Comments on: when does a book become too old-fashioned?

By: Susie

Susie — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:50:28 +0000

Cousins by Evan Commager? Old fashioned? Who cares? You bet I read it…and am desperately looking to be able to read it again!

By: laura

laura — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:59:11 +0000

@Jenica--I'm always glad to know I'm not alone (although I have yet to find another person outside my family who has read Cousins by Evan Commager. Such a person must exist, though, right? @Mom--yeah, would have included Kate Seredy and the Peppers books, I just didn't get around to it. And Anne of Green Gables was the book that convinced me to read to myself at night instead of having you read to me. I never have made it through Kim, but I'll keep trying. I adore The Jungle Book and The Just So Stories.

By: your mom

your mom — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:59:15 +0000

I’d like to think I steered you to good books–do you remember The Good Master, Kate Seredy? and The Five Little Peppers? and Anne of Green Gables, I think the first “chapter book” I ever gave you (as an Easter present). Did you ever read Kim (which I still re-read)?
But let the record state, I object to late Heinlein not for all the sex, but for the increasing political views. Heavy-handed, simplistic, and the stories he was so good at got lost. I forgive him his politics in the early stuff; the stories were terrific.

By: Jenica

Jenica — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:06:37 +0000

I adored the Little Colonel, and Alcott’s Rose books, and all the odd, old fiction I found at my grandmother’s house on my summer vacations. You are SURELY not alone, but I understand your concerns about aging fiction. I have faith that the world has lots of people like you and me, and so someone will always find joy in an older book that’s less relevant to their daily lives. I have equal faith in the knowledge that not everyone will look past the digital watch jokes to the commentary beneath them.

Good luck, and have fun!