Vocabulary
- to dismiss sb/ sth from ones mind
- to guess at a glance
- to be deceived in a customer
- to hang around
- to get in everybodys way
- to bury in a book
- up-to-date methods
- to have a wonderful sale
- without exaggeration
- to be bound to make a sensation
- to judge by
- to assure sb
- to resist curiosity
- to have (no) intention of doing sth
- to keep track of sth
- to come in a string (about customers)
Notes
The Dialogues of Plato
he had the air of a man starting on a holiday ,
She could hardly read for tears ,
Dear me, no ,
His air was that of a milkman, who is offered a glass of his own milk ,
"Wish to look about the store? Oh, by all means, sir," said the manager of one of the biggest book stores in New York. He called to his assistant, "Just show this gentleman our ancient classicsthe ten cent series." With this he dismissed me from his mind.
In other words he had guessed at a glance that I was a professor. The manager of the biggest book store cannot be deceived in a customer. He knew I would hang around for two hours, get in everybody's way, and finally buy the Dialogues of Plato for ten cents.
He despised me, but a professor standing in a corner buried in a book looks well in a store. It is a sort of advertisement.
So it was that standing in a far corner I had an opportunity of noticing something of this up-to-date manager's methods with his real customers.
"You are quite sure it's his latest?" a fashionably-dressed woman was saying to the manager.
"Oh, yes, madam, this is Mr. Slush's very latest book, I assure you. It's having a wonderful sale."
As he spoke he pointed to a huge pile of books on the counter with the title in big letters Golden Dreams.
"This book," said the lady idly turning over the pages, "is it good?"
"It's an extremely powerful thing," said the manager, "in fact it's a masterpiece. The critics are saying that without exaggeration it is the most powerful book of the season. It is bound to make a sensation."
"Oh, really!" said the lady. "Well, I think I'll take it then."
Suddenly she remembered something. "Oh, and will you give me something for my husband? He's going down south. You know the kind of thing one reads on vacation?"
"Oh, perfectly, madam. I think we have just what you husband wants. Seven Weeks in the Sahara, 7 dollars; Six Months in a Waggon, 6 dollars; Afternoons in an Ox-cart, two volumes, 4 dollars 30 cents. Or here, now, Among the Cannibals of Corfu, or Among the Monkeys of New Guinea, 10 dollars." And with this the manager laid his hand on another pile as numerous as the pile of Golden Dreams.
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"It seems rather expensive," remarked the lady.
"Oh, a most expensive book," repeated the manager in a tone of enthusiasm. "You see, it's the illustrations, actual photographs of actual monkeys; and the paper."
The lady bought Among the Monkeys.
Another lady entered. A widow, judging by her black dress.
"Something new in fiction," repeated the manager, "yes, madam, here's a charming thing, Golden Dreams, a very sweet story. In fact, the critics are saying it's the sweetest thing Mr. Slush has done."
"Is it good?" said the lady.
"It's a very charming love story. My wife was reading it aloud only last night. She could hardly read for tears."
"I suppose it's quite a safe book?" asked the widow anxiously. "I want it for my little daughter."
"I assure you it's perfectly safe. In fact, it is written quite in the old style, like the dear old books of the past; quite like" here the manager paused with a slight doubt"Dickens and Fielding anderso on."
The widow bought the Golden Dreams, received it wrapped up, and passed out.
"Have you any good light reading?" called out the next customer in a loud cheerful voicehe had the air of a man starting on a holiday.
"Yes," said the manager, and his face almost broke into a laugh.
"Here's an excellent thing, Golden Dreams; quite the most humorous book of the season. My wife was reading it last night. She could hardly read for laughing."
After that the customers came and went in a string. To one lady Golden Dreams was sold as exactly the reading for a holiday, to another as the very book to read after a holiday; another bought it as a book for a rainy day, and a fourth as the right sort of reading for a fine day.
Among the Monkeys was sold as a sea story, a land story, a story of the jungle, a story of the mountains; each time at a different price.
After a busy two hours I drew near and from a curiosity that I couldn't resist said, "That book, Golden Dreams, you seem to think it's a very wonderful book?"
The manager knew that I had no intention of buying the book, so he shook his head.
"Frankly speaking, I imagine it's perfectly rotten."
"Haven't you read it?" I asked in amazement.
"Dear me, no!" said the manager. His air was that of a milkman who is offered a glass of his own milk.
"A pretty time I'd have if I tried to read all the new books. It's quite enough to keep track of them without that."
"But those people," I went on, deeply puzzled, "won't they be disappointed?"
"By no means!" he said. "They won't read it. They never do."
"But at any rate your wife thought it a fine story," I insisted.
The manager smiled widely. "I am not married, sir."
Vocabulary Practice
I. Write in transcription and read the following words and phrases:
an assistant; ancient classics; ten cent series; a customer; a fashionably dressed woman; a huge pile of books; an extremely powerful thing; numerous; rather expensive; in a tone of enthusiasm; illustration; actual photographs; anxiously; humorous; curiosity; frankly speaking; in amazement.
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II. Translate into English:
; -; - ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ?; ; .
III. Reproduce the situations from the text where the active vocabulary is used. Think of your own sentences with the words from the list.
IV. Suggest words and word combinations from active vocabulary for the following:
- to refuse to consider (a subject or idea) seriously
- to stay near without doing anything
- to form a judgment at once
- to be cheated in a regular buyer
- to make nuisance of oneself
- to read a book with great animation
- to trace sth
- to have (no) purpose of doing sth
- to restrain the desire to know sth
- without overstatement
- modern ways
- to make sb believe
- to form an opinion about sth
- to come one after another
- to cause a state of excited interest by all means
- to be sold successfully
V. Choose the correct statement:
1. In other words, he had guessed at a glance that
a) I was a professor
b) The woman was a widow
c) The book was interesting
2. The manager of the biggest book store
a) can sell any book
b) can attract any customer
c) cannot be deceived in a customer
3. He despised me, but a professor standing in a corner buried in a book looks
a) very natural in a store
b) very unusual in a disco bar
c) well in a store
4. As he spoke he pointed to a huge pile of books on the counter with the title in big letters
a) The Blue Moon
b) Golden Dreams
c) My First Date
- His air was that of
a) a baker who is offered a loaf of his own bread
b) a milkman, who is offered a glass of his own milk
c) a brewer who is offered a glass of his own beer
VI. Answer the following questions:
- Who is the main character of the story?
- What did he do?
- What was the managers attitude to the old professor?
- Who were the real customers of this book store?
- What kind of fiction were they interested in?
- How did the manager sell the same book to quite different customers?
- What opinion did the manager have of all his real customers?
VII. Topics for general discussion
- What kind of history is it?
- What do you think of the manager?
- Do you approve his up-to-date methods?
- Do you need advice when you choose a book at a booksellers?
| Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE (13 May 190719 April 1989) was a famous British author of plays, novels and short stories. Daphne du Maurier was born in London (although she spent most of her life in her beloved Cornwall), the second of three daughters of the famous actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel Beaumont. These connections gave her a head start in her literary career. |
As a young child she was introduced to many of the brightest stars of the theatre thanks to the celebrity of her father.
She married Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick "Boy" Browning and had two daughters and a son. Biographers have drawn attention to the fact that du Maurier could be aloof and distant to her children. However, as a product of well-to-do Edwardian society in which the nanny dealt with the children, this is hardly surprising.
Indeed, she has often been painted as a frostily private recluse who rarely mixed in society or gave interviews.
Her husband died in 1965 and soon after Daphne moved to Kilmarth which became the setting for The House on the Strand.
Many of her works were adapted into films, such as one of her most famous books, Rebecca, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1940 for director Alfred Hitchcock, who would later bring her short story, The Birds, onto the big screen.
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Rebecca
(extract)
Daphne Du Maurier
(Great Britain)
