Fans of British Writers discussion

Since everyone who's joined the group so far is part of my friend circle, I obviously know all of you folks; and most of you probably know each other from other groups. Still, I thought it might not hurt to set up this thread, so that people who may join later can tell us about themselves --and so we can introduce ourselves to them. :-)

I'm a librarian in a Southern Baptist college in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia; married to the love of my life (for 30 years on Sept. 5!), with three grown daughters and four grandkids; born in 1952, and an avid reader since I was six, so that means I've been reading for over 50 years. (Still not as well-read as I'd like to be, though!) As a kid, I sort of "cut my teeth" in the world of reading on some classic British authors, including Dickens, Conan Doyle, Stevenson, and Charlotte Bronte; I discovered Jane Austen and Norah Lofts as a teen, and Tolkein and C. S. Lewis in my 20s. Now, I've got way too many British authors that I like to list them all!

I'm a former teacher now retired and living a life of (mostly) ease in Alabama; married with three grown daughters, one granddaghter and one great granddaughter (that was a bit of a surprise!).

Like Werner, I learned to read early, age 5, and have never looked back. Here's a British author not mentioned around here too much: Hugh Lofting. Anyone who liked (or likes) his books will love my new literary crush: Gerald Durrell. Haven't come across a more engaging memoirist in a long time. Other childhood favorites included Stevenson, Dickens, Doyle. Adult favorites? Too many to mention, although I regard Anthony Trollope as a delightful and highly under-rated author. A.S. Byatt would be a favorite modern.

I've read so much British literature that I often hesitate when spelling words like "color"...hmmm...does that have a "u" or not?

My pet peeve is books which have been "adapted" or "updated" to suit current reading tastes. Folks who do that don't understand that the whole point of reading is to be swept away into another time and place.

I look forward to exchanging views about British or any other literature and related subjects.

Hey Werner- your friend Rick here- looks like the makings of a great Group!!
I love classic books and films - as well as Terry Pratchett and Christopher Moore
I'm moderator of The James Mason Classic British Book Club- started inmeoryof my favorite actor- James mason
look forward to takingpart in this Group!

I'm a wife of nearly 15 years to my best friend and the man I admire more than any other in the world. I have three children whom I home school during the day. I would have learned to read early except no one else in my house was a reader. I couldn't wait to learn at 6 -- I can even remember the moment that the light bulb clicked on for me -- and I began devouring books shortly afterwards. At 8, I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, and at 12 I decided that it would be too difficult to get published. I did get a masters in professional writing, but while practical, it wasn't a career after my heart. So when I got the chance to stay home and write a novel -- my husband is my first and best reader and fan -- I did.

I'm looking forward to learning more about British writers beyond the obvious ones that I admire and enjoy (Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, and now G.K. Chesterton). So I plan to be somewhat silent while soaking in the discussion among the better read and articulate members.

Hello old and new friends and thank you Werner for inviting me.

My name is Barbara, I am originally English but have lived in Australia for a long time and my partner of 33 years is Australian too. I think I am neatly dividided as to my nationality now, and get equally indignant when either country is insulted by the other . So silly really.

Like everyione else here, I read at a very early age and never stopped. I think I am probably most faithful to British (fiction) authors though have many American and Canadian favourites too.

I am retired now, from teaching sociology and counselling subjects/skills at University, mostly to allied health profesionals.

Welcome to all new members! I'm delighted to have each one of you here; thanks for helping me get the group off to a great start!

Gail, I've read two Trollope novels and loved them (and as a kid I read every Doctor Doolittle book I could get my hands on!); and Rick, you've found another Terry Pratchett fan right here. :-) Some of the other authors mentioned are ones I haven't read (yet!).

Hi everyone...I'm trying to type this as a cat demands my attention, so it may have a few typos. He's standing on his hind legs, clawing and rubbing his head on my elbow. Sometimes he bumps his head into my arm and "moves it" (My arm, not his head) lol.

Okay...he seems to be , nope back...

Okay, free for a moment. I suppose many of us have run across each other here somewhere before. I love many kinds of lit. British among them. I didn't learn to read until I was 6, my family (except for one grandmother and an aunt) looked on reading as something done, "for a reason". My dad's only magazine was "Progressive Farmer" my mother read the Bible and a few Bible related books. I remember the day I learned to "sound out words" as we said in school back then. Like all of you, a whole new world opened, I found there wasn't a book, no matter how thick or advanced that I couldn't read. For years we didn't have a lot of fiction in our house ( I grew up in East Tennessee in the foothills of the Smokies) My parents bought the Child Craft Books and World Book Encyclopedia when I (I'm the oldest child) entered school. So, I read those. I can remember laying in the floor of our farm house reading from the encyclopedia.

I could go on....me, get long winded? noooooo.

Anyway, I love to read and look forward to exchanging comments.

Oh, Mike we loved those Child Craft books too! I recently found one at a second hand book store and had to have it.

Alice

I have one volume of the ones my parents bought. My brother got the rest and they were lost somewhere along the way. I wish he'd passed them on to me. I have the Nursery Rhyme volume, but there was so much more. I remember on volume had examples of games groups of kids could play, most of which are long forgotten, games like Run Sheep Run, Red Rover (which was still common when I was young), Statue Maker, so many others...and of course their versions. Then there were craft ideas. I drove my mother crazy asking for the scissors (which were only for sewing! I'd dull them.) She usually sent me outside.

Hi, I'm Danielle. Thanks for the invite, Werner. I started reading when I was four, and I am an unrepentant bookworm, who also happens to be an anglophile. I probably haven't read as many British authors as I'd like to, but I hope that will change.

You're welcome, Danielle; glad to have you aboard!

Mike, I can vividly recall, from my own childhood, many times of lying on the living room floor fascinatedly reading from our encyclopedia set, when no other reading was at hand, and looking at the many photographic illustrations; so I can relate! (It's nice to know I wasn't the only one who did that; other kids, for some reason, thought that it was weird...:-))

I know...odd attitude isn't it?

Werner wrote: "You're welcome, Danielle; glad to have you aboard!

Mike, I can vividly recall, from my own childhood, many times of lying on the living room floor fascinatedly reading from our encyclopedia set, w..."

I would have liked to have had an encyclopedia to read (she says wistfully). I used to save lunch money to buy books from the Scholastic Catalog. And Mike, I remember playing Red Rover.

Could be hard on the hands couldn't it? :)

I had no place to buy books and little spending money for a while. Twice a year we got the Scholastic Catalog at school, but it was hard for my parents to come up with money for "books" which were of course luxury items. Until I was 13 the school library was the main supplier of books. I got a few paperbacks (they were about $.25 as I recall back then) but as I said... little work and money. I got a few books as gifts etc. along the way. We raised a lot of our food and dad managed to make enough to make the farm payment and cover the other necessities.

Still, I loved the place. I read what I had and found odd books in the school library I don't think anyone else had seen in years (lol).

Sorry, long winded. At some point there I got a copy of The Wizard of Oz and read it till it literally started to fall apart.

You know I bet if we took a poll, I guarantee we would all of us have memories of lying on the floor, or perching up a tree or something , reading an encyclopaedia.

And having a cross parent speaking to us for the fifth time.....

I certainly remember reading the encyclopedia.

My mother says she preferred the dictionary.

Well, every book in the world is in the dictionary. It just depends on how you put it together...:)

She is shockingly good at Scrabble, I can tell you.

I tremble at the thought (lol).

I didn't play Scrabble until I introduced it to my kids, and my middle child can beat me! It's not necessarily based on vocabulary, but in playing the letters you've got and on the best spots. My husband always beats me and he's a programmer. Drives me nuts.

I am perfectly terrible at Scrabble though I have a good vocab . I have , however, no strategical skills at all. At all.

I find my "use" vocabulary exceeds the size of my "correctly spelled" vocabulary. :)

Yeah, my mother and step-father play very competitive Scrabble. She's a retired English professor (who grew up reading the dictionary), he's an architect. He specializes in seven-letter-words. They both have the killer gaming instinct.

A sign of a good marriage. They can both game at their best without worrying it will offend the other. Healthy.

Yep, they are well-matched. They play about 700 games a year, too.

You all are bringing back wonderful memories of our family sitting around the table playing Scrabble. My father and my uncle were in fierce competition for the seven letter words. I still have the original game we used and written inside the box top are listings of their words.........they took it very seriously!!!
My late brother, who was several years older than I and a brilliant chemist and scholar (I am very proud of him so I always listened to what he said), once told me that my best education would be to read the dictionary and the complete volumes of the encyclopedia....I have tried over the years but haven't worked my way through both yet. He read the dictionary every day until his death and his was the unabridged OED...the darn thing must weigh 50 pounds!!!!

hi everybody I am a literature student at university.I am 24 years old single girl.I enjoy reading books alot I couldnt have a chance to finish all classics I need your help

Welcome to our group, Pandora! We'll try to help all we can. :-) (Of course, I'm 57, and I still haven't had a chance to finish all the classics.)

Werner wrote: "Welcome to our group, Pandora! We'll try to help all we can. :-) (Of course, I'm 57, and I still haven't had a chance to finish all the classics.)"

Welcome Pandora! Love your name! I am 61 and as I posted on some Listopia I am NOT reading anymore classics as I only read for fun now. I had to read quite a few in high school and college and for the most part that was enough for me! Someone on that list said "Who gets to decide what is classic anyway?".......good remark.

Well of course we haven't read them all...they keep writing them! There are a lot of books that have become classics in my lifetime! :)

Welcome.

Mike wrote: "Well of course we haven't read them all...they keep writing them! There are a lot of books that have become classics in my lifetime! :)

Welcome."

Good point Mike! I hope some of Norah Lofts books will be recognized as classics. They are too new now.

Yes, before a book gets recognized as a "classic," it has to stand the test of time. But if you wait for all of your reading material to do that, you'd never get to read anything very current!

When I was very young and callow, I sometimes read some classics just in order to be properly "educated." Now, I've got a more mature handle on what being educated is really about; and like Alice, I read mostly for fun. I find, though, that those classics that deserve the name are a lot of fun to read (provided you can hack the old-fashioned diction -- which admittedly turns a lot of people off); that's why they've earned their status. Great writers in any century know that writing is about communicating something worthwhile to ordinary readers, and communicating it with the craftsmanship to create a beautiful and moving experience. (The critical community historically understood that, too --before the 20th century, when the elites decided that "great" literature had to be the equivalent of a verbal dose of castor oil, and that ordinary readers are too stupid to know what's "good" for them.) :-)

That seems to emanate from a desire to be part of an "elite group" thus the odd trends in all the arts that show up late in most civilizations.

All that aside, good books tend to stand the test of time if they can manage to once get into print.

Werner wrote: "Welcome to our group, Pandora! We'll try to help all we can. :-) (Of course, I'm 57, and I still haven't had a chance to finish all the classics.)"

come on you are not that old

Alice wrote: "Werner wrote: "Welcome to our group, Pandora! We'll try to help all we can. :-) (Of course, I'm 57, and I still haven't had a chance to finish all the classics.)"

Welcome Pandora! Love your na..."
hi ALİCE you know it was the name of a bookstore from where I had to buy english books.I was always cursing that place(as it was too far)There was no other place to buy english books for our literature class.Thanks God I am going to graduate from the universty GOOD BYE PANDORA GOODBYE COMPY CENTERS(I had to pay all my money yo them):)))))

Pandora wrote: "Alice wrote: "Werner wrote: "Welcome to our group, Pandora! We'll try to help all we can. :-) (Of course, I'm 57, and I still haven't had a chance to finish all the classics.)"

Welcome Pandora! ..."

Oh, I relate to that. I was so thrilled to get out of colllege and far away from it too. A friend gave them my addy so now they send me stuff hoping to get more of my $$. LOL! That is not happening. I do like the name Pandora tho. It was a fav story of mine as a child.

I like the myth of Ares and aphrodite when the god of moon caught them while they are shooting first documentary of mankind :)) it was a joke:p

Hi Everyone! I have a fascination with British history. Since my mother was born in Little Sandhurst and my grandmother in Reading (both in the county of Berkshire) I am half British. I have not read as much from British authors as I have wished. Some Dickens, Agatha Cristie and just discovered Wilkie Collins. I heard so much about Terry Pratchett that I tried to get a book at the used local book store. To my astonishment, since 1988 he has released a novel about twice a year. I learned he published an astounding 38 books based on the concept(s) of a world or other interactive worlds. That is just incredible. Fantasy is my favorite genre. Can anyone add about this amazing author?

Brian, sorry to have taken so long to respond to your post (and great to see you in this group!). I'm a fan of Pratchett's work myself (at least of what I've read of it --though there's a lot that I haven't). Wikipedia has a very detailed write-up on him, with extensive links to other articles. The URL for that article is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pr... .

Thanks, Werner, for a belated response to your invitation. It is interesting to ponder exactly what characterizes British literature, and am I right in assuming that "British" embraces Irish and Scottish literature as well?

As for my introduction, I'm a high school English teacher who's desperately trying to catch up on the classics. I'm currently reading Tom Jones and am eager to see if I agree with someone's judgment that it has one of the three best plots in all literature.

You're welcome, Bruce, and it's great to have you in our group! I know you'll add a lot to our discussions.

Yes, our purview embraces Irish and Scottish literature as well as English (I used the broader term, British, in the group title on purpose). Some of the greatest British writers have hailed from the Celtic areas of the British Isles: Scott, Stevenson, Doyle, Swift, Burns, Le Fanu, Stoker, and Yeats, to name just a few.

Werner wrote: "Since everyone who's joined the group so far is part of my friend circle, I obviously know all of you folks; and most of you probably know each other from other groups. Still, I thought it might n..."

Hi, New.. from Australia... reading addict :)

Moi, glad to have you in our group! We have at least one other Aussie (Barbara). And my oldest daughter married an Australian guy, so they live in his home town, Maryborough, Queensland. (They're not on Goodreads, though, even though they like to read.) You have a beautiful country, with a lot of charming people!

thank you Werner.. small world :)

Hello Werner and all,
thank you for allowing me to become a member. Am an unrepentant Anglophile whose grandparents were transplanted Canadians and whose American-born Mum was of the firm belief that if something was British it simply *was* better! (grin). I'm an old mysteries junkie, much prefering any and all books written "between the wars" but with a highest preference to UK works, especially mysteries. I like stories where at least some of the folks therein seem to have a working knowledge of good manners and if brutal or nasty things happen they mainly happen offstage (grin) - yeah, I'm a wuss probably but happy in it. Life's difficult enough, thankyouverymuch, and I don't need to face "real life" in my reading time unless I really want to do so. Which ain't often.

Um, let's see, about me? Boston born'n'bred, still live here with two cats and far, far too many books for most folks' understanding but gawd, I love old books! A bit over 60 years old but with the attention span of a six-year-old (hey, I'm a Saggitarian... oh, poop. never can spell that!). Nuts about roses, knitting and crochet, mysteries, some "classic" works and a lot of simply old ones (grin). That's enough for now, methinks. Thanks for attempting to put with me.

Abbey, glad to have you in the group! You sound like you'll fit in perfectly; putting up with you shouldn't be hard at all. :-)

Hi all I've missed...oops. Welcome.

My name is Cleo and I can only boast of one British connection ..... my maternal great grandmother ..... but I love British writers as well as most British TV. I'm looking forward to participating in some reads with this group!

Hi Cleo welcome.

Hi, Cleo!

I have no British connections, unless you count a love of British literature. ;-)