In 2009, I wrote an essay titled The Mum of Modern Tart: an Essay on Going Deaf. I had not long retired and was still coming to terms with my partial deafness. The essay was prompted by my reading of Deaf Sentence and the realisation of the many parallels between the incidents described by the author, David Lodge, and my own experiences. Here is the introduction to the essay.

I’ve just finished reading a novel called Deaf Sentence written by David Lodge, published in 2008 by Penguin. The story is about a fictional University professor called Desmond Bates who is slowly going deaf (like me and like the book’s author), and who is forced into early retirement because he can no longer make out questions asked by members of his audience. (I had the same trouble in the closing stages of my teaching career). There are other parallels between Desmond and me in the book and I had thought just to write a short critique of Deaf Sentence but, as you will see, the essay developed into more than this.

And so the essay grew in word count. Here is the contents list:

• Introduction: Deaf Sentence, David Lodge
• The Story
• Common Situations for Deafies
• Comparing Deafness with Blindness
• ‘What you said was not what I heard.’
• Communicating with Deafies
• The Beauty of Quietness
• Other Topics in the Book
• Humour in the Book
• How the Ear Works and Why I May Never Hear Properly Again
• How Deafness has Changed my Life
  Conclusion
• Appendix: My First Lip-Reading Class

I had thought to post the essay in its entirety on this website but, at just under 9,000 words, it’s too long. Instead, I have corrected and updated it and placed it behind this link.

Feel free to download and, if you wish, either Leave a Comment (see above) or contact me at ben@ben-bennetts.com

Bert and Mavis cartoon.
For more Bert and Mavis cartoons, see Bert and Mavis: The First Fifty Cartoons

(^_^)