjoyment of Allen Ginsberg’s work, reading Keats, Tennyson at school, reading most English classics. 00.28.35 Remarks on later work writing for BBC, writing notes for Treasure Island musical, enjoying Treasure Island more than Kidnapped. Comments on reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with my Donkey, remarks on hitch hiking to France in sixth form, memories of bread and chocolate eaten in Travels with my Donkey. 00.29.30 Remarks on immersion in literature at school, making friends with people who also enjoyed literature, further comments on class reading, reading different Shakespeare play every year. 00.30.20 Comments on Michael Gove’s plans to reintroduce classics to schools, remarks on grandson’s dislike of reading, reading grandson The Lake Isle of Innisfree, grandson’s views of poem as beautiful. Remarks on reading classics being a right of children. 00.32.00 Remarks on reading classics at home, father reading Father Brown by G.
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