seaJane Posted 10 April , 2017 Share Posted 10 April , 2017 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08lglt1 Thomas Dilworth's biography of David Jones is Radio 4's Book of the Week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 15 April , 2017 Share Posted 15 April , 2017 SJ The reviews of the book in the Times and the Sunday Times a couple of weeks ago showed (as if we ever doubted it) how subjective art is. One said how poor his painting was but that he was a brilliant poet. The other said that his poetry was wildly overrated by modernists who should have known better, but that his water colours were exquisite!! At least they both agreed that he was a man mentally scarred for life by his experiences on the Western Front David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 15 April , 2017 Admin Share Posted 15 April , 2017 48 minutes ago, David Ridgus said: At least they both agreed that he was a man mentally scarred for life by his experiences on the Western Front Numbed by Haig, I wonder how many more "Rosie's" there were, or was it a predisposition on the part of the individual? Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Jacket Collector Posted 16 April , 2017 Share Posted 16 April , 2017 I've just taken delivery of the book. Only just started it but seems to be an excellent and exhaustive account, apparently the result of a lifetimes research. Extremely well illustrated as well. However if you're only interested in Jones wartime experiences you'd be better off with the same authors 'David Jones at War' as the same period is only glossed over here in deference to the previous work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 16 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 16 April , 2017 I'm interested in both aspects so that suits me fine DJC, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 17 April , 2017 Share Posted 17 April , 2017 I'm really looking forward to reading this: recently dug out an ancient review of Jones' last book The Sleeping Lord by Seamus Heaney dating back to 1974; quite interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 17 April , 2017 Share Posted 17 April , 2017 From amongst my souveniers I have been looking at the menu/guest list card of an event that I was invited to attend almost half a century ago. Held at the Northumberland Grand on 14th October 1967, it was the 53rd Annual Reunion Luncheon of 15/RWF (1st London Welch.) I have convinced myself that Jones, D. was in attendance and that he was taken ill during the lunch and was helped from the dining room without too much fuss: somebody was, and I think it was him. At that time I would not have known who he was, mea maxima culpa. Leek Soup on the menu, of course. Brigadier ap Rhys Pryce GOH. Toasts to Queen, Queen Mum, PoW and Absent Friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 17 April , 2017 Share Posted 17 April , 2017 Touching history there, Mr D. Touching history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 17 April , 2017 Share Posted 17 April , 2017 Anything for a free lunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Jacket Collector Posted 17 April , 2017 Share Posted 17 April , 2017 57 minutes ago, Stoppage Drill said: Anything for a free lunch. The book doesn't mention that particular date, but by then he had become increasingly reluctant to go out at all, having had a panic attack at the Royal Academy earlier in the year. He was also on a number of medications which he tended not to take, so if he was there that might account for his collapse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 17 April , 2017 Share Posted 17 April , 2017 2 hours ago, Stoppage Drill said: Anything for a free lunch. As any fule kno, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Actually, as an afterthought, is there any chance you could share a scan or photo of the menu? It really would be an interesting piece of history to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 17 April , 2017 Share Posted 17 April , 2017 (edited) I've had a major IT glitch for a while since being upgraded to W10, and can't connect to my printer. I'll see what I can do. Looking again, I see the toast was not 'Absent Friends', but 'Fallen Comrades' which sounds more poignant. Edited 17 April , 2017 by Stoppage Drill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 18 April , 2017 Share Posted 18 April , 2017 This any use ? Page 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 18 April , 2017 Share Posted 18 April , 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard_Lewis Posted 18 April , 2017 Share Posted 18 April , 2017 Wonderful! Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 Sure is. Thanks for sharing - sorry I missed it. Presumably Maj-Gen Fox-Pitt is (grandfather?) of William of that Ilk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 Dunno, it's one of those names that keeps cropping up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 It looks rather odd, and could I say transitional: the association has its HQ at the central London recruiting depot, Great Scotland Yard, but the addresses have modern-style postcodes. Any reason for the date - 14th October? Did it have a regimental/battalion significance? A final observation - that luncheon is as far away from now as it was from the GW. Almost exactly mid-way between. Sobering - the chaps there must have been in their late 60's at least, 70's probably the majority. I can't say why, but it feels like you were there at a very fortunate time. I recall attending Hallowe'en at our RHQ when our last Messines veteran attended. Even now I feel oddly privileged to have been in the room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 (edited) My recollections of the event are pretty dim, and I am sorry to say that I did not know enough at the time to fully appreciate the significance of it. The Battalion formed on 20 October 1914, the Extensive Library informs, so I suppose that the Association picked the nearest convenient Saturday to the anniversary for their reunions. I wish that I could go back in time with what I know now, and meet those men again. Captain Wyn Griffith, two places below Fox-Pitt in the list of Vice Presidents, was the author of Up to Mametz. Edited 28 April , 2017 by Stoppage Drill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 2 hours ago, Stoppage Drill said: Captain Wyn Griffith, two places below Fox-Pitt in the list of Vice Presidents, was the author of Up to Mametz. Who by the date of this dinner had also developed and implemented PAYE, been a founder member of the Round Britain Quiz, written Plain Words with Sir Ernest Gowers and was vice Chairman of the Arts Council! Talk about a Renaissance Man. Along with Nothing of Importance, Up to Mametz is my favourite Great War memoir. 'Somewhere behind our hill a big gun fired, another followed it, and suddenly the battery below blasted a stuttering sentence of noises. The Devil had taken his seat at the keyboard to play the opening bars of his morning hymn; another day beginning, the last day for so many, a fine sunny day to devote to killing and bruising. Was it my last day? With a wise obstinacy, the mind refused to dwell on such a thought, and the signalman in my brain shunted such futile traffic into some siding, giving the right of way to the greater utility of a desire for a cup of tea.' David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard_Lewis Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 I'm waiting for 'David Jones in the Great War' to drop on the mat... Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 29 April , 2017 Share Posted 29 April , 2017 8 hours ago, David Ridgus said: Who by the date of this dinner had also developed and implemented PAYE, been a founder member of the Round Britain Quiz, written Plain Words with Sir Ernest Gowers and was vice Chairman of the Arts Council! Talk about a Renaissance Man. David What a generation that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 3 May , 2017 Author Share Posted 3 May , 2017 On 28/04/2017 at 23:34, Bernard_Lewis said: I'm waiting for 'David Jones in the Great War' to drop on the mat... Bernard Hope you're not still waiting? sJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard_Lewis Posted 3 May , 2017 Share Posted 3 May , 2017 No, it's here and in the 'waiting' pile! Tempted by the new bio which covers his entire life plus the book that helps you understand 'In Parentheses'! ('Reading David Jones'?) But let's see how this one reads... Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelBully Posted 6 April Share Posted 6 April Getting a great deal out of my re-reading of 'In Parenthesis' . For anyone interested found that there is a David Jones Society with its own website, and Facebook group. Activity in both seems to have come to an end in the Summer of 2023. Not sure what is going on there as would be tempted to join if it was still operating. http://www.david-jones-society.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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