I COULD not agree more with Professor Keith Topping (“Challenging books better for children than testing”, The Herald, February 23). When The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade was presented to us in the early 1950s as our set book for the GCE English Literature O-level exam I felt rather daunted. On opening the book and begining to read “Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows”, I was intrigued. Set in the 15th century in dangerous times it tells the story of the great scholar Erasmus. But you wouldn’t know that it was about such a man. It is a great tale of adventure and it has remained with me all my life. Once the main character, Gerard, had set forth on his adventure, overcoming many obstacles with the help of his Burgundian soldier friend, Denis, I was totally hooked. On through several hundred pages I read following Gerard and Denis to the end of Gerard’s life. Old Denis was broken-hearted when he heard of Gerard’s death, and so was I.
Erasmus, the hero of the story, was the great scholar and divine of his age and a heaven-born dramatist. Some of the best scenes in the book, said Reade, were from the pen of Erasmus. Reade wrote at the end of the book: “The words of genius are not born to die, at each fresh shower of intelligence Time pours upon their students, they prove their immortal race; they revive; they spring from the dust of great libraries; they fruit, they seed, from generation to generation, and from age to age.”
I have remained eternally grateful to the Northern Universities examining board, which was responsible for the GCE Ordinary and A-level exams, that we were given such books to read, and be tested on. I also remain grateful to the English mistress who inspired us to go on and delve deeply into such books.
I remain especially grateful to that Burgundian soldier called Denis who inspired Gerard to face all dangers and overcome many trials with the words “courage mon ami, le diable est mort! They have stood me in good stead many times.
It doesn’t do to underestimate the intelligence of young readers. I agree with Professor Topping that they should be given books to stretch their minds. I don’t believe that young readers now are so different from my 15-year-old self. We were given the book, encouraged to read it then sit an exam on it, and this one-time school-girl loves it still.
Thelma Edwards,
Old Comrades Hall,
Hume,
Kelso.
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