Old Books Tag

It’s going to be a tag-filled week to make up for the few weeks that’ve gone by without me posting a tag. Today, I’m here with the Old Books Tag, which was created by booktuber Books and Pieces. So settle in to discuss some stuffy, moldy, old books. 😉

Have you ever bought a book that was made before you were born? (the physical book, not the text)

The Wine of Astonishment by Earl Lovelace

The answer to this question is “no.” I’ve never bought a book that was made before I was born. However, I believe I was given one — The Wine of Astonishment by Earl Lovelace which is about a small Trinidadian community trying to hold on to its identity amidst change and corruption… I haven’t read it and am paraphrasing what I saw on Goodreads. I got an old copy of the book when I visited friends in Trinidad. I assume it’s a copy that was made before I was born (probably not, but let’s just act like it is). The book was first published in 1982.

Which book on your shelves takes place in the oldest time period? (Victorian/Medieval, Stone Age?!)

Paradise Lost by John Milton

The Iliad by Homer, trans. by Robert Fagles

The Odyssey by Homer, trans. by Robert Fagles

I think these three take place in the oldest time period. I’m assuming the time period in Paradise Lost is older than the others since it’s about the “fall of man” and Satan getting kicked out of heaven…(So I’ve heard. I’ve yet to read it.) That’s followed by Homer’s epic poems: The Iliad about dudes fighting and Achilles throwing a hissy fit, and The Odyssey about Odysseus’s adventures on his way home from war. I’m currently reading The Iliad and am not liking it much 😦 . I expected the writing and flow and rhythm and all that to be similar to Jason and the Argonauts by Apollonius of Rhodes (I read the version translated by Aaron Poochigian, which was great), but it’s not and I keep getting bored.

Have you got a book that was originally published in same year that you were born?

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchet

Yes indeed, I do! And it’s one I plan to read this year — Wyrd Sisters, the second of the Witches books in Pratchet’s larger Discworld series. It was first published in 1988. I read the first Witches book, Equal Rites, last year and enjoyed it. Now I want to read all the Discworld books. 😀

Which book on your shelves have you had for the longest?

Little Golden Books: Cinderella

It’s probably the Little Golden Books edition of Cinderella, which was my favorite book when I was a kid. I wonder if these books are still made.

Which book have you had the longest but never read?

The Big Sea by Langston Hughes

I’m not sure, since I didn’t include purchase dates for some of my books in the app I use to catalog them, but Langston Hughes’s autobiography, The Big Sea, is a book I’ve had since college but haven’t read. I think I attempted to read it once (probably for a class), but wasn’t interested in it to complete it. I was thinking to get rid of it because I doubt I’ll read it, but, eh, I might change my mind later.

What’s the oldest book you own?

Probably this old, torn book of poems I’ve had since I was a kid in Jamaica. It belonged to my mom and I used to love reading the poems in it because some were in the patois, the Jamaican dialect, which surprised me because back then I thought all things in books much be in “good English.”

Which book do you have that was written the longest time ago?

The Iliad by Homer, trans. by Robert Fagles

It’s a toss up between the Bible and The Iliad. I don’t know which came first.

And there you have it.

If you want to discuss the old books on your shelves too, I tag you!

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