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Original poster

"Rather dated"

169 replies

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 24/07/2022 01:01

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 reading, for the most part; often I have seen "Boring" or "Rubbish" as a "review") because sometimes there are some interesting ones.

Someone has written that the book is "rather dated". What do they expect 45 years later for heavens' sake???

OP posts:
BestIsWest · 31/08/2022 18:59

Nice work by David Lodhpge for the 1980s.
Also the Rumpole books by John Mortimer which I loved back then.

SenecaFallsRedux · 31/08/2022 19:42

Antarcticant · 29/08/2022 20:47

I have just started reading a Barbara Pym novel, 'An Academic Question'. I've not read any of her books before, but saw it it in a charity shop with its rather dated cover and the blurb on the back 'It was the summer of 1970 ...' and thought it looked well worth £1. Only on 1st chapter so far, but looking promising.

I love Barbara Pym. I working my way through her canon for possibly the third or fourth time in my life.

Thanks, OP, for this thread. Some new (to me) writers to explore. Flowers

SenecaFallsRedux · 31/08/2022 19:49

Speaking of Jane Austen, and separately, of Barbara Pym being viewed by some as all "teacups and curates," the oft-repeated reference to her as a twentieth century Jane Austen is close to the mark, in my opinion.

Terpsichore · 31/08/2022 20:16

Antarcticant · 31/08/2022 16:16

Yes, I agree, that would probably work well - it would allow for different reading paces, unlike the read along model.

Do we want a shiny new thread for this? Grin

Hoorah, a shiny new thread! @ImJustMadAboutSaffron how would you feel about a Rather Dated Book Club on here?

ChannelLightVessel · 31/08/2022 20:24

I think a read and then discuss MN bookclub would be great. Readalongs are best for very long/difficult books in my view, though others are free to disagree of course.

Caroffee · 31/08/2022 20:26

DorritLittle · 26/07/2022 21:56

I love this sort of book too. On my list. Anyone got any other recommendations? Novels, preferably about about families or just life in the 60s/70s/80s.

Rather dated ones, that is :-)

Lynne Reids-Banks.

Antarcticant · 31/08/2022 20:27

I'm thinking perhaps one book a month would be about the right interval?

tobee · 31/08/2022 21:09

If people do a new thread please don't forget to link on here! 😉

Terpsichore · 31/08/2022 21:10

One a month sounds good to me.

DorritLittle · 31/08/2022 21:45

I am definitely in and once a month sounds good to me. Very exciting as is absolutely my genre!

JaninaDuszejko · 31/08/2022 21:55

I'd want to go further back than the 60s. Can we use the vintage vs antique definition? That is antique (classic) is over 100 years and vintage (old fashioned) is 40-100 years old? I can think of lots of lovely 1930s books we can then include. I'm also thinking we are predominantly talking about female authors here as well, misogyny using 'old fashioned as a way to diminish the legacy of women writers. But we don't have to be prescriptive.

yikesanotherbooboo · 31/08/2022 22:03

Lovely thread.
I am currently listening to The Frederick Quartet on R4 . I haven't read them since they were published but lived them at the time . I feel ASByatt fits the dated theme.It is about looking at lives as they were seen at the time isn't it?If you have a skilled author as well it helps. I recently recommended Olivia Manning to my DS who is trying to stretch his reading beyond factual books set in the mid to late 20C . This thread is giving me some more ideas.

Terpsichore · 31/08/2022 22:14

Stella Gibbons is another writer who springs to my mind in the 'rather dated' category. Only really known now for Cold Comfort Farm, but she wrote so many more books that most people don’t know.

yikesanotherbooboo · 31/08/2022 22:19

*Frederica !

Antarcticant · 01/09/2022 07:48

JaninaDuszejko · 31/08/2022 21:55

I'd want to go further back than the 60s. Can we use the vintage vs antique definition? That is antique (classic) is over 100 years and vintage (old fashioned) is 40-100 years old? I can think of lots of lovely 1930s books we can then include. I'm also thinking we are predominantly talking about female authors here as well, misogyny using 'old fashioned as a way to diminish the legacy of women writers. But we don't have to be prescriptive.

Perhaps if we said, loosely, fiction from 1930s - 1990s that would have been classed as 'contemporary' in its day? As you say, we don't have to be absolute and rule out a fantastic book from 1929 if it's recommended.

The one thing I would want to specify is that it is (or was) 'contemporary' so not sci-fi, dystopian, fantasy or historical (starting to sound like a literary agent now Grin).

What does everyone else think?

Terpsichore · 01/09/2022 08:25

I’m increasingly of the view that you are me, @Antarcticant, as we seem to have the same views on everything Grin

frustratedacademic · 01/09/2022 08:29

I'm up for it. In fact, years ago there was a cookbook forum here that was fantastic, so why not novels?

Anyway, why don't we start with A Road to Lichfield as that's were the conversation stemmed from?

AtomicBlondeRose · 01/09/2022 08:36

I just read A Road to Lichfield from the library on the back of this thread so I’d be up for that!

Antarcticant · 01/09/2022 12:11

I was going to suggest A Road to Lichfield too!

Terpsichore it will be interesting to see if we continue to hold such similar views when we reach the book discussion stage.

DorritLittle · 01/09/2022 14:49

Totally agree. A Road to Lichfield also sounds good as I had just ordered it!

Terpsichore · 01/09/2022 14:50

I’m now reading it!

Antarcticant · 01/09/2022 16:46

I've created a thread!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4624300-the-mumsnet-rather-dated-book-group-all-welcome-to-join

I hope this introduction meets with everyone's approval, but if I have missed or misrepresented anything important please add your amendments.

woodhill · 01/09/2022 18:02

yikesanotherbooboo · 31/08/2022 22:03

Lovely thread.
I am currently listening to The Frederick Quartet on R4 . I haven't read them since they were published but lived them at the time . I feel ASByatt fits the dated theme.It is about looking at lives as they were seen at the time isn't it?If you have a skilled author as well it helps. I recently recommended Olivia Manning to my DS who is trying to stretch his reading beyond factual books set in the mid to late 20C . This thread is giving me some more ideas.

Did she write Fortunes of War?

JaninaDuszejko · 01/09/2022 18:18

Excellent intro @Antarcticant . I've not read any Penelope Lively for years.

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 01/09/2022 18:36

I think things from the 90s/early 2000s might very quickly seem "dated" because technology has changed so much so quickly.

I spent longer explaining an Animal Ark short story to a group of children than it actually took to read it (she rode a pony to a phone box, with a landline number written on a sweet wrapper to call for help).

The Cherub and Alex Rider books were written to be modern, and yet flip phones/Gameboys etc now seem old.

The ones I think are dated are Jilly Cooper, or anything with a lot of drink driving and smoking really!