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

[MotherofPearl]

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.

Yes, we are! Thanks for that, NoCommentingFromNowOn.

Part 2 tonight!

How are people finding An Awfully Big Adventure?

I loved it but I am finding that Bainbridge's style demands very close attention. Not saying that's a bad thing. The writing is so tight!

I’m about halfway through. I must admit that I’m struggling with it, but perhaps it’s that I’m not paying close enough attention. I can’t connect with any of the characters or the story. But I’ll keep going and hope it all comes together somehow.

Similar to MotherofPearl. I'm reading it in fits and starts which isn't helping. I'll finish it and then read it straight through again. I'm finding it hard to remember who the characters are too. It seems a bit disjointed to me.

I have finished it but also struggled to connect with any of it. Luckily it’s quite short!

There's an interesting reading guide on this on thebookerprizes.com website.

It does demand concentration, I think. I might have an advantage in that I know the Liverpool setting very well (down to the theatre itself) so I can visualise it extremely vividly.

I’m over halfway through & agree that it’s hard to keep track of who everyone is in the theatre.

@Terpsichore- I visited Liverpool for the first time not so long ago & that has definitely helped with getting a sense of the setting. Pictures / footage of the city really don’t do justice to its grandeur & beauty and I don’t think I would have appreciated that aspect of the setting without a visit.

I’ve also read 2 children’s books about post-war theatre which have helped - Cuckoo in the Nest and A Spoonful of Jam by Michelle Magorian (author of Goodnight Mr Tom). These have a lot of detail about how a post-war repertory theatre worked, which is useful background knowledge.

Just back from the Persephone Book day in Bath. Joyous, sat in a room with a lot of well read, interesting women.
Obviously left with far too many new grey books but at least no one can tell wither it's a new one or just a grey one I've had for years.

Ha ha, BookEngine 😄
I'm glad you had a great time there.

Oh I am envious. I’ve done an online order of three books from Persephone (to get the three book discount), including the new one, The Prisoner. I’m looking forward to their arrival!

There was an excellent talk on the Crooked Cross and The Prisoner which has been abridged for BBC Radio.
Written and published in the mid 1930s, the English author describes the rise of Nazism though a very ordinary family.
Successful and eerily predictive, as real life events took over, the books quickly became forgotten.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002vm5y

The reviewer from the Guardian, the woman who abridged the text and Fran from Persephone easily filled an hour. Given recent world events, Persephone realised that republication was sadly apt.

Thanks for sharing that from the Persephone Day @BookEngine. I read Crooked Cross last year and found it so compelling and thought-provoking. Very much looking forward to the sequel.

@FuzzyCaoraDhubhwould you like me to start the discussion thread for An Awfully Big Adventure? Or wait for a few days? I finished it last night.

Hi @MotherofPearl ! Could you start us off, please? I'll join in. I finished it a few days ago and will look over it again later.

No problem Fuzzy; here’s the link and note that my thoughts on the book do contain spoilers, in case anyone is not yet finished reading.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5522935-rather-dated-book-club-beryl-bainbridges-an-awfully-big-adventure?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Hello, everyone!
what shall we do for our May book?

How about an Enid Bagnold (National Velvet)?

I enjoyed Enid Bagnold’s The Squire, so would be happy to read another of her novels.

Shall we choose our next book for June?
I'm happy to go along with one by Enid Bagnold or another author.

👋👋 At @FuzzyCaoraDhubh Happy to try and move ahead with another book. Not so sure I'm enthused about National Velvet, having memories of the rather saccharine film, so if it's an Enid Bagnold, maybe one of her other books?! Or something else entirely?

I’m happy to opt for an Enid Bagnold for our next book. How about The Loved and the Envied?

Yes like you @TerpsichoreI’d rather not choose National Velvet.

The Loved and the Envied sounds good, @MotherofPearl.

I've read nothing by this author so I'm okay with any :)