to read = consist of certain words

[vil]

Dear teachers,

I have stumbled across a strange for me expression. Please see the expression in bold in the following sentence.

“The message read that she had been in the hotel that night; that she had met David; that a tape had been taken of the conversation; that if he thought he could arrest her brother and charge him with murder, he should now try; that, if he thought he could intern her whilst completely innocent, he should now try; that several persons had listened to the conversation in the hotel that night and that one was an Ulster MP.”

In my opinion, in the present case we have the intransitive use of the verb to read, which means to consist of certain words.

I know the following expressions used in newspaper style:

The message reads that…
The article states that …
The newspaper says that….

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in question?

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

[sreilly]

I believe that your question is this:

Does“The message read that she had been in the hotel that night..." mean 'The message contained the words that follow'?

To that question, the answer is yes. The author is telling us what was written in the message.