David Holbrook
Letter to ‘Denys’ [Thompson?]
Ashwell, Hertfordshire, 10 March 1966
MS Add. 9750/251/2 recto

Transcript:

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involved in this holocaust (‘They were trying to kill him!’); then ‘Mother Nature’ shows herself indifferent. Finally even the self becomes split from the self under mortar fire.

Other people simply don’t feel this kind of problem: our signals officer who read my book recently said he didn’t have that problem of trying to hold a personality together: he just came to terms with it all at the beginning, and expected nothing better, until it was over.

So, in fact, the more stable individual makes war possible, because he can accept what is unacceptable. That’s the danger!

I hope we can talk about this – I gather you’re coming to the NAPE-NCTE Seminar in Dartmouth College in Aug-Sept. We’re all going over in June, me to do a six-week Seminar in Illinois, the family to have a holiday. We had a new baby (boy) last week. And CUP have just accepted a book of mine on The Training of an English Teacher (called The Exploring Word) It will be good if we are together in New Hampshire – I can try my gleanings from psychology on you.

Thanks for writing as you did

Yours David