You would still have, authors like Rudyard Kipling, Arnold Bennett, Josef Conrad, DH Lawrence, EM Forster and John Galsworthy, or many others from the early 20th century, already in the public domain,
may be even some of PG Woodhouse as well(I think he isn't much popular with Americans, as much as he is in the Commonwealth) .
In theory, theory and practice are the same thing. In practice, they are not.
The first two books of Gormenghast are probably my favorite bits of writing. I am incensed that copyright law is hindering me from spreading those books with more people, and it really hurt to have my hopes raised when reading this fine article.
Also, as a technical matter, I'm only able to make recommendations from books I have actually read - Peake was perfect. Kipling didn't have the same ability to capture a scene in words, and I havn't really heard of most of the other authors you mention. Allowing that many other writers from the early 20th century were very, very good at writing, I'm only going to be reading them in large number if I am actively structuring my reading around trying to reduce the damage of copyright law.
