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📚The Mumsnet 'Rather Dated' Book Group - All welcome to join📚

683 replies

MotherofPearl · 15/03/2024 18:12

Welcome to the Mumsnet 'Rather Dated' Book Group, where we read and discuss fiction from the 1930s to the 1990s that would have been described as 'contemporary' in its day.

The best introduction to the 'rather dated' concept would be to read the wonderful thread which inspired this group:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4596284-rather-dated?reply=119670989

To summarise, a number of posters expressed disappointment that literature of the 20th Century is often dismissed as 'rather dated' because society has moved on from many of the values and lifestyles described.

Previous posters decided to create a reading group where the literary merits of such fiction can be appreciated, with any 'rather dated' elements being a point of interest rather than a reason to dismiss a novel.

We read one book a month. Our first book, that inspired the original thread, was The Road to Lichfield by Penelope Lively. We have been going for about 18 months now, and each new book gets its own discussion thread, started on the first of the month.

Our March 2024 book is Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop. We will begin the discussion of this on 1 April.

Please do join the thread whether you want to take part in the discussion or just place mark to follow it.

Fellow Rather Dated people, please add anything important I might have missed!

(With huge thanks to ImJustMadAboutSaffron for the original thread and idea).

I hope Antarcticant, who started the last thread, won’t mind that I’ve started this new one.

Page 5 | "Rather dated" | Mumsnet

I just finished reading a book, published in 1977, set either 1975 or 1976. I went on Amazon to look at some reviews (I know these are not worth readi...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4596284-rather-dated?reply=119670989

OP posts:
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29
Partridgewell · 24/11/2024 07:11

Hi all,

Sorry, I got myself completely overwhelmed with reading a million things, and lost touch with this thread. Just popping in to say how much I loved The L-shaped Room. I teach A Taste of Honey at GCSE and it was like a middle class version of that - I found it so interesting.

Will definitely aim to read December's book.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 18/11/2024 14:20

Yes. Very quietly putting that one back in the box.

Terpsichore · 18/11/2024 12:57

Have we quietly given up on the idea of Mistletoe Malice? 🫣

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 18/11/2024 10:28

Brilliant, Stella. I'll read more Whipple next year.

What about reading The Inn at the End of the World in December? We will discuss it in January.

StellaOlivetti · 18/11/2024 09:10

Well, I have come to the end of the Whipple oeuvre. I finished Greenbanks last night. It was excellent as everything else I’ve read by DW. I’m rather sad there’s nothing left, but on the other hand I’d actually forgotten about Greenbanks so when the email came from the library to say I could collect it, it was like an early Christmas present.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 01/11/2024 09:52

I have started a thread for discussion :)

StellaOlivetti · 30/10/2024 21:14

Oh that is interesting @BadSpellaSpellaSpella .I wonder if it’s to do with the age you were when you first read them?

BadSpellaSpellaSpella · 30/10/2024 08:49

I had to borrow the whole Trilogy from the library so ended up reading all of them.

Storygraph seems to be divided into people who prefer the first one and disliked them as they went on and others who didn't much like the first one but loved them as they went on.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 28/10/2024 08:36

JaneJeffer · 27/10/2024 16:03

I read it when I was in my early 20's but I don't remember much about it except that every woman should be armed Grin

Armed with a pitchfork!!

JaneJeffer · 27/10/2024 16:03

I read it when I was in my early 20's but I don't remember much about it except that every woman should be armed Grin

Cable1905 · 27/10/2024 15:55

Hello. just found you today and have downloaded the Edna O'Brien trilogy (I may have read these but it will take until about chapter 4 or 5 before I realise).

I struggle to find books I will enjoy and I do read a lot of rubbish - not that there is anything wrong with that. Looking forward to other recommendations. I do wonder if I could go back and read what I was into in my late teens and early 20s or have my brain cells eroded over time.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 27/10/2024 11:24

I finished The Country Girls and I'm tempted to keep going, Stella! * *It's captivating,.

StellaOlivetti · 27/10/2024 11:07

Loved them so thank you for sending me down that path, @FuzzyCaoraDhubh ! Currently about 3/4 way through Girls in Their Married Bliss which is the one I knew least well. God it’s depressing! Brilliant, but depressing.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 26/10/2024 16:37

I think I mentioned that the trilogy were on Kindle for 5.99 so maybe I sent you down that path Stella! Did you enjoy them?* *:)

StellaOlivetti · 26/10/2024 15:27

Ooops my mistake.
as you were ….
in that case, I have finished.

ChessieFL · 26/10/2024 11:50

I’ve only read the first too.

Terpsichore · 26/10/2024 09:15

Well, that was my assumption? 👆 I've only read the first one!

Terpsichore · 26/10/2024 08:56

Just the first one.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 26/10/2024 08:44

The first one, I thought!
I'm about half way through and enjoying it so far.

ChessieFL · 26/10/2024 07:59

Are we meant to be reading the whole trilogy?! I thought it was just the first one.

StellaOlivetti · 26/10/2024 07:07

I’m almost ready, just finishing the third book.

olderbutwiser · 25/10/2024 22:36

I know we said we wouldn’t discuss The Country Girls until November, but is anyone else struggling?

WhisperTree · 12/10/2024 14:26

MotherofPearl · 15/03/2024 18:12

Welcome to the Mumsnet 'Rather Dated' Book Group, where we read and discuss fiction from the 1930s to the 1990s that would have been described as 'contemporary' in its day.

The best introduction to the 'rather dated' concept would be to read the wonderful thread which inspired this group:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4596284-rather-dated?reply=119670989

To summarise, a number of posters expressed disappointment that literature of the 20th Century is often dismissed as 'rather dated' because society has moved on from many of the values and lifestyles described.

Previous posters decided to create a reading group where the literary merits of such fiction can be appreciated, with any 'rather dated' elements being a point of interest rather than a reason to dismiss a novel.

We read one book a month. Our first book, that inspired the original thread, was The Road to Lichfield by Penelope Lively. We have been going for about 18 months now, and each new book gets its own discussion thread, started on the first of the month.

Our March 2024 book is Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop. We will begin the discussion of this on 1 April.

Please do join the thread whether you want to take part in the discussion or just place mark to follow it.

Fellow Rather Dated people, please add anything important I might have missed!

(With huge thanks to ImJustMadAboutSaffron for the original thread and idea).

I hope Antarcticant, who started the last thread, won’t mind that I’ve started this new one.

Inspired by this thread (thank you, as ever, Mumsnet) I've just finished reading Fay Weldon's Down Among the Women (published in 1971, set in London in the 1950s).

I imagine it would indeed be dismissed as "rather dated," but I found much to enjoy and reflect on. Sharing my thoughts in this video:

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 08/10/2024 08:55

Hi @emmalily0 ! Keep an eye on this thread for upcoming books!

ChessieFL · 07/10/2024 18:29

@emmalily0 the discussions have moved on a lot since then. The next book to be discussed is The Country Girls with the discussion starting November 1st.

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