Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

This month we are reading two coming-of-age novels, Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

Happy reading everyone!

Have Seventeenth Summer signed out from Open Library.

I'll be reading a library copy of Seventeenth Summer.
I've already read I Capture the Castle and really enjoyed it.

I've just listened to the audio of Seventeenth Summer (had to get ahead of the game...) and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I read it probably for a Young Adult lit class in the 70s and liked it then and was worried I'd dislike it this time around. But I liked it a lot. I didn't remember it being set in many of the small cities of my own state of Wisconsin!

I'm looking forward to reading it.

I Capture the Castle is another one on my pile for vacation!!

I am reading this now, but am not enthralled by it. I needed to read this when I was a teen, I think--this dates from my mother's early childhood and I was much more into this kind of book in my youth. Nevertheless, I'll carry on. I am glad to know I'm not a month behind.

I have finished Seventeenth Summer, but haven't yet started the other.

I've finished Seventeenth Summer and thought it was okay, since it's really not my kind of book.
The strongest part of the book is the descriptive writing-her descriptions of nature are just lovely.

I did notice that these young people seemed to be drinking a lot of beer and smoking as well.

Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Seventeenth Summer and thought it was okay, since it's really not my kind of book.
The strongest part of the book is the descriptive writing-her descriptions of nature are just lovely..."

Well, in the 1940s, when this book was written, smoking in particular was still seen as something totally acceptable. In Erich Kästner’s Das fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Parent Trap) the oldest boarding school students were allowed to smoke in the dorms and no one was as yet complaining about second hand smoke.

The smoking didn't bother me as much as the drinking. I'm not sure whether there was a legal drinking age back then.

The main character was very sweet and naive, and the book was written from her viewpoint.
I enjoyed her interactions with her younger sister, Kitty, who must have been bored since her three sisters were much older.

Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Seventeenth Summer and thought it was okay, since it's really not my kind of book.
The strongest part of the book is the descriptive writing-her descriptions of nature are just lovely..."

Yes to everything you said.

While I don't think all teens drank beer like that back then, it was common when going out.

As for smoking, this was written before they had linked smoking to lung cancer, etc. In fact, as late as 1960, only 1/3 of doctors believed that link to be true. Tobacco was used medicinally by First Nations' people (I think some of it might be valid, but not by smoking, but of course it is highly addictive), and it took a long time before scientists started proving its health risks.

As a teen in Canada beer was one of the most popular forms of alcohol along with cheap wines (I remember the name Baby Duck) but I hate beer and don't like the taste of alcohol in general.

I looked it up--there was no legal age for purchasing alcohol in Wisconsin at that time. Interestingly, that state had a legal limit of 18 from 1839-1866. In 1957 the age for beer was 18 and other alcohol 21, but there have been changes to that since.. There is a chart for the States here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._hi...

Karin wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Seventeenth Summer and thought it was okay, since it's really not my kind of book.
The strongest part of the book is the descriptive writing-her descriptions of natu..."

Baby Duck, I remember how my parents often received either that or Black Tower as gifts when we moved to Canada from Germany in 1976 (and how they could not stand it taste wise, too sweet).

At parties, I was always pushed to consume beer, and I was supposed to enjoy beer because of my German background.

Manybooks wrote: "Karin wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Seventeenth Summer and thought it was okay, since it's really not my kind of book.
The strongest part of the book is the descriptive writing-her descri..."

Wow, who would do that? My parents would NEVER have bought that. It was the drink of teens and really young people as I recall. I don't ever remember adults drinking it.

I am Canadian where beer is really big as well, and my dad's original heritage is German (first language was that but his family had left in the 18th century due to religious pacifism) and I hate all beer.

True story--my dad used to really like to buy German beer. One of his German friends in Canada (or it might have been a visiting German friend from the year we lived there) asked him why he'd want to drink beer made from from Rhine water when he could have it made from the much cleaner water in Canada, so he switched to Canadian.

The year we lived there we lived near the Rhine.

Karin wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "Karin wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Seventeenth Summer and thought it was okay, since it's really not my kind of book.
The strongest part of the book is the descriptive ..."

Well, the Rhine River is much less polluted now, but the area is also more known for its wines.

It took me a while to get used to the taste of beer, especially since the first beer I had at university was Molson Export!

The part of Germany where I was born, Franken, is famous for its full-bodied wines. I like my wine to be really dry!

I remember Black Tower. It used to come in a stone bottle but they cheapened it.

Rosemarie wrote: "It took me a while to get used to the taste of beer, especially since the first beer I had at university was Molson Export!

The part of Germany where I was born, Franken, is famous for its full-bo..."

I like my wines dry as well, and it is only very rarely that some wine from Franconia makes its way to Canada.

Black Tower is just too sweet!

I don't know if I like dry/sour wines. The only wine I ever came close to liking (not being big on the taste of the actual alcohol) was a really good Riesling. I suspect that the one I liked might have been of the "not totally dry" variety of Riesling wines, but it's been so long I don't remember.

But fermented foods, sauces and beverages have been a no-no for me for Far Too Long.

Hope to start soon!

Don't think I've joined any of the YA reads before, but I have had I Capture the Castle on my TBR list for a long time and it is also on my '5 novels on my TBR pile' for 2021 so I really have to join you for this one. I'm about a third of the way through and it's a really easy and enjoyable read so far. There's some very funny parts (I laughed out loud at the bear incident!), but also an interesting take on classes with the lower class member of the family group providing for the rest of them, whilst still undertaking what seems the majority of the work, and still not seeing this as at all wrong. That definitely wouldn't fly nowadays and quite rightly so!

There is also a film version of I Capture the Castle. I enjoyed both the book and the film.

This is a super sweet book. Read on vacation recently. Probably a good thing I didn't read it (had never even heard of it) as YA, because I was already obsessed with romantic ruins, and tag along with my older sis ;) LOL I might have planted ivy in the walls and started upcycling my mum's clothes into romantic rags!

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Emma.

Emma, I'm glad you decided to go ahead and read the book. Many of the books we read were published before the YA designation existed, so we chose books that would appeal to readers of all ages, including teenage readers.
We've also read books that are studied in secondary school in various countries.

I finally read this. 3 stars for me, but I'd have loved this when I was a young teen.