Outmoded Authors Challenge

This Challenge has ended. See here for my final thoughts.

Imani set up this challenge, which will last for six months ending on February 28th 2008. During that time the challenge is to read however many books by however many authors you like from a good long list. I've never heard of some of them, so that's another opportunity to broaden my reading. The rules of the challenge are here. I decided to limit my choice to books I already have or can borrow from my local library.

So far I have read:

1. Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe. See my review here.
2. D H Lawrence, Sons and Lovers. See my review here.
3. D H Lawrence, The Man Who Died. See my review here.
4. Olivia Manning, The Great Fortune. Review here.
5. Olivia Manning, The Spoilt City. See my review here.
6. W.Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence. See my review here and here.

Other books I would like to read are:

1. G K Chesterton, The Complete Father Brown. I've read some of Chesterton's books before, but none of the Father Brown books. There's a copy in my local library - in the Reserve Stock.


2. Sir Walter Scott, Waverley.


3. Somerset Maugham, Books and You & The Moon and Sixpence. The library has copies of both of these. Books and You sounds intriguing from its title.


4. John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga. I'm surprised to find that I've never read any Galsworthy either, but as The Forsyte Saga has been serialised on TV I know the story. I'll be interested to see how faithful the series was to the book. Sometimes, I don't like a film or TV dramatisation if I've read the book first, but it's usually ok the other way round.


5. Olivia Manning, The Balkan Trilogy. I know nothing about Manning's books. The on-line catalogue of my local library lists this one volume book comprising The Great Fortune ; The Spoilt City; Friends and Heroes. So far I have read The Great Fortune and The Spoilt City. I've ordered Friends and Heroes from W H Smith - not arrived yet.


6. Italo Svevo, As a Man Grows Older. I know absolutely nothing about this author and have never heard of him before, so this may or may not be a good choice. I borrowed this from the library and couldn't get interested in it so returned it unread.

Revised 2 March 08