Do you like to read older books? If so, which ones?

Question

Solveigo, I like them by what it says inside, instead of the way the cover looks, etc. But whatever floats your boat.

Answer 1

I love it! But then, I have an English degree, so I may be biased. I love 19th and 20th century ghost stories: Henry James, Algernon Blackwood, Poe and Lovecraft. I also read the Brontes, Austin and Georges Sand. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is still the greatest book ever written. "The Scarlet Letter" is full of racy and scandalous (for the time) innuendo, but anything by Hawthorn is a must. Zora Neale Hurston is just fantastic and doesn't get enough credit. "Lolita" will make you feel sick, but everyone should read it at least once. Don't bother with Ayn Rand, unless you want to commit suicide, go for Kurt Vonnegut instead. Of course H.G. Wells will knock your socks off, and Isaac Asimov is just incredible.  As for fantasy, I have to say that no one has ever come close to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

Answer 2

Yes, I love older books, as well as things that just emerged yesterday. I love books in general, and I'm always reassured by the fact that I will never catch up. There is no chance at all of running out of things to read. How great is that? I'm a fan of the classics but I'm sure you're familiar with all those titles, so I won't list them here. I also have a real soft spot for a number of authors who were popular in their day but who have gradually slid out of the public consciousness. Some of those authors include:

John O'Hara

John P. Marquand

James Gould Cozzens

Joyce Cary

William Maxwell

John Galsworthy

Rumer Godden

Rebecca West

Katherine Anne Porter

Rosamond Lehmann

Muriel Sparks

Margery Sharp

These people haven't got much in common beyond the fact that they are all uncommonly good storytellers, with a gift for language. I kind of enjoy the chance to mention them. I slide some of them into answers occasionally but more often I leave them out by necessity, since they rarely fit the specifics of a question. Thanks for asking a question that we don't see ten times a day. It was a pleasure to answer.

Answer 3

If you mean older books by the way that they look, then yes, cause my granny has collected a huge library for me and my sister, some books are more than 50 years old. My favourite book of them is the Idiot by Dostoevsky, released in 1961.

But I also adore books that were written MANY years ago. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Goethe, Poe, Wilde, also a bit "fresher" writers as Hesse, Orwell. Oh and I like Greek tragedies.

Answer 4

Danielle Steel's books

Random books from libraries.

RT, Margaret and the Rats of NIMH is a good one.

The Sand Stallion.

Sorry I can't remember the authors of the last two, been a couple years since I've read them, but hey doesn't it tell you that they were good, cause I still remember their names and storylines.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

yes, I like to read older books:

" Green Darkness" by Anya Seton

"Katherine" by Anya Seton

"Devil Water" by Anya Seton

"Forever Amber" by Kathleen Winsor

and of couse: "Gone with the Wind" is an absolute must!

"Rebecca" by Daphne Du Maurier

"Through a Glass Darkly" by Karleen Koen

Answer 6

I love to read anything that isn't offensive :).

Once I picked up a 50s book or something -- British horror. I can't remember the name of either the book or the author but I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it or not because the cover wasn't exactly the best.

I read it and I can't stop thinking about it. It's kind of upsetting how it's gone out of publishing and you can only find it on the internet (esp, seeing as I've been ripped of trying to re-buy the book, I lost my copy)